Paul Pospisil, president of the Maberly Agricultural Society, was optimistic last Saturday morning as the 26th annual Maberly Maple Syrup Festival was getting underway. “We’re blessed wit...
...
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...
...
Anthony Fritz knows all too well what what addiction is like. “Five years ago, I was breaking up with the mother of my two children (ages 6 and 3),” he said. “I didn’t have th...
...
“Saving pets is kind of what we do,” Tracy Trumble of Invisible Fence Bellville/ Kingston told South Frontenac firefighters Tuesday night. “We’ve been keeping pets safe for 45 ...
...
Grandparents went back to school last Thursday in Verona as Prince Charles Public School kicked off a two-year project to help families find fun and effective ways that engage children with mathematic...
...
Theme Night in South FrontenacCouncil heard three not completely unrelated presentations: Gord Mitch...
South Frontenac Council and the Canadian Guitar Festival could be headed towards a showdown, and the...
Behind the scenes, an innovative, co-operative based economic development initiative in North Fronte...
MERA is proud to announce a concert featuring Máire Ní Chathasaigh on the harp and Chr...
Long wet drive, for a short, dry session Court workers, including the court clerk and reporter, in ...
Last night Central Frontenac Fire & Rescue responded to a reported house fire on Townline Road w...
For the last three years, the first Saturday in April has meant a trip out to Conboys’ Maple S...
Public Works Manager Brad Thake had a fairly extensive written agenda at Tuesday’s regular Cen...
Ramsey Hart will be the candidate of the New Democratic Party for Lanark Frontenac Kingston (LFK) in...
They gathered at the Legion Branch 425 in Sharbot Lake Saturday to honour their own. After honours ...
Behind the scenes, an innovative, co-operative based economic development initiative in North Frontenac has been gathering momentum. The project, or what is really a set of projects, was made public over a year ago. It was originally known as the One Small Town initiative. It in...
CMCA is preparing for their annual historic event on Sat. May 5th (noon- 4 p.m.) at Clar-Mill Hall, Plevna. CMCA aims to make archival materials available to the entire community. Our event encourages community pride and history. If you enjoyed the Store and Lodge events, plan to join us for our “Mystery History Tour” based on our latest book Historic Tours of North Frontenac. This book was made possible with a grant from the Community Foundation for Kingston & Area and a sponsorship by North Frontenac Township. In response to public feedback there is not a “scheduled” program, so people will have more time to browse the exhibits. Admission is FREE. You will receive a K&P ticket at the door that will serve as your passport as you travel around from “hamlet to hamlet”. The K&P train display is expected to be a hit with young and old. Our thanks to Franco Balestro for the loan and setup of his train and to Sharbot Lake Heritage Train Museum for the artifacts loaned for display. Lunch will be available ($10) at the Trout Lake Hotel train stop. Door prizes will be awarded from: CMCA, Tuscany Concrete, Watersheds Canada, Trout Lake Hotel, Cineplex Theatre, Chapters/Indigo, Stone Ridge Art Studio, and Golden Maples Farm. This is an interactive event which starts in next week’s paper, on CMCA website and Facebook page. If you are not within The Frontenac News readership area, check with a friend to get a blank K&P Boarding Pass. Only one Boarding Pass per person. There will be Boarding Passes in three editions of The Frontenac News. You will need to solve three Mystery Clues if you want a chance to win the Grand Prize Package worth over $1200! CMCA Book Collection ($110) MC Multi-tool Craftkit from J. Martin Carpentry Construction ($140) Gift certificate from The Free Spirit Gift Shop ($100) Stained Glass Sculpture from Sandy’s Kraftz ($100) VoxxLife socks and insole package from Jocelyne Lemke ($75) Dinner for 2 at Twin Oaks Lodge ($70) Stihl woodcutter safety kit (helmet, chaps, safety glasses) from Manion’s Sales & Service ($120) Spring Garden Package from Lookout Building Centre ($75) Outback 5 piece luggage set ($230) There will be three clues given in this Plevna column (one each week until the event). Save the other Boarding Passes for family members, or friends who do not receive The Frontenac News. Bring your completed Boarding Pass to Clar-Mill Hall on May 5th. If you did not get the three answers, you will find them at exhibits before you enter your voucher. All aboard!
The turnout for open houses on things like Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw changes historically isn’t high but North Frontenac Township bucked that trend somewhat last Saturday with a steady stream of visitors coming to view proposals for a new Zoning Bylaw. The impetus for a new document, last updated in 2004, was the updating of the Official Plan which was approved by Frontenac County last May. “It’s high time this happened,” said Coun. John Inglis. “I think it’s a bit of a shame we had to pay for it (Frontenac County had been doing all of North’s planning but independent planners Zanderplan was hired for this job) but I’m not blaming anybody. “The County would have done it but not on our timeline and it’s not that expensive. “And the County planners did have input on this.” Often with new Zoning Bylaws, there are hot-button issues but in this case, other than some localized concerns in areas like Norcan Lake, there is little controversy currently evident. Still, there are a few things that need looking at. “There are a few challenges,” Inglis said. “Like what do you do with trailers, tiny homes and pods? “There are some things we may have to revisit as trends change.” Tracy Zander, lead planner of Zