The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Mayor George Fontaine is in no hurry to reopen the city's grant agreement with Hudbay as the municipality struggles with a cash crunch. Under an intricate, decades-old deal, Hudbay funds about one-third of annual city costs through a grant rather than property taxes. 'When you open a big contract like that, (you need to) be sure you know what you're opening and what your intent is, and we haven't gone there yet,' Mayor Fontaine said at last week's city council meeting. 'And I'm not in a big hurry to do that at this point.' Asked whether he is satisfied with the amount Hudbay now pays through the grant, Mayor Fontaine reiterated he does not see merit in reopening the deal at this point. 'Am I happy with it? I guess what it is, it's been a negotiated process in the past,' he said. 'We know what we have in front of us, they (Hudbay) know what they have in front of them. Nobody is reneging on either side and it's working. And they're paying a good percentage of the cost of running this town. So would my rush be to open that? Not right now.' The city and Hudbay most recently discussed the grant as it relates to new revenue the municipality would get from a proposed fire protection fee from area cottagers. The discussions were on 'how the fire agreement money would be treated if indeed we ever do run into a fire agreement with cottagers,' Mayor Fontaine said, adding that the talks produced 'quite favourable' results. 'So we were pleased with what happened,' he added. 'Did we open the whole (agreement)? No, and I think we've got to be very careful.' Between the city and the school division, Hudbay paid out $5.3 million in grants in 2012. Chief Administrative Officers Mark Kolt said the portion the city receives varies, working out to about a third of total revenue. The city's 2012 budget contained $11.7 million in spending. One-third of that amount would be $3.9 million. Hudbay also contributes to specific city projects. For instance, the company put about $1.8 million toward the new water treatment plant coming online later this year. Asked about the Hudbay grant as a mayoral candidate in 2010, Fontaine said the city had 'been advised by lots of people (to) 'be careful what you open because there's so many nuances to it that you could be hurting yourself if you do.'' He said he would like to see Hudbay pay a 'steady percentage' or a 'steady sum' year over year, as this 'would be a whole lot easier for us to work with.' Indicative of the complexity of the Hudbay agreement, Fontaine said as a candidate that there are 'so many minor things to be negotiated that have an affect on what your mill rate is and how much you're going to get, that I can't pretend that I understand them all.'
