Plenty of interest shown in forming a Caledon Village Association
By Bill Rea

Councillors Doug Beffort and Richard Paterak hosted Monday's meeting, aimed a getting a Caledon Village Association going.

Interest seems to be high in getting a Caledon Village Association off the ground.

Local Councillors Doug Beffort and Richard Paterak hosted a meeting in the village Monday night, which drew more than 50 people.

Beffort expressed a bit of surprise at the turn out, adding they really had no idea how many to expect.

He said many in the community would have remembered how strong the Caledon Ratepayers' Association was about 20 years ago, and while it still exists as a legal entity, little has been heard from it in recent years. But Beffort said there are some in the community who would like to have a group with which to share ideas about the future of the village.

He said there are a lot of issues on the table these days, with councillors dealing with them as best they can, but they could use some public input.

Beffort said there was a brief meeting on this a couple of weeks ago, and the matters delved into included the motivation for having such an association, planing the future of the village (especially once the construction work on Highway 10 is complete) and even setting up social activities. He also pointed out there's a lot of development pressures and activity in town, and while it won't have much direct impact on the village, its effects will be felt.

Paterak pointed out there are four main villages in Ward 1 (Caledon, Alton, Belfountain and Inglewood), and the other three already have associations.

He added the plan of Beffort and himself is to get the association started, then they would back off and let the membership run things.

"This is actually quite a good start," he observed. "Obviously, there's a pentup desire, and a need for an organization that will bring the community together from time to time."

Several people at the meeting raised issues dealing with specific properties.

Paterak told the audience the village is part of the provincial Greenbelt, which puts restrictions on the amount of growth that can take place. The Town can apply every 10 years to have the boundaries changed, but there has to be a sound reason before something like that would go anywhere. He said that means there's not likely to be a big population increase in Caledon village.

One man complained his taxes have gone up considerably over the years, but he hasn't seen the services keep up. He added there needs to be population growth to attract businesses to an area, and since that's not going to happen, he wondered how the residential taxpayers were going to get relief.

Paterak said the province has programs for community improvement plans which the Town can access. That's been done in Bolton, and they could look at one for the village. It would enable the Town to offer breaks on taxes or fees to businesses for a couple of years.

"We consider this the first step to making that happen," Beffort added, referring to the meeting.

Paterak pointed out a cohesive body speaking about what the village needs is going to make a greater impression at the Town than just him and Beffort.

Beffort had proposed having the next meeting in the fall, but several people argued it should be sooner, in an effort to preserve the momentum.

Beffort later said the next meeting will likely be early in July, with the time and location to be announced.