Welcome To Tignish

 Budget-2016

 

Community of Tignish 

Municipal Residential Real Property Tax Refund

effective January 2015

 

A Property Tax Refund is available to the following categories for residential construction:

• Construction of a Single family Dwelling or the purchase of a Single Family Dwelling,
• Placing a home (from outside the Community) on a new foundation to a total value of $100,000 or more
• Construction of a duplex/Multi Family Dwelling or purchasing of a Duplex or Multi Family within the community limits
• A new Construction on same property; Single Family Dwelling, Duplex/Multi Family will be eligible for the incentive if the structure is completely destroyed or demolished
• The incentive will be effective upon occupancy

The incentive program begins January 1^st  and will run for three years.

Incentive Category:

New:     The incentive scale for new construction of a single family dwelling, duplex or multi family l                         first year 100%, second year 75% and third year 50%,   or

Purchase The incentive scale for the purchase of a single family dwelling, duplex or multi family

first year 50%, second year 30% and third year 20%.

Property sold

The Municipal Tax Incentive will be null and void.  The incentive will be one time only for said property.

Payments

The property tax refund will normally be paid out in equal payments on June 1^st, September 1^st and December 1^st .

Application

An application form must be completed and returned along with a copy of their P.E.I. Real Property Tax Bill to the Municipal Office, 209 Phillip Street.

Download Application

Fire protection services are provided to the Community of Tignish by the Tignish Volunteer Fire Department.

The Department is considered a Committee of the Community Council and thereby receives the financial support to maintain its facilities and equipment.

The department is authorized to carry a maximum of 28 active Firefighters and a number of auxiliary members.

The Department provides services to the Tignish Fire District which includes all the area from North Cape to Greenmount, to Profit’s Corner and across country to Skinner’s Pond. The Fire District collects rural fire dues at $40 per homeowner through the Provincial Property Tax system. The Provincial Government then passes on these dues to the Municipality. Residents and businesses within the Community have their fire dues included in their municipal taxes.

History

The biggest fire Tignish has ever seen was the fire on September 1, 1896. It was caused by children playing with matches in Peter Kinch’s carriage shop. It destroyed a large number of buildings, 62 in all and left 14 families homeless.

No more than a week after this fire, the first Tignish Fire Department was organized. It consisted of several leading citizens including A.J. (Sandy) McFadgen, co-worker of Myrick’s company at the time.

This department was known as the Bucket Brigade. Not much is known about this bucket brigade because of lack of written materials. It is known however that from this brigade the organization known as the Air Raid Precaution Group was formed. Tignish was not incorporated at this time so businessmen, the priest, and even the former Governor General, Joe A. Bernard, and other people of the village all pitched in money to get the A.R.P. pump from the army. The pumper and hose reel was received in 1941. The hose reel consisted of 5,000 ft. of 11/2 inch hose. The pump was capable of pumping water from the Tignish River to the post office, a distance of close to one mile. The pump (A.R.P.) consisted of a four cylinder engine, mounted on wheels. A crank was used to start the pump. Sometimes the pump wasn’t very reliable and the building would be lost.

In those days communication at the time of a fire was a problem but a lot of good work managed to get done just the same. The first men at the fire house would haul the large motor and reel of hose over muddy roads. The hose then had to be connected to a well.

In the early ’40’s the village installed underground storage tanks for water. One of these first tanks was installed between the former CN station and what was then called the outdoor rink. There used to be a cement slab; engraved with the year 1941.

The hose reel mentioned earlier is still on display at the new Fire Station on Church St.

The first fire station was built in the early ’50’s, located behind Bernard’s Service Station (now the Co-op Gas Bar). Since the village did not have a truck at the time, the building was very small. In fact the building was a salt shop owned by Myrick’s, with only two rooms, one used to house the pumper and some hose, the other was used for the meeting room. Around 1952, the Firehall was hauled to the Phillip St. site (now the civic building). A single bay was built and Tignish bought its first fire truck.

The two (2) ton G.M.C. that was purchased had a 500 gallon tank on it and a new portable 10 HP Briggs and Stratton Pumper, also fire hose and one extension ladder. This 1950 fire truck, which Tignish was very proud of, was the only fire fighting equipment Tignish had until 1966. In that year a three (3) ton Chev was purchased.

A new fire station on Phillip Street, was built December 16, 1968, and completed in 1969. Working behind the scene were 24 firemen. The fire station cost $23,000 at the time and the land was donated by the Tignish Sports Association. The station was paid for by fundraisers and donations, one of which was $500.00.

(*The 1950’s fire house is now located at Johnny Doyle’s)

In 1974, the Tignish Fire Department, the Tignish Sports Recreation Association and the Community of Tignish formed a Committee of six members, two from each group, and set up an account referred to as the Artificial Ice Account. The Committee raised funds with card plays at the local Legion and bingos at the Parish Centre. The Committee administered the funds as needed, i.e. a resuscitator for the Department and the first ice making plant for the rink.

In 1977, Tignish got its first real fire truck, a 1977 Triple Combination Pierre Thibault and in 1983 another new Pierre Thibault Fire Truck was purchased. In 1986 a new rescue unit was purchased replacing the first one which was an ambulance from Rooney’s Funeral home in Alberton.

Tignish is very proud of its Fire Department and the people that worked to make it what it is today. It has come a long way since the Bucket Brigade. Tignish is safe to say “It has one of the most modern Fire Departments on P.E.I.”

The Firemenette’s Club was formed in the ’80’s. This club consists of the volunteer firemen’s wives, who are very dedicated to the Department. The primary purpose of the club is to serve lunches to the firemen in the event of a serious fire or emergency. They also do fundraising to assist the Fire Department. A few of the things the Firemenettes purchased through fund drives for the Department was a new color T.V. and VCR, that came in handy for watching training tapes, and also kitchen facilities.

The first local telephone exchange was built by Island Telephone in 1911. The first of nine phones was installed in the Parochial House. At the time, the exchange was operated by Mrs. John P. Harper. Later a high school student from the Tignish Convent, Mrs. Evangeline (Gallant) Paturel, took over the telephone exchange which had increased to 18 phones. Mrs. Paturel was a telephone operator for 48 years.

For a fire, whenever someone would call for the Fire Department, Mrs. Paturel would plug in the ends of the cords for the siren that would call the firefighters to the fire. The siren which was electric was located on a thirty foot pole in what was called Myrick’s square.

The Fire Department decided to name Mrs. Paturel as the first female firefighter. Although she couldn’t leave her post at the time of a fire, she served her position well.

When the dial phone system was installed in Tignish, a more modern communication setup was used. There were special phones installed in six of the firefighter’s homes. When someone reported a fire, that person would dial a certain number and all six phones would ring simultaneously, and the parties receiving the message would then contact the firefighters that they were responsible for calling. This system worked well until 1984 when the department installed a paging system.

A new fire station was built at 241 Church Street in 1989 on land donated by Frankie Arsenault. The Station had three bays for trucks, Fire Chief’s office, Firefighters meeting room/lounge on the second floor, furnace room and washroom. In the rear portion of the station was a large clubroom with kitchen and washrooms, as well as a long room which was used by the kindergarten classes. A large under-the-floor water storage tank was constructed in one of the bay areas. The building had a standard water pump at time of opening. Later, a large capacity well was connected to the building to operate a large diameter distribution system to fill the truck water tanks. Around 1994, the clubroom became the EMO Emergency Shelter for Tignish and area. A small room was built onto the back of the clubroom to house a generator capable of handling the power needs of the whole Fire Station. The Provincial and Federal Governments assisted in the purchase of the generator. A 1999 International pumper/tanker was added to the Department’s fleet in 1999 with some help from the RCMP Musical Ride and for providing security at the Bi-Centennial concert featuring Stompin Tom.

After receiving the necessary training, the Department took on the role of First Responders in the year 2000 and assisted the Ambulance Service during medical calls.

In 2003, the space previously used by the kindergarten was opened up to provide more room for the emergency vehicles. Also, this year saw the purchase of the “Jaws of Life” used to extract occupants from cars involved in an accident.

In 2005, the Department added a 2005 International Rescue Unit which replaced the 1986 Chev Cube Van.

In 2006, The Department added a 2001 International tanker to replace the 1984 tanker.

And, in 2008, a 2008 International pumper/tanker was added to replace the 1973 pumper.

