This should be good - an email I got yesterday

For my friends or anyone reading this that are not in New Brunswick or following local politics out here I apologize that you may not be able to relate to this. 

It is a matter taking place in New Brunswick between the municipalities and the provincial government. 

This matter appears to be heating up and I will likely end up in the fray somewhere in my capacity as a Councillor. 

Or maybe not. There is always the possibility that the province and municipalities will see eye to eye and all be happy. We'll see what develops. 

I'm not going to say anymore here and let you read for yourself. 

(I was up for the boys' 6 a.m. hockey practice and I am seriously very very tired.)

Read this and talk amongst yourselves. I'll catch up later. 

  

 NEWS RELEASE

UMNB PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON PREMIER'S/MINISTERS REMARKS CONCERNING PROPERTY TAX

The President of the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick, Mayor David Hanson of Rexton, has taken issue with the remarks of Premier Shawn Graham and some of his Ministers that municipalities are to blame for high property taxes this year.

The comment from the Premier that only five municipalities followed the province's recommendations with respect to rates leaves a false impression with residents/voters that municipalities are totally to blame for high property taxes.

"Tax rates are set by the municipality based on assessments which is a provincial function and it is the assessments that are the problem", states President Hanson. "If the problem is to be fixed it is essential that all parties sit down with each other and work towards a solution which is workable and which meets everyone's needs. That was not the case last year when the province unilaterally decided to establish the Provincial Tax Accountability mechanism without any consultation."

"It is easy to cast blame," added President Hanson, "but that does not solve the issue. As president of UMNB I believe it is imperative to sit down together to come up with a solution which is workable and the sooner the better."

It is UMNB's position that the federal and provincial governments  continue to download responsibilities to municipalities but do not provide any additional funding.

For example, additional insurance for firefighters became mandatory this year at a considerable cost but no funds were provided.

Only eight cents out of every tax dollar collected by the provincial government comes back to the municipal level of government.

Service New Brunswick's Assessment office performs the assessment of all New Brunswick properties thus I recommend the following: For further clarification or questions,  contact the Service New Brunswick Assessment office at 453-2831, specifically Dave Morrison, Assessment Office Manager or 1-888-762-8600. You may also submit a request for review i.e. make an appeal of your property value outlining any concerns and comparison to other homes in your neighbourhood . This must be filed within 30 days of the mailing date of the Assessment and Tax Notice i.e. by March 31^st. I'm confident the Assessment Office will be able to answer any questions and the appeal process may be an avenue to consider pursuing.

Stay well,

Tim

Tim Scammell, PTech

What I wanted to say was this...

For some reason this text didn't post with the picture of Roberto Luongo and the Canadian flag.

Let's try this again;

I guess there really isn't too much that can be put into words about Sunday's Team Canada Olympic gold medal hockey victory over the United States.
That was one of the craziest roller coaster rides of a game that we had ever seen in our lives. Games like that certainly don't come along very often but when they do it's a classic in the making.
I have even heard today that Sunday's game rivals the 1972 Canadian victory over Russia.
Not quite. Close mind you but not quite.
Nothing will ever match that series as long as I live.
However, having the United States tie up the game with only 24 seconds left in the game was insanity.
I can imagine the feelings in the pit of every Canadian's stomach to see our dream game so close to being won and shattered by Parise's goal.
I know we felt it in our house.
There are many who really don't like games to get that close, and I am one of them.
At that point it can go either way and heavens knows we've been on the wrong side of that equation too many times.
But, our maritime Canadian boy Sidney Crosby took care of business and wrapped it up handily.
Outstanding.
Pretty darn proud to be Canadians aren't we?
(Except for the closing ceremonies to the games. Those were a tad embarassing.)
First off do not make the artists lip synch! It's not a good decision, trust me.
Secondly, include Canadian legends such as RUSH, Tragically Hip, Our Lady Peace, Stomping Tom and Gordon Lightfoot and everyone goes away happy.

Oh I almost forgot! I found out last Friday that I  still employed by the Province of New Brunswick for another 3 years. Yay for me!

Stay Well,
Tim

Tim Scammell, PTech

Whoa Canada!

