RR Hotel gets tax rebate for being vacant

Ken Johnston

Rainy River Town Council approved the an application for a rebate on taxes for the Rainy River Hotel last Tuesday evening at their regular monthly meeting.
Rainy River Hotel owner Orest Gushulak applied for a Vacancy Rebate of Property Taxes for 2002. Council approved the application which will now be used to determine how much of a rebate he will be entitled to.
Council also approved a $10,000 advance in funding to the Rainy River Centennial Committee. “This will help cover their costs before revenues start coming in and it shows we support all the hard work they have been doing,” said Councillor Brent Anderson. Mayor Glen Armstrong noted that the committee hopes to make a profit and pay back the town. “They have a very practical plan,” added Anderson.
Council also passed a motion to purchase a new town pickup truck from GM in Dryden in the amount of $23,510 plus taxes.
Council approved nearly a 21% increase in funding the Rainy River Public Library when it approved its annual budget which saw the Rainy River share of funding rise from $24,400 in 2003 to $29,500 in 2004. The largest increase in projected expenditures for the Library were wages. They are expected to rise from $25,500 to $27,000. Most other areas of the budget were cut by the library board including purchases of books and audio from $4,500 to $3,700.
Council also approved the budget for the Rainy River Recreation Board with a 10% cut to their funding. Council will fund that board to the tune of $50,000 this year, down $5,000 from last year.
Council agreed to donate staff time to help with the clean up of the riverfront in town as its contribution to the Rainy River Adopt-A-River program. The value of this donation was put at $475.
The month of May has been declared “Free Dump Month” for all Rainy River residents. Council decided to waive all tipping fees for that month in an effort to get citizens to clean up their properties for the centennial.
Council passed a housekeeping bylaw that appointed the town foreman and subforeman as official Weed Inspectors for the town. This has to be done periodically to allow the town to cut peoples lawns or vacant lots that are left to over grow and bill the costs back to the property owners.
Councillor Larry Armstrong reported that Rainycrest is still fine tuning its budget. They have already told area municipalities that they require a 12.5% increase in per capita levies. “We may need to come to the municipalities again and if we need to we hope to know by the end of June,” said Armstrong. He noted that they have managed to reduce their deficit from $265,000 to $86,000 and are still working on it. “If we get more beds (approved) that might help reduce it further.”
Council passed a bylaw to authorize the signing of the ODRAP addendum by the Mayor and Town Clerk.
Council declared April Cancer Month and June Seniors Month.