The Tignish Fire Department continues to serve the Tignish Fire District and to receive training to make them better at what they do. The Department continually needs new young volunteers to keep their numbers up to the required

The Community is policed by the RCMP under contract with the Office of the Attorney General.  Tignish is patrolled by RCMP members working out of the West Prince Detachment with headquarters in Rosebank at 39544 Route 2 (Western Road).

See PEI Detachments at www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/pe/detach/detach-eng.htm

To contact the RCMP:

Emergencies, phone 911

non-emergency calls 902-853-9300 (Rosebank)

Normal office hours in Rosebank are Monday to Friday 8:30am – 4pm.

Calls after hours will normally be transferred to the Charlottetown Office.

The Rosebank fax number is 853-4324

The Postal Address is:

RCMP – West Prince Detachment

PO Box 70

Rosebank, Elmsdale, PE

C0B 1K0

Residential Garbage Collection on the Island is handled by the Island Waste Management Corporation (IWMC).

IWMC is the Provincial Crown Corporation that administers and provides solid waste management services throughout PEI. IWMC operates and maintains the Waste Watch Program, a 3-stream (Waste, Compost, Recyclables) source separation waste management system. For more information on IWMC go to www.iwmc.pe.ca

Residential properties pay an annual fee of $195, charged to the property’s provincial tax bill. Waste Watch pickup in the Community of Tignish is on Wednesday, alternating weekly between Waste and Compost. Recyclables are picked up in Tignish on the fourth Thursday of the Month. Materials should be out at the end of your driveway by 7a.m. on the day of pickup. Check our page on Events Calendar for the type and date of pickup.

Commercial properties have to arrange for their own waste disposal. They may haul it themselves to the Drop-Off Center at 2022 Dock Rd. (Route #150) in Brockton (tel: 853-8619) for a fee based on weight or contract with trucking companies to haul their garbage to Waste Watch sites.

The Waste Watch Program also operates Spring and Fall Cleanups over a 3- week period, with one week for Metals, one week for Compost and one week for Waste. Check the IWMC website or our page on Events Calendar for the actual dates for these pickups. Have your material out by 7a.m. on Monday of each week. There is a Christmas Tree Collection Day in early January.

For more information on IWMC please phone their Customer Service Center at 1-888-280-8111 or locally in Tignish at 882-0525. Hours of operation: Monday to Friday, 8:30a.m. to 5p.m., until June 1st , then it’s 8:00am to 4:00pm for the summer. Messages left after hours will be taken care of on the next working day.

Extra Waste Watch News brochures and Collection Calendars can be picked up at Access PEI, Tignish or at our Community Office.

IWMC operates a program which allows householders to return non-rechargeable batteries to participating Island grocery stores for proper disposal. The Tignish Co-op provides this service.

The Community Library is located in the Tignish Cultural Centre at 103 School Street with Diane McCue as the librarian. Access to the Library is through the Northeast entrance, closest to Maple St.

To contact the Library:

Telephone: 902-882-7363

or email: tignish@gov.pe.ca

Or regular mail: P.O. Box 399, Tignish, PE, C0B 2B0

Hours of Operation:

Tuesday: Thursday: Friday: Saturday:

1:30 – 4:30pm 1:30 – 4:30pm 1:30 – 7:00pm 1:00 – 4:30pm

After hours, the Library has installed a Book Return Drop Off Box outside the Main Entrance of the Library.

The space for the Library is rented from the Tignish Initiatives Corporation and the Librarian position is funded by the Department of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour.

The Community of Tignish pays for the rented space as well as phone services and provides a small budget to be spent at the Librarians discretion.

Readers can do a search of books online at gov.pe.ca at Provincial Library Services. See librarian for information on this process. If books are not in the Tignish Library, they can be brought to Tignish if they exist somewhere in the Provincial Library system. There are some books written in French within the Tignish Library and the Provincial Library System.

The Library has three computer terminals from the Community Access Program (CAP) site. These computers have Black & White and colour printer capability. There is a small charge for printed pages.

There are two other computer terminals that give the public access to the internet for bill payment and e-mail messaging, etc.

The Library has a TV and DVD player for public use. From time to time, the Library offers used books for sale.

The Library is overseen by a committee of volunteers. See the Librarian for more information.