Image

January 23, 2015

Petrolia Mayor John McCharles wants to see if the municipalities of Central Lambton can find ways to save some cash.

McCharles invited the mayors of Plympton-Wyoming, Brooke-Alvinston, Enniskillen, Oil Springs, Warwick and Dawn-Euphemia to Petrolia Tuesday to discuss “if we can save some money.”

The rural municipalities have been hit hard by cuts to provincial grants – many of those invited have lost between 15 and 20 per cent of their provincial cash this year. “We haven’t been affected as the others but are there some services that we can get together on to save money,” says McCharles.

One way to save cash McCharles says could be sharing equipment. Petrolia has its own street sweeper that could be shared for example. “We don’t want to buy a grader but can we source out that work with say Enniskillen?”

He adds there may be some internal services that could be merged such as water billing to save costs.

“Let’s take a look, we’re all doing the same thing maybe we can combine some things.”

Warwick Mayor Todd Case says municipalities already work together in some areas. “We do have some agreements to take care of some parts of Churchill Line for example,” he says adding, “I’m going in with an open mind.”

Dawn-Euphemia Mayor Al Broad agreed saying “we’re going to sit down, throw everything up against the wall and see what sticks to it.”

McCharles admits that while sharing services could save money, it is sometime a difficult discussion.

“There is always the fear if you go this way it helps with amalgamation (of municipalities),” he says adding many smaller municipalities feel the provincial grant cuts are a way of forcing them to form regional governments. “It is a fear.”

But he says the bottom line is driving the discussions. “If you can utilize your dollars better – why not talk?”

 

 

Share This

Image
Front Page

Killer Bees’ Feasey to coach Maroons

July 12, 2025

Barry Wright/The Independent Alvinston Killer Bees star Brennan Feasey is the new head coach of the Sutherland Cup champion Chatham Maroons of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. The new job came about after Richard Santos left the Maroons this week to become the new head coach of the U16 boys prep team with Biosteel Sports Academy in Windsor and

Read More

Image
Front Page

Still standing (with some help) after 200 years

July 12, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent When Abraham Smith and his wife, Anna Hoy, arrived on the shores of the St. Clair River, there was nothing but trees which blocked out the sun. The couple landed around what we now know as the St. Clair Parkway and Smith Line in 1820, along with two children and another family, and settled in the area.

Read More

Image
Front Page

Remembering Croton

July 12, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Harold Snary stands under a tree in the postal village of Croton. Those standing with him see a new, siding-clad school and church, a few homes and the traffic whizzing down Oakdale Road. At the corner of Oakdale and Croton Road, they might notice the building which used to be the general store. For most, this 39-person

Read More

Image
Front Page

Lambton lands part of 30×30 project

July 11, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Almost 700 acres of land along the Sydenham River, including some in Petrolia and Wawrick, will be recognized as conservation lands in Ontario. It’s part of an international plan to protect 30 per cent of the earth’s land and sea by 2030. Tim Payne, manager of forests for the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority, was contacted by

Read More