For Shame

Geez have I ever been neglecting this blog lately.
That's what happens in hockey season.
Also, haven't been too delighted about my job term at work ending and
not knowing if I was the successful applicant for my job.
We'll see tomorrow if I have a job on Monday.
Trust me, Council work is charming but doesn't pay enough to put Kraft
dinner on the table.
Stay tuned and stay well.

Tim

Tim Scammell, PTech

I'll make this quick, Discover 4Tissimo

I said I had to go but I want to mention these guys before I get too busy and forget.
I won't go into the whole backstory right now but I want you to check out this wonderfully funny group of guys from the UK.
4Tissimo are 4 young men who perform HipHopera.
Remember that this is comedy.

Copy and paste these addresses.


Their Youtube page.

http://www.youtube.com/4tissimoOfficial


This is their blog page. You'll enjoy it immensely.

http://www.4tissimo.net/


And just to make sure that you don't take it too seriously, this makes it clear.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/4tissimo_disclaimer.shtml



My relationship with the creators of 4Tissimo goes back to one of my favourite Youtube series of all time, Toyboize.
If you haven't had the opportunity to discover them, I urge you to go here and see their story.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Toyboize


They were even so kind as to include me in the Toyboize phenomenon and experience. Look for my cameo in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAefQ8ZQfqY&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=C6EC88095CE7B6F5


Wikipedia has a perfect reference page about them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyboize_(band)


The Boize and 4Tissimo folks already know how I feel but I think that these are brilliant and will always do my part to promote whatever they do.
It's important to me that we always do our part to encourage and promote talent throughout the world, no matter what form it may take. I mentioned this in my blog about Miss Maggie B.
If they are willing to share what they have with us we can at least do what we can to pass it along.
Keep doing what you do so well 4Tissimo. We'll be watching.

Stay well,
Tim

Got you covered

Holy moly, does life ever get busy! I was shocked to see that it's already been 2 1/2 weeks since my last blog entry. It's a good thing I don't get paid for it or I would have been fired ages ago.
Even now I don't have time to say very much.
What I DO want to say is very important.
The lads from The Urban Farmer have been zipping along very well with their work at the York Street Station.
The front section has a new roof now and the rear portion will have its roof on very shortly as well.
Actually, you can see for yourself if you go here (I'm sorry that this isn't a hyperlink. I can't figure that out. Just copy this address and paste into your navigation bar.):

http://www.fred-ezone.ca/webcams/?cam=oldtrainstation

Pretty cool isn't it? It updates and refreshes every couple of seconds.
Instead of waiting to hear from me or someone else how the work is going you can just pop on the webcam.
Here is a picture from the webcam that I was able to save on my IPhone while I was standing at the site. That blob at the right beside the orange and white lift is yours truly.


It's funny that Big Brad mentioned a few months ago that he wanted this webcam done. But I thought it was going to be called the "Scamcam"? :D


One other thing of note.
The workers were able to cut away the old wooden floor to gain access to the full basement area. This photo shows as it was being cleaned out. I point out that there was originally at least 5 feet of water down here which was pumped out.





This is how it looks now. The entire basement has been filled with stone.
I was again impressed with the fact that as they were adding the stone in layers and compacting it a technician was on site with a nuclear densometer measuring the level of compaction that was being obtained.
If he determined the material was not compacted enough the workers continued tamping it down until it was acceptable. I'm impressed.




I have to go.
I promise that I will have another decent blog done in the near future when I have a few minutes.

Stay well,
Tim

Brilliant!

A friend sent me the link to this page a couple of days ago. I finally had a chance to go there and watch it yesterday.
It floored me! What a brilliant way to promote something!
I'm not going to give it away. I want you to watch it for yourself.
I warn you now that it takes a long time to download but for crying out loud just be patient! It's worth the wait.

Trust me.
(I'm sorry these links aren't clickable. For some reason I just can't seem to get that to work for me. Just copy and paste the address into your browser.)

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1263831797567RA34

After you've watched that here is a more amusing version of it.

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1263845795411RA85

This is a brilliant web site. I hope that it stays around for a while so that everyone can try it out.

It made me wish that I could pay a Swedish broadcasting fee!

Don't take my word for it. Go see!

You can be a hero too. :)

Stay well,
Tim