Amaranth Township councillors may have a budgetary wish list for a special March 26 meeting, but for now it's showing a zero increase in its 2007 draft.

That's not to say the council hasn't committed itself to a few expenditures.

At a special 8:30 a.m. budget meeting Wednesday, it approved its $43,000 share of an operating budget for Shelburne & District Fire Department, but deferred any decision on the department's proposed 6-year capital one which included a $500,000 item for a new pumper.

At its regular meeting that followed the budget meeting, the council approved its share of the Grand Valley Library budget, a $44,327 item exclusive of government grants.

Librarian Shann Leighton, who attended the meeting as a delegation, said all municipalities has now approved The over-all library budget this year has increased by 4.1 per cent, to about $186,000 from $178,484. Based on a per-household formula, East Luther Grand Valley pays $98,785 while East Garafraxa pays $26,476.

Amaranth has left the Shelburne library budget for further consideration. In an odd twist, Councillor Percy Way and Deputy Mayor Walter Kolodziechuk both questioned why that budget hadn't risen for the past two years. They felt it should rise to keep in pace with costs of books. "Collections are at the heart of the library," said the deputy mayor.

Township roads are going to present a financial burden, and neither the gas tax nor development charges are expected to ease that.

Paving of four roadways is in the works, and an additional three kilometres are under consideration.

The council feels obligated to pave its share of the Mono Amaranth Town, from 20 Sideroad to 30 Sideroad, at a cost of $524,000. Mayor Don MacIver said Amaranth must undertake the paving as Mono is committed to do the rest of the road.

Also approved at this point are paving of 20 Sideroad from County Road 12 to the Seventh Line ($90,000), and the Second Line from 5 Sideroad south to County 109 ($75,000).

In abeyance are short stretches of the Second and Fourth Lines at a cost of $45,000 each. These are considered to be "new construction," but the council wasn't certain they might qualify for funding with the gas tax. The two stretches, 1.5 kilometres each, are expected to be done, but the hold-up is a decision on funding. Should they qualify for gas tax, the total $90,000 would be transferred from the paving budget to the bridge budget.

The council will be looking for answers between now and March 26.

The township is looking at replacement of two bridges, each at a cost of about $300,000, between now and 2008. It is looking to replace its 1986 truck at an undetermined cost.

Amaranth prides itself on the condition of its roads. Roads Superintendent Doug Price provided maps showing that it lays gravel on 50 per cent of its roads each year. He included colour coding to indicate the source of the gravel.

Storage space at the works yard has become a problem. Mr. Price said he would like to "kill two birds with one stone" by erecting a second sand dome, part of which could be used as a storage area. As an alternative, he and some councillors felt such a structure could be shared with the county for maintenance of County Road 109 including the bypass.

Waste management in Amaranth is indirectly related to roads expenses, but the council will be struggling with a proposal for curbside organics pickup at its March 26 meeting - and possibly at the county council's budget meeting tonight.

This prospect arose when Mayor MacIver said curbside pickup would impact the condition of the Fourth Line favourably, but Deputy Mayor Walter Kolodziechuk pointed out that the county budget has not been finalized as the bylaw had not been passed.

"Do you expect (a lot of) discussion (Thursday night)," asked the mayor. "Yes I do," said the deputy, in what appeared to be a reference to the county's plan to have curbside organics pickup in all municipalities.

The township, meantime, is awaiting quotations from Sandhill Disposal on a possible curbside pickup of organics and other garbage throughout Amaranth.

Irrespective of the outcome, the council would still have to budget for its landfill operations. The consensus Wednesday was that there are items that would still have to be taken to the site, including such as appliances.

Council remuneration occupied a good portion of Wednesday's meeting, but the discussion did not involve pay increases. Rather, it was of a clear-cut definition of when and for what purposes councillors should be paid.

The over-all council stipend, in the aggregate, totals a $50,000 annual budget. In addition, councillors are paid for special meetings and for eligible mileage for other than the regular meetings.

The deputy mayor had called for a written policy which would define eligible meetings and mileage.

When the policy was drafted, it appeared to him that councillors would be required to obtain council approval to attend (and be paid for) special meetings of boards and committees to which they had been appointed. The policy will be redrafted such that councillors are expected to attend all meetings of boards and committee to which they have been named.

Not all councillors have been paid for all meetings they have attended, but CAO Sue Stone said that was because they hadn't submitted an accounting. "I can't keep track of the meetings you attend," she said, and added that she would have no way of knowing whether or not anyone attended a meeting unless they told her.

As an example, there had been a 2-day public meeting called at the behest of Canadian Hydro Developers, and that company had compensated the council for attendance by all councillors.

Councillor Jane Aultman was possibly the only one who had accounted for her attendance, but then only for one of the two days she had been there. Everyone would have been entitled to payment for two special meetings.

In view of the impending Ontario Municipal Board hearings - which could run for as long as 10 weeks later this year - the township would be expected to have a large legal budget for 2007.

In the 2005 draft budget, there was a $100,000 item that became $122,000 plus an $85,000 for Grand River Estates when the bills were paid. The 2006 budget was cut in half, to $50,000, but the actual payout was $61,000.