Burnt Point Lane on Buck Lake lived up to its name last Sunday afternoon, when a cottage went up in flames and was a total loss. South Frontenac Fire Crews from 5 stations rushed to the site after rec...
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As part of the promotional campaign for third annual First Responders for PTSD fundraising golf tournament next month, a delegation came to Frontenac County Council on Wednesday morning (May 16). Fron...
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“We’re on a mission and the word is spreading,” said Nancy Roantree of the Kingston Area Seed System Initiative (KASSI), who, along with fellow mission specialist Dianne Dowling, was...
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Roop Sandhu is a police officer with a golden touch. Watching with a smile as hundreds of children pour into the South Frontenac Public Works Yard in Sydenham for a rare chance to peer inside sophist...
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Postal banking would be one way of providing more services to rural postal areas, protecting rural postal outlets and providing banking outlets to communities who don’t have banks, Diane Mitchel...
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Lanark Frontenac Kingston NDP candidate Ramsey Hart received some unexpected media exposure last wee...
North Frontenac’s updated Zoning Bylaw has gone to the solicitor for comments and a ‘fin...
A stripped down Day of the Pig is set for Sunday at the Seed to Sausage retail store on Road 38 (128...
Over the weekend of May 12 and 13, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Frontenac Detachment received...
John Macewen of Verona is running as an independent candidate for MPP in Lanark Frontenac Kingston (...
It’s probably safe to say the proposed plan of condominium for Johnston Point has been controv...
While the staff at FACSFLA (Family and Children’s Services of Frontenac Addington) have been w...
Richard Day pleaded guilty to a replacement charge of mischief after his original charge of committi...
The night should have been dark and stormy, but it was neither. We had come, the six of us, to an an...
Central Frontenac Fire & Rescue (CFFR) called in Ministry Natural Resources water bombers and a ...
Postal banking would be one way of providing more services to rural postal areas, protecting rural postal outlets and providing banking outlets to communities who don’t have banks, Diane Mitchell, national campaign coordinator for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers told N...
North Frontenac’s updated Zoning Bylaw has gone to the solicitor for comments and a ‘final’ draft should be provided to Council June 15, planner Tracy Zander told Council at its regular meeting last Friday in Plevna. From there, a public open house is scheduled for July 13 and a statutory public meeting and passing of the bylaw is expected sometime in August. “We’ve been working with the feedback we received at the last open house,” she said. “We received 20 comments or so. “Next we’ll be focusing on revisions to general provisions and definitions. “I think we’ll bring you a document that’s very special to your needs in North Frontenac.” Zander said hobby farms will be receiving a lot of attention, with the minimum lots size being reduced to five acres from 10. However, a new setback from water will be 150 metres instead of the current 30 metres. There will be new rules governing barn sizes and outbuildings. She said there has also been a lot of interest in keeping chickens. Another area of interest has been outdoor furnaces but Zander suggested that might be better served in a separate bylaw. They also plan to meet with logging companies to get their feedback. Residents are encouraged to contact Clerk/Planning manager Tara Mieske if they have additional comments. • • • Local governments will have more control over planning and appeals with the passage of Bill 139, the Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, County of Frontenac community planner Megan Rueckwald told Council. For one thing, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) replaces the Ontario Municipal Board and will restrict appeal grounds for official plans and zoning bylaws to only matters of consistency and/or conformity with provincial and/or municipal policies/plans. The onus is on the appellant to set out reasons why a Council decision is inconsistent or does not conform with provincial policy and/or an applicable official plan. In matters of non-decision or refusal, the onus is on the applicant to demonstrate how their proposal would be consistent and how existing official plan policies and zoning bylaw provisions fall short. • • • Dep. Mayor Fred Perry wants to see containers at boat launches for broken plastic worms. Perry referenced recent studies that claim such items end up in fish after they are discarded and can cause a variety of issues in those fish. Coun. Gerry Martin argued that such containers and corresponding signage should be conservation authority or lake association initiatives. “My guess is that Canonto Lake would like one for its boat launch,” said Coun. Denis Bedard. Council decided it was worth a try on as a “trial project.” “If you only get two broken worms in a box, it’s not worth it,” said Perry. He said the Conservationists of Frontenac were prepared to provide the signs and boxes.
The North Frontenac Star Gazing Pad begins its 2018 series of events this Saturday (May 12) at dusk with The Realm of Galaxies. There should also be some good opportunities to view Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. Astronomer-in-residence Gary Colwell says there are a number of new initiatives this year. “On May 12, I’ll be bringing a MallinCam video camera for live, in colour views of the planets and galaxies,” he said. “The MallinCam is specially designed to produce pictures so you get images that aren’t fuzzy.” This should be advantageous this weekend when viewing the Andromeda, Dumbbell, Sombrero, Whirlpool and/or M106 galaxies. (M106 has a very luminous core and was instrumental in the development of the theory that galactic centres are supermassive black holes.) The other news this summer is the development of a GoFundMe campaign in support of building an observatory to house the 16” telescope that was donated to North Frontenac Township by the Ottawa Centre branch of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. “It’s a 16” Newtonian telescope and a real light bucket,” Colwell said. “With a 12”, you can see the Orion Nebula. With a 16”, you can see colour in the Orion Nebula. “You can see some details on Mars and the Cassini Division in the rings of Saturn.” A 16” telescope is designed for deep sky viewing, he said. “We’re looking at a 16’ by 20’ building with space for the telescope and people viewing,” he said. “We were hoping to have it built this summer, and still might but we’re behind where we wanted to be so we started the fundraising campaign and hope to get $20 here and $20 there. “We’re looking for between $25,000 to $30,000 and if you make a large enough donation, we’ll name it after you.” More details on the GoFundMe campaign are available on the Dark Skies Preserve Facebook page. There are 11 events scheduled this summer including Sept. 1 when seven planets will be observable in one evening (Mercury being the only no-show). All of the events are scheduled to coincide with new moons. The Observation pad is open every evening at 5816 Road 506.
