Stuck with $200 bill, Tiny retiree says township doesn't need new library

Tiny Township resident and retiree Paul Bell enjoys being a member of Penetanguishene Public Library's book clubs.

When he went to the library last Friday to sign out an e-book for the December meeting, he was told that the agreement with Tiny Township was dissolved and was asked to pay $200 for a 2024 membership.

"I paid for the membership as my understanding was that it would be reimbursed," said Bell.

While at the library, he said another Tiny family chose not to buy the new membership, due to financial pressures.

"They were a little embarrassed about it," Bell said.

Bell then took his receipt to the township's administrative office, but was told by a clerk that they couldn't refund him the money because they didn't have a protocol to do so.

Bell notified council members. He received a reply from Coun. Steffen Walma, who told him there is a meeting this week to discuss the reimbursement program.

"That is encouraging but also discouraging because it means they are not going to renew the agreement and support the Penetanguishene library and also that they want to build a library in Tiny.

"That makes no sense because we have wonderful, historic libraries in Midland and Penetanguishene and they are convenient," he said.

Bell and his wife regularly visit both the Penetanguishene and Midland libraries as they also go to Askennonia Senior Centre in Midland.

The couple, who grew up in the region and moved away for their careers, moved back in 2018 to enjoy Georgian Bay and the forests. Bell volunteers for multiple environmental organizations.

He says politicians should be protecting the water and the forests, not "building empires."

"As a taxpayer, I would rather that Tiny invests in Georgian Bay and forests rather than empire building with a new library. My tax dollars would be better suited to why I moved to Tiny which is for the water and the trees," said Bell.

Coun. Walma told MidlandToday that Bell will get his money back. He said Bell has been caught in the middle of the procedure of setting up new agreements with libraries in Penetanguishene, Midland and Elmvale.

"He's a victim of process," said Walma.

At Tiny's Committee of the Whole meeting last week, council passed a motion to reimburse Tiny residents for non-resident fees paid to one of three libraries, but that it has to be ratified at a council meeting to take effect. Tiny Township's next council meeting is later this evening.

Furthermore, the existing agreements extend to Dec. 31.

"There are some disagreements over the existing contract because that contract doesn't end until Dec.  31. That's very intriguing that our resident was denied the loan because his receipt shows for Jan. 1. Theoretically, he should have been able to take materials out during the current contract," Walma said.

Walma explained that Tiny sent the Town of Penetanguishene a letter dated Oct. 31, with a 30-day notification, that Tiny was dissolving the existing contract at the end of the year.

Tiny is working on a different model of agreement with the three libraries. The model will reimburse its citizens for a non-resident user fee for one of the three libraries.

Walma said he expects the libraries will be keeping track of the number of Tiny citizens taking out memberships and then bill Tiny for reimbursement, as opposed to citizens having to lay out the cash.

"There is a possibility under this model that we could lose money. We could potentially gain money too. If nobody went to the library, we don't have to pay anything," he said.

Under the old model, Walma predicted that Tiny would have to pay more to the libraries than they did in 2023 due to inflation.

New agreements with the three libraries are expected to be in place before the end of the year.

"If there is no deal struck, residents can still move ahead and they will be reimbursed for their library fees until such time as we can work out the contract details.

Tiny's imminent infrastructure project is building of a new administration centre.

Despite discussion, Walma noted "there has been no council direction to build a new library."