Pelham, Ontario

“We’re experiencing growth naturally, but we’re also getting a lot of retirees from Toronto on the other side of the lake,” says Mayor Marvin Junkin. “They’re selling their properties at Toronto prices and when they come down to Pelham, the replacement cost is probably about half of what they sold their house in Toronto for. So, we’re seeing a lot of retired professionals move into the town.” Junkin, a first-time mayor, came into office this past election cycle, accompanied by a completely new town council. “The residents in Pelham definitely wanted change,” he states. “Perhaps a more transparent local government that was more fiscally responsible and more communicative, going forward.” One of the administration’s first chores was to better manage the expenses of the town’s recently-built, $36 million, state-of-the-art, community center. “The new council has the task to run this building as efficiently as possible and we have taken that on,” Junkin avers. “All its operations have been looked at and we have made great strides in getting the expenses down. And now that it is up and running, more and more members of the community are realizing just what a benefit it is going to be to the community, going forward. That being said, it was still quite a chunk to bite off for the community and, because of that, certain parts of our infrastructure in other parts of town PELHAM, ONTAR IO