It was the history event that almost didn’t happen. After the windstorm last Friday night, power was out all over the north county, including Clar-Mill Hall in Plevna. For Brenda Martin, coordinator of the Clarendon and Miller Community Archives, this presented quite the challenge as the History Mystery Tour was scheduled for Saturday. “(On Saturday Morning) I chased a hydro guy down the road,” she said. “When he told me it could be some time before power was restored, I had to get Jason Lemke to bring over generators from the Township. “We usually have an annual event on the first Saturday in May.” By the time the doors opened at noon, everything was up and running on generator power. The ‘Tour’ consisted of a simulated tour around the hamlets and mines of old North Frontenac, using the K & P Railway “The Tour is based on our latest book, Historic Tours of North Frontenac,” Martin said. “The ‘Mystery’ part is based on answering three questions from the book but there were also clues in The Frontenac News and as you travel around the various hamlet displays, the questions will be answered.” Visitors got their ‘tickets’ punched at the various hamlet stops (Myers Cave, Fernleigh, Ardoch) and answered questions based on the book. The tickets were then entered in a draw for a substantial prize package donated by local businesses. “It’s a lot of fun,” said Martin. The other aspect of the event was to showcase the new lodge signs, designed by co-op students Natalie Reynolds and Shannon Delyea. “There are 10 already done and five more to come,” said Martin. “The Township will be putting them up this summer.”
Mayor Ron Higgins’ involvement with One Small Township, the business concept being explored in North Frontenac, doesn’t seem to be sitting well with much of his Council, at least when he uses the ‘Mayor’ title when promoting and/or talking about it. The issue came up at last Friday’s regular Council meeting in Plevna, under the correspondence heading when Higgins presented council with an update. “I attended the Open House (at Clar-Mill Hall, two weekends ago) and left with the impression these are private businesses, albeit a little different ones,” said ouncillor Vernon Hermer. “This is getting far too much attention compared to other businesses.” “This was a way for me to update council,” Higgins said. “If you don’t want me to update, I won’t.” “You’ve been promoting this as Mayor,” said councillor Denis Bedard. “I know there’s been an ombudsman complaint come in. “Should we be seeking a legal opinion?” “We have talked with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing,” said CAO Cheryl Robson. “They seem to be ok with it as long as we provide them copies of what comes to Council. “We’ve not sought legal advice because we’ve not been instructed to do so by council.” In his update, Higgins said: “My role in this program is to facilitate and guide organizations and investors through the process required for attracting and retaining new businesses and residents. “I am not, and do not plan to be, directly involved with any business operations to ensure that I remain impartial and abide by the Ontario Municipal Act. “I will however attend business meetings to provide advice and provide them with current bylaw requirements to ensure a smooth introduction of proposed projects. “I will also work with other levels of government and regulatory agencies, such as Canada Revenue Agency, to abide by current legislation, identify opportunities for funding and garner support for various projects.” “Perhaps this (an update in the action items section of the correspondence agenda) is inappropriate,” said councillor John Inglis. “We get communications for private businesses and that doesn’t (go in this section).” “I don’t think private business should be discussed in council,” said councillor Gerry Martin. “When the Mayor gets up at county council and discusses it, it’s inappropriate,” said Bedard. In a recorded vote, Council passed a motion not to have updates on One Small Township included in correspondence. Higgins cast the lone vote against the motion. Council voted to support the Township of Baldwin’s motion asking the Federal Government cancel Bill C-71 which would add new firearms regulations. “There already have been millions spent on it and that ended in failure,” said Vernon Hermer. “Why would it work now?” In a recorded vote, the motion passed 4-2, with Mayor Ron Higgins and John Inglis voting against. Mayor Ron Higgins’ request for the use of a township community hall at no cost to hold an “investors session” to allow for an “investors session to allow all/any businesses in North Frontenac and investors to discuss project funding requirements” was defeated in a tie vote with Denis Bedard, Gerry Martin and Vernon Hermer voting against. Higgins said that right now, there are 18 “investors” for One Small Township. “Well, we haven’t been asked by this group,” said John Inglis. “It’s not a business asking for it, it’s me,” said Higgins. “It’s to organize an investors day.” “I don’t favour this at all, it’s a private business,” said Bedard. “It’s had an impact on business in our community,” said Higgins. “Hold on,” said Bedard. “I’ve seen no evidence of any impact or that they’ve hired any local people.” After launching into an economic argument as to why contributionism would be bad for the local economy, Hermer concluded: “this scheme stinks.” “I would support this on a one-time basis,” said John Inglis. “I’m not afraid of these people.” “You should be,” said Bedard. “If the investors want to pay the fee and book the hall, it still could happen,” said CAO Cheryl Robson. Council also passed a resolution that Contribute & Thrive can come to the Economic Development Task Force and present their case.
A stripped down Day of the Pig is set for Sunday at the Seed to Sausage retail store on Road 38 (12821) south of Sharbot Lake. After moving the popular event to the Sharbot Lake beach, expanding it and charging a $20 admission, Seed to Sausage owner Mike Mckenzie found himself t...
Richard Day pleaded guilty to a replacement charge of mischief after his original charge of committing an indecent act was withdrawn. The charge stemmed from an incident that took place in the Missisippi/Snow Road area. Day attended at a residence to discuss the repair of a generator. While he was there he made graphic suggestive comments towards one of the residents, a woman whose first name is Erica. A couple of the comments were read out in court by crown counsel as part of the account of the facts of the case. Before sentencing, Erica made a victim impact statement. She said that ever since the incident she has found it difficult to leave the house for fear Mr. Day may be watching. She said she is now taking antidepressants and unable to live the kind of life she came to the area to live. She traces the onset of her problems to the events that took place on the day Mr. Day visited. The Crown asked Judge Griffin for a suspended sentence and an 18 month period of probation. The defence noted that they could have taken the case to trial because there were “triable issues” to the crown’s case but that Mr. Day wanted to deal with the matter with no further delay. The defence asked for a 12 month period of probation. Judge Griffin took the middle path and imposed a 15 month probationary period. He also ordered Mr. Day to remain, at all times, more than 100 metres away from the victim. Driving offences deferred.Robert Moody, charged with driving with blood alcohol over 80 mg/100ml of blood and impaired driving, will return on June 18. Paul Sullivan, facing an ‘over 80’ charge, will return on July 16. Dwight Vanalstine, who faces 5 driving related charges, including driving while disqualified and driving with open liquor in a vehicle, is seeking legal aide and will return on June 18. Randall Kirckwood, is facing an ‘over 80’ and an open liquor charge. He will return on June 18. Other ongoing cases.Mallary Kehoe faces 9 charges including: theft of a vehicle, break and enter, possession of stolen property, failure to comply with court ordered conditions, failure to appear in court, and 4 counts of driving while under suspension. She will also appear on June 18. Gypsey Villas and Jessica Villas are both facing 2 counts of fraud over $5,000 and will also return on June 18.
Central Frontenac Fire & Rescue (CFFR) called in Ministry Natural Resources water bombers and a helicopter fire crew to assist with a large wild fire May 14, 2018. At 1725hrs CFFR received a call from a resident reporting their power out and they could smell smoke in the area. CFFR located a large wild fire in a remote area between Mclean Road and Fox Road. Due to the size of the fire, remote location and the fire threatening a large area of pine and cedar, CFFR requested assistance from MNRF. Due to the aggressive attack by CFFR Firefighters the fire was stopped before getting deep into the coniferous trees. The fire was declared under control at 2020hrs. CFFR returned to the scene this morning to extinguish remaining hot spots. The cause of the fire was due to a tree falling on power lines and igniting.
Love You to the Moon is Shawna Mathison’s first book of poetry for children, and it reflects her exploration of the universal aspects of children that can be hidden when the differences between us become the focus. She has written 5 books, the first ones were in the junior fiction/fantasy genre, and after ths book of poetry she is working on her first adult novel. Her last two books, including Love You to the Moon, have been published by Pemmican Publications, a Metis press out of Winnipeg. “Love you to the Moon is for the child in all of us” she said. It’s one long poem that is more impressionistic than anything else Shawna has written, looking into a diversity of family makeups and fostering acceptance of differences. She does all of her own illustrations. She will be holding a book launch at the Cardinal Cafe on Saturday, May 26 from 1-4pm, which will include a number of readings from her new work.
For the Bond family of Godfrey, being involved with the Lake Effects FIRST Robotics team, was kind of like being a hockey family. This winter was filled with after-school working sessions two or three times a week in Kingston, trips to regional competitions across Ontario, and finally to Detroit. With three of his kids involved (Freja, Torin and Saben), father Damon had little choice but to get involved himself as a mentor/coach/cheerleader. The grade 9-12 kids on the Lake Effects team were focused on this year’s FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) challenge, which was to build a robot capable of moving and stacking large blocks in order to tip a set of scales in the prescribed direction. Lake Effects worked in partnership with other teams at competitions, and withing the team itself members also brought different skills to the group and took on different tasks. The whole competition culminated in a final event in Detroit at the Ford Centre in front of 40,000 people. For Lake Effects, it was a historic competition win, and the culmination of a massive effort, lots of and learning and lots of fun. They are world champions. For Freja Bond, who is in her last year of High School, it was the final chapter in her involvement with FIRST. Her role at the competition was the judge liaison for the team. And it culminated in the above photo when she presented a team had to one of most prominent icons for women in science and technology in Canadian history, former astronaut and current Governor General Julie Payette.
Burnt Point Lane on Buck Lake lived up to its name last Sunday afternoon, when a cottage went up in flames and was a total loss. South Frontenac Fire Crews from 5 stations rushed to the site after receiving the call at 2:45pm. They found “the cottage was fully involved and ...
