Construction activity and building permit revenues in Hawkesbury took a jump in 2018.
The value of construction was more than $8.4 million in 2018. It was $6.7 million in 2017.
Permit revenues went from $106,265 in 2017 to $148,037 for 2018.
Despite the increased construction value and revenue, Hawkesbury issued 203 building permits during the past year and 214 in 2017.
Most of the 2018 permits were residential, with 152 permits issued for additions and repairs. Five permits were for new residential buildings.
There were 32 permits issued for commercial additions and repairs. One permit was issued for a commercial building.
The highest construction value was in the commercial category at over $2.5 million.
Selling property
The Town of Hawkesbury owns a little less land now.
Council voted to sell a small piece of property on Main Street East to a property owner who expressed interest in purchasing it.
The “L”-shaped piece of property is 57-feet at its widest and 250-feet at its longest point.
The purchasers own the adjacent property and have structures that already encroached on the municipal land.
The municipal land is valued at $18,000, but the town accepted a $15,000 offer from the purchasers, who are also covering all appraisal, survey, and legal costs.
Council unanimously endorsed a resolution that asks for the provincial government to reinstate a multi-stakeholder group that used to develop ways of creating an accurate voter’s list.
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), is responsible for giving municipalities the preliminary list of residents that becomes the official voter’s list.
A report from clerk Christine Groulx said the quality of the voter’s list is questioned at each election because of the number of errors on it.
For the 2018 municipal election in Hawkesbury, more than 700 names were deleted. More than 580 were added, and more than 1,000 corrections were made to the list.
