Whether or not the community does join the Town of Gander, Benton may look to it for help in the collection of residential waste. Once the new waste management strategy comes into play, with all garbage and recyclable material sent to a new waste site in Norris Arm, overall garbage maintenance fees in Benton will climb from $7,200 to $13,600 per year.
“Nobody knows until you do a study,” said Mr. Keats. “To come right out and say we’re going to save money would be false. You have to do your homework.”
The community is also considering becoming incorporated as a municipality. Mr. Keats said Benton already has many of the features of a traditional municipality, including building permits, land application fees, a vacant land tax, water and sewer fees, and garbage collection fees.
Beyond those to matters, Mr. Keats said the committee has worked hard to make improvements in the community. The books were balanced in 2009, and work has been ongoing to complete several new additions to the community.
A new library is 80 per cent complete, with a potential grant anticipated to help finish the work. The recreation committee and ASK Prospecting have jointly spent $6,000 on upgrades to Spracklins Landing, and a special memorial was unveiled there last weekend honouring Louie Keats.
Several public spaces will also be renamed in the coming weeks. Spracklins Landing has already been renamed Louie Keats Memorial Park.
The community has also erected a new “Welcome to Benton” sign that was designed by Megan Keats. The committee has also reduced its spending on electricity and balanced the books, with some cash left in the bank.
It elected to raise service fees in the community for the first time since 1998 by $10 per month, which will generate an extra $9,240 per year for Benton to spend.
“The town is growing,” said Candace Dominix, vice-chair of the committee. “There’s been improvements made, council is working together, and it has been run a lot smoother.”
Benton’s population in the 2006 Canadian census was 326 – a 79 per cent increase over the 2001 population, 182.
info@ganderbeacon.ca
.jpg)
.jpg)