“We’re on a mission and the word is spreading,” said Nancy Roantree of the Kingston Area Seed System Initiative (KASSI), who, along with fellow mission specialist Dianne Dowling, was at the opening of the Frontenac Farmers Market in Verona Saturday. Their ‘mission’ is essentially to collect seeds and share them through a local network. “We’re here to encourage people to consider seed saving,” said Dowling. “It’s a growing, self-sustaining movement.” To that end, they have a multi-facetted approach ranging from workshops, lectures and seminars, to an annual seed swap (Seedy Saturday in March, which has had to move to a larger venue every couple of years) to community gardens to having farmers grow plants specifically for seed. “We have three local seed companies we’re involved with (Bear Root Gardens in Verona, The Mountain Grove Seed Company and Kitchen Table Seed House on Wolfe Island) but we’d like to have more,” Dowling said. “We’d like to encourage farmers to set aside some land to grow seeds for a small stipend.” “To me, clean, open-pollenated, non-pesticide, tastier plants that you can harvest is a worthwhile project,” said Roantree. The first Seedy Saturday was held on Wolfe Island in 2008. KASSI itself began in 2011as an incorporated not-for-profit but the original movement began in the 1960s as large corporations started taking over small regional seed companies. Often that meant that seeds that were naturally selected by our ancestors for more than12,000 years were being patented by corporations. KASSI estimates that 10 corporations control 67 per cent of global proprietary seed. And corporations generally conduct research (often by co-opting public institutions) that support their commercial interests, rather than the interests of the public. “By growing open-pollenated heirloom varieties and conserving their seed, we serve as responsible stewards of our seed heritage,” said Dowling. For more information or to become involved, visit their website at www.seedsgrowfood.org.
Roop Sandhu is a police officer with a golden touch. Watching with a smile as hundreds of children pour into the South Frontenac Public Works Yard in Sydenham for a rare chance to peer inside sophisticated equipment, Const.. Sandhu talks with pride about the special event he helped create last year dubbed Touch the Truck. “It’s a combined effort between emergency services and the public works department,” explains Const. Sandhu, Media Relations Officer with South Frontenac OPP. “Representatives include the Frontenac paramedic and police services and South Frontenac Township Fire & Rescue and public works department; roughly 20 vehicles are on display.” Standing beside Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth on May 10, Const. Sandhu credits the event’s success to Segsworth and his team who expanded the activity to include a charity barbecue. “Everyone here is a volunteer, they’re on their own time,” says Segsworth proudly, gesturing to the men and women cooking food and manning township equipment. “We’re trying to put the public back into public works.” Watching as dozens of children and families touch a fire truck, ambulance, police vehicles, boat, ATV and construction equipment, Segsworth notes with a grin, “It’s fantastic.” Const. Sandhu echoes that sentiment. “It’s good for us to get introduced to the community and for the community to get to know us,” he explains. According to the men, an awareness campaign by emergency services was combined with a spring open house by the public works department two years ago. The end result was a popular evening in support of the United Way Success by Six Campaign. “It’s pretty cool how much they have here,” says Megan Leavitt as she watches her children play in the cab of a township snowplow. “This gives the kids an opportunity to touch the vehicles and see what’s inside,” adds Nicole Renaud of Sydenham. “They’re not as afraid.” Pleased with the evening, Const. Sandhu admits this special event will be one of his last acts as the detachment’s Media Relations Officer, a role he has held for the past four years and ends this June. “I’m going to miss all of the contacts I’ve made in the community,” he says fondly. “But it’s not like I’m going anywhere. I’m still with the detachment. I’m just in a different role.” Reflecting on his achievements over the past four years, Const. Sandhu says he’s proud of his accomplishments with community mobilization, a push by police to be more involved in the community and connect people with the right resources. “It’s been great meeting everyone,” he says kindly. “Police aren’t the answer for everything and it’s good to know about other community resources. That’s the direction policing is going. To get people the help they need.” Catherine Reynolds
Over the weekend of May 12 and 13, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Frontenac Detachment received several complaints of Break and Enters that occurred to five (5) separate cottages on laneways around Thirty Island Lake which is located on the east side of Highway 38 south of Westport Road in South Frontenac Township. Sometime on May 11, culprit(s) entered sheds and cottages and stole several items including trailers, and boats on trailers. Estimated loss of property and damage is approximately $25,000. The police are continuing to investigate these thefts and are seeking assistance from the public. If anyone has any information they are being asked to contact the Frontenac OPP Detachment at 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or online at www.tipsubmit.com where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward.
It’s probably safe to say the proposed plan of condominium for Johnston Point has been controversial in many aspects, but there really isn’t much South Frontenac can control until contracts are signed, Township lawyer Tony Fleming told Council at its regular meeting Tuesday night in Sydenham. Fleming said that until a draft plan of condominium is signed (ie, a legal contract), the Township has no authority to enforce conditions. Once said draft plan is signed, the Township can then assure that conditions set out in the plan are fulfilled to its satisfaction before sending its comments to the County, who then assumes responsibility for approving the final plan. “So, in terms of enforcement, we’re in some kind of legal limbo,” said Coun. Alan Revill. “The Township has no authority to enter onto the property or the ability to enforce conditions that will ultimately be included in the condominium agreement or the site plan agreement right now,” Fleming said. “The developer must still comply with Species at Risk legislation, for example, and if any act on site affects habitat for such species, the MNRF has enforcement duties (but) we are not aware of any activity that has been alleged to breach this legislation.” Fleming said they are aware that residents have expressed concerns that within 30 metres of the water branches may have been trimmed and dead wood or other debris may have been removed. There are provisions in the draft plan agreement to address those concerns but until the agreement is signed, there is no mechanism to enforce them. Council passed a resolution directing staff to return with a draft plan of condominium for passage at the June 5 meeting. The fate of Fermoy Hall is still up in the air. Council seemed in agreement that it is a building of historical significance but what to do with the $76,906 set aside for renovations and/or restoration is still in question. Councillor Ross Sutherland suggested the hall could be part of a larger initiative of economic development involving bus trips from Kingston. “There are people coming through Kingston that have never seen a beaver dam or a school built in the 1800s,” he said. Council agreed that restoration would be preferable to renovations and instructed staff to take a small portion of the funds to get some advice as to how much restoration would cost. “If you really want to take a bus ride past Fermoy Hall, be at my place at 6 a.m.,” joked Mayor Ron Vandewal. “I’m by there five days a week (in his capacity as school bus driver).” Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth did a mea culpa on the Bedford Road work in Sydenham. “I want you to know that we’ve made a mistake and I’m not looking anywhere but in the mirror,” he said. The problem, he said is that you have a sidewalk, a trail and a roadway coming together and accommodating the needs of each has proven difficult, especially considering the area is very busy do to the grocery and hardware stores. “What looks good on paper doesn’t always work out so well in real life,” he said. Segsworth said that they do think they have a workable plan now but warned Council that the project will be over budget. He said it was unlikely the project will be finished by this weekend but expected things should be done by the middle of next week.
As part of the promotional campaign for third annual First Responders for PTSD fundraising golf tournament next month, a delegation came to Frontenac County Council on Wednesday morning (May 16). Frontenac Paramedic Services is helping to organise the event, and in addition to ra...
When the Festival of Small Halls started up in Ontario in the fall of 2014, it consisted of one performer, Nova Scotia’s Old Man Luedecke, and three halls, in Perth, Gananoque and Bloomfield. By the time the fourth edition rolled around, in 2017, there were 34 venues and performers from across the folk-roots spectrum including Ashley MacIsaac, Rose Cousins, Great Lake Swimmers and others. But there were no venues in Frontenac County. They were close, in Bolingbroke, Maberly and McDonalds Corners, all part of the Frontenac News distribution area in western Lanark County, in Seeley’s Bay, and even in Tamworth, but not InFrontenac. That is all changing this year. Among the new venues, which will now total over 40, are three in Frontenac County, the Grace Centre in Sydenham, the Golden Links Hall in Harrowsmith, and the Snow Road Community Centre. The festival runs in late September, and dates and performers at all of the halls will be announced in the early summer. The festival tends to provide a venue for local acts to open the evening, followed by national or international acts. It is supported by the company that runs the Ottawa Bluesfest and City Folk and is a not-for-profit venture. One of the goals of the festival is to bring renowned musicians to smaller communities, and another is to celebrate the enduring charm and function of small halls in rural Ontario. The festival website puts it this way: “Every small community has one: a treasured building that brings people together for town meetings, community dinners, bingo games, local theatre, book sales—and the list goes on. These buildings have rich cultural histories and countless stories to tell. No two are alike.” The Frontenac County Halls that were chosen certainly fit that bill. The Grace Centre seemed doomed when the Grace United Church was closing, but thanks to the vision of the late Joan Cameron, the Southern Frontenac Community Services Board of Directors and Executive Director David Townsend, the church has been converted into a seniors’ centre and the chapel has become an arts and music venue, The Grace Centre. The Golden Links Hall in Harrowsmith actually burnt to the ground in 1972, and through the efforts of the local Oddfellows and Rebekah’s a new hall was built. And when it came time to hold a commemorative ball for Frontenac Counties 150th anniversary, it was hosted at the Golden Links Hall. The Snow Road Hall was under threat of closure a few years ago, when the late Mayor Bud Clayton mused about closing the lesser used halls and building a central hall for the township. The local community rallied around their hall, and haven’t looked back. It is now one of the busiest halls in the entire region, and has been upgraded several times, and has been hosting intimate concerts on a semi-regular basis. It is this kind of history, and the enthusiasm of the people who use and foster these halls, that drew the Festival of Small Halls to them. Stay tuned for more details about the 2018 concert series in a local hall near you.
At a meeting of Frontenac County Council last week (Wednesday, April 18) South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal made it clear that neither his township, nor Frontenac County, have the expertise to decide whether developers are in compliance with conditions set out in draft planning approvals. “We, as municipalities depend on MNR-F [Ministtry of Natural Resources and Foresty] the CRCA [Catatraqui Region Conservation Authority], and the health unit. We look to their reports.Anybody can say what is done and what isn’t being done, but we have to depend on those agencies,” he said Sarah Harmer, of nearby Elginurgh, accompanied by Loughbotough Lake resident Meela-Melnick Proud, had just presented council with what they asserted was evidence a breach of Condition 5a of the draft approval for a plan of vacant land condominium which is slated to create 15 building lots at Johnston’s Point on Loughborough Lake. The evidence came in the form of photos and a video of some brush free land adjacent to the shore of the Lake. The draft approval, which was contained in a ruling by the Ontario Municipal Board, includes 50 conditions, which must be met before the plan receives final approval and the lots can be sold. Condition 5A includes the following: the “agreement applying to all the waterfront units shall set out the municipality’s environmental protection policies requiring that the area within 30 metres of the high water mark of a waterbody or wetland shall be maintained in a natural state for soil and vegetation.” County planner Joe Gallivan said that after receiving a letter from Harmer and Melnick-Proud that contained the photos and other information, he visited the site along with Andrew Schmidt, from the Cararaqui Region Conservation Authority, on April 10th. In his verbal report to Council, Gallivan said that while be saw that a number of dead trees had been felled within a 30 metre buffer zone around the shoreline, as well as some limbs off living trees, he felt the shoreline had not been cleared of vegetation, but he also said that he is a planner, and is not qualified to do environmentla assessments. Gallivan also read out a section from an email that he had received on April 17th from Schmidt. In it, Schmidt made two comments about the 30 metre buffer zone around the shoreline. His first comment appears to contradict what Ron Vandewal said. Referring to condition 5A of the draft ruling by the OMB, Schmidt wrote “ the principles of the draft plan of approval are contained in a letter of agreement between the development of the property and the principal approval authority (in this case Frontenac County). The CRCA has no regulatory jurisdiction over draft plans of approval. Compliance with terms of the agreement rests with the Principal Approval Authority”. Later in his email, Schmidt did comment on what he found at the shoreline, this time in reference to the CRCA’s role in ensuring that development does not “interfere with the hydrological functioning of wetlands” within 30 metres of the shoreline. “ CRCA staff did not observe evidence of any activity that would interfere with the hydrological function of the wetland during the site inspection of April 10, 2018,” he wrote. “I’m a little confused, the citizens are saying there has been clearing CRCA says no, in the absence of seeing it I take the citizens at their word,” said Councillor John Inglis from North Frontenac. “We do not have a role here,” said Frontenac County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Pender. “We are not a police agency If they clear cut that property tomorrow, there is nothing we can do. Our job is at the end of the process to determine if they have met the conditions. If the shoreline is disturbed, then the developer will not be able to fulfill those conditions and the plan will will not go through. That is when we have a role, not before.” Melnick and Harmer also expressed the concern that some of the pre-development work being done on the property is harming the habitat for some species at risk that have been identified on the site (whip-poor-wils, black rat snakes, blandings turtles and a species of bat). These species are subject of a process between the developer and the MNR-F. “Everything that comes to us, include this presentation, we forwarded to the MNR-F, so they will see it and they can evaluate it,” said Joe Gallivan. While final approval of the plan of vacant land condominium is still pending and will remain so for some time, the 15 lots have been on the market and a number of them have been marked as sold on a real estate website. Of those that remain listed, the price ranges from $240,000 for lots that do not have water frontage, to $350,000 and as much as $469,000 for waterfront lots. Johnston’sa Point is located off of North Shore Lane in Storrington District. (source – Boneliving.com)
A controversial vacant land plan of condominium on Loughborough Lake will be considered once again by Frontenac County this week, and if the county follows the advice of their lawyer, opponents of the project will be disappointed when they leave. Meela Melnick-Proud, Sarah Harmer and Matt Rennie will appear as a delegation. They will be armed with a lengthy report outlining, among other things, how the shoreline at some of the locations in the proposed condominium development has been cleared, in contravention, they say, of one of the “conditions of approval” that were included in a ruling by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) in its ruling on the project. Their report quotes item 5b of the OMB ruling “... the vacant land condominium agreement applying to all the waterfront units shall set out the municipalities environmental protection policies requiring that the area within 30 metres of the highwater mark of a waterbody or wetland shall be maintained in a natural state for soil and vegetation.” They made a similar presentation to South Frontenac Council two weeks ago, and South Frontenac asked Frontenac County to investigate the matter. A lawyer working for the opponents, David Donnelly, states in a letter of opinion that under Rule 106 of the Ontario Municipal Board, the county can act directly to halt a development if an applicant has failed to comply with conditions set out in an OMB ruling. In his opinion, failure to maintain the shoreline in a natural state constitutes such a failure to comply. “The Township having had regard to all the circumstances should act as authorized to preserve the site, order restoration, and deny development. The only question remaining is whether the Township will act in the public interest to do so. Failure to act will also send a clear, and opposite, message to residents,” he concludes at the end of his letter of opinion. When Frontenac County Council considers the matter this week, they will have a letter of opinion from their own lawyer, Wayne Fairbrother, which contradicts Donnelly’s opinion. Fairbrother said that the county does not have the authority to change the conditions of approval for the subdivision since the matter is now the subject of an OMB ruling. He also said that the County’s role at this time is merely is to confirm that the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNR-F) has been approached about species at risk issues and that all the recommendations coming from the MNR-F are eventually incorporated into the plan of condominium. Magenta corporation has applied to the MNR-F for a “benefit permit” based on a plan to offset the impacts of the project on habitat for three species at risk, gray (black) rat snakes, blandings turtles, and whip-poor-wills. That application still pending. Based on legal advice, county staff have recommended that Council and should not act on the concerns expressed by Melmick-Proud, Harmer, and Rennie. The matter went before Frontenac County Council on Wednesday, after this newspaper went to press. (The decision of Council will be posted at Frontenacnews.ca)
In February, Frontenac County Council gave its approval for staff to proceed with expropriation on three properties whose landowners had decided not to accept the purchase offers from the county, and last week those expropriations took effect. The three properties are all located on Road 38, on the stretch between Tichborne and Sharbot Lake. That stretch originally included 22 pieces of the former K&P rail line that had been sold off to the adjacent landowners. For the other 19 properties, either an agreement was reached or the county was able to find an alternate route for the K&P trail, whose completion has been a signature goal of the council for almost ten years. Two of the three pieces that are being expropriated are located in South Frontenac Township. In each of the cases a verbal agreement was reached between the county and the landowner, but that deal was eventually rescinded by the landowner, according to Frontenac County Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Kelly Pender. “Offers were made and were accepted. In these cases, the lawyers for the property owners, informed us that they were no longer willing to accept the offers,” said Pender. “In February we started expropriation proceedings, which took some time. We are obligated to pay market value for the properties and it took time to do the appraisal and go through all the other necessary steps.” Late last week, the property owners received notices via registered letter, and they have 30 days to respond to the offer. The County has the authority to expropriate lands under the Expropriation Act of Ontario. “The Expropriation Act allows a municipality, approval authority or a public agency to take property for a purpose deemed to be in the public interest, even though the owner of the property may not be willing to sell it,” is how the Act is described in an information sheet put out by the Province of Ontario. The property owners who have received the registered letter have 30 days to respond. The Expropriation Act provides for two options for property owners seeking to dispute an expropriation order. They can file an appeal with the Board of Negotiation, which will lead to an attempt to come to a mediated settlement. Or they can launch an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board, which can be expensive because of legal costs associated with presenting a credible legal case. Although the property owners are able to appeal the settlement offered by the county in this case, the expropriation itself, the forced transfer of ownership over the land in question, cannot be appealed to the municipal board. “Once the notice of expropriation is published, the land is the property of Frontenac County. The property owners all have lawyers, who have been in contact with our lawyers, so everyone is aware of what they can and cannot do,” said Pende The propertty owners could take the county to court to see if a judge is willing to over-ride an expropriation order, but the expense could be substantial, and the fact that a price for the property had been agreed upon at one stage might make a court appeal dubious, at best. When asked if the property owners could ask a judge to overturn the order, Pender said “the property owners should talk to their lawyers about that.” Frontenac County is planning to complete construction on the trail between its border with the City of Kingston at Orser Road and the trail junction at Sharbot Lake, within a few months. The final hurdle, now that trail ownership is secured, will be a persistent swampy section.
While the staff at FACSFLA (Family and Children’s Services of Frontenac Addington) have been working hard for many years to provide the kinds of resources and supports that families in crisis need in order to keep children in the family home wherever possible, the fall back...
Tickets for the annual Pine Meadow Special Needs Fund raffle are now on sale at various locations. The proceeds from the raffle sales go towards monthly excursions for the residents at Pine Meadow Nursing Home in Northbrook. The prizes are a beautiful quilt funded and constructed by the Land O Lakes Quilting group and hand quilted by the Treadles Quilting Group, and a concrete bench and side table designed by Tuscany Concrete. Tickets are $3.00 each or 2 for $5.00 and will be sold up until the day of the Pine Meadow Charity Golf tournament on June 23rd. The draw will be held at Pine Meadow on that date and results will be announced at the tournament. Only 2,500 tickets were printed so they may not be available for that long. They are available at Pine Meadow, Nowell Motors and other locations. Look for volunteers in front of local grocery stores later this month. The Special Needs Committee also organises the annual Pine Meadow Classic at Hunter’s Creek golf course. It is the biggest fundraiser they run, netting in excess of $15,000 each year. Tickets for the tournament, which include a BBQ lunch and green fees, are a reasonable $55 per person, and are available through Eleanor Nowell at Nowell motors. Call 613-336-2547. Laury Hitchcock is a long time volunteer with the special needs committee. She said that both the raffle and the tournament owe a lot of their success to the support of the small business community, and to families, in the surrounding region. “The tournament has 80 to 100 sponsors, with new ones coming on every year. And there are the players. One family, cottagers in the area, bring two teams every year. They make it a tradition.” Over its 15 year history the tournament has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, and all of the money has gone towards extras that are not covered in Pine Meadow’s funding. The home is a community owned not for profit enterprise, under the umbrella of Land O’Lakes Community Services. This year the money raised will go towards: adjustable dining room tables, additional patio furniture, an auto-scope, woodworking materials, slings and replacement lifts.
Parent advisory councils everywhere are always looking for a new wrinkle when it comes to fundraising, so it should come as no surprise that the North Addington Education Centre was willing to take a leap of faith and hold an art night last Friday evening at the school. “This is the first one, and they’re getting popular all over,” said Amanda Mousseau, who organized the event along with fellow parent advisory council member Michele Alcock. “It’s something different from your regular fundraiser. “And you get to take home something.” The ‘something’ in this case is a 16” by 20” acrylic on stretched canvas painting of a lake scene. “A landscape is a nice entry level to painting on many levels,” said instructor Katie Ohlke, who is also the school art teacher. “A tree really can’t look wrong and they learn some painting skills that they can use for a lifetime.” Acrylics are used because oils are banned in schools because of the fumes and they’re much more durable than watercolours. Ohlke begins by outfitting each of the 16 students with a canvas, brushes and paints (using only the three primary colours — blue, red, yellow — plus white not only for simplicity but also to explore how secondary colours — green, purple, orange — are mixed). Then she gives them a photocopy of a photograph of Lake Tanamakoon taken by her friend Tina McAuley. “We show them how to draw the scene, and some colour mixing from primaries,” Ohlke said. “It teaches them to think more. “We want them to create their own spin on things.” She said no two of the paintings will turn out exactly the same. “This one (landscape scene) allows for a lot of creative licence,” she said. Then again, given the prospective audience for such an activity, a lake landscape did seem like the perfect choice for subject matter. “It’s knowing our demographic,” she said. “Besides, it’s not warm enough in here for figure drawing.” Ohlke had much praise for Mousseau and Alcock. “They did a wonderful job organizing and advertising this,” she said. “All 16 spots were filled and we’ll likely have another. “I really like seeing my former students (Mousseau and Alcock) come back as parents,” she said.
Addington Highlands Council has spent a lot of time talking about dump hours this year and Tuesday’s regular meeting in Flinton just added to that near-record total. The latest debate centred on the Mackavoy site, with roads/bridges supervisor Brett Reavie looking for direction from Council. After Council revamped hours at its landfills, in a move to keep attendants from having to work after dark in facilities without lights and power, a group from Ashley Lake requested a return to the 2 p.m.-8 p.m. Sunday summer hours from the rescheduled 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Most people seem to like the new hours but I don’t know how you’re going to please everybody,” said Coun. Bill Cox. “(But) the hours have to work for the employees as well.” “Only 50 per cent of 84 cottagers want it open until 8,” said Dep. Mayor Helen Yanch. “Our township is so diverse. “We try to accommodate each of the areas.” “We try to make people happy,” said Mayor Henry Hogg. “I’ve been dealing with cottagers 40 years and after Labour Day, they’ll be up once between then and Thanksgiving. “Beyond Labour Day, I don’t think it will be an issue.” “We’ve gone through this hours thing so many times,” said Cox. In the end, Council decided that Sunday hours at Mackavoy would be 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. from July 1 to Sept. 15. Council passed the 2018 Township budget with a 2.46 per cent increase over last year. The impact to ratepayers is $13.91 for every $100,000 of assessment. The compiled operating and capital budgets show an estimated aggregate expenditures and transfers totaling $8,632,695.37, pre-levy revenues of $3,810,556.07 plus an OMPF grant of $2,040,300 leaving $2.781,829.30 to be raised by taxation. (Editors note: While the townships own budget calculations derived a 1.46% increase, the increase in the levy to ratepayers, the total amount to be raised by taxation, is up over 5%. It was $2.37 million in 2017) Roads/bridges supervisor Brett Reavie reported that his department is continuing to remove dead and dangerous trees and “we’re continuing grading as conditions permit — in between snow-storms and rain-storms.” He said “most” of the roads in the Denbigh area have “been gone over at least once.” Council approved a request to use the gymnasium at the Addington Highlands Community Centre in Denbigh free of charge on Thursday afternoons for ‘pickleball.’ “What the hell is pickleball?” asked Coun. Bill Cox. “It’s a lighter ball they use with a net and paddles for seniors,” said Coun. Kirby Thompson. “I don’t know why they call it that but they’ve been doing it for awhile.” “It’s like a whiffle ball with holes in it that they hit with paddles,” said roads/bridges supervisor Brett Reavie. All five members of Addington Highlands Council received their papers to file for re-election with their council package this week. Only one has filled them out and returned them — Mayor Henry Hogg. (See article on page 1) When Clerk Christine Reed reported that the persons who did lawn maintenance in Ward 1 wouldn’t be returning and the job would have to be advertised for tender, the rest of Council was quick to suggest that it would be a good job for Coun. Kirby Thompson. “But it would be a conflict of interest for me,” he said. “You can volunteer without it being a conflict,” said Reed. “It could be an election expense,” said Mayor Henry Hogg.
Historical author Steven Manders (The First Spike) is pretty sure he can set to rest claims that the Gilmour Tramway was built in the 1850s. Speaking to the Cloyne and District Historical Society Monday afternoon, Manders said: “I’ve found the original hand-written deed,” he said. “David Gilmour bought five acres of land for $45 from David Weese on April 17, 1882. “Gilmour couldn’t have built the tramway on land he didn’t own at the time.” From there, Manders went on to spin a fascinating tale of lumber wars in late 19th Century southern Ontario. Manders has spent considerable time in the bush with a metal detector, ferreting out the paths of ‘ghost railways’ from the past including the K & P. Along the way, he’s found a number of interesting things, including evidence of the Gilmour Tramway, which allowed pine logs from around Lake Mazinaw and area to find their way to Gilmour’s huge sawmill in Trenton, “The Gilmour Mill could process a million board-feet of lumber per day,” Manders said. “That’s a huge capacity, even by today’s standards. “It was the biggest sawmill in Canada but the problem was getting logs.” Now, according to Manders, the Gilmours and others had already cleaned out most of the lumber available along the Moira and Trent River systems when they started to eye the trees in this area. However, there was a problem in that there was no connected water system that could get the logs into the Moira River to be sent down to Belleville and eventually Trenton. That’s when they came up the tramway and ‘jackladder’ system which would allow them to move logs up some 80 to 90 feet in elevation and 1.7 kilometres through the bush and eventually into the Skootamatta River which connects to the Moira. Manders has found pieces of flywheel, steel strapping (which would have been placed on the wooden tramway), chain, various pieces for securing logs and draught horse gear which has been buried for decades while gradually piecing together the story. “That’s the nice about the Canadian Shield,” he said. “You can still find things here whereas in western Ontario, things have been built over.” Manders’ display, including a model of the tramway, will be on permanent display at the Cloyne Pioneer Museum & Archives, which opens June 23 with a barbecue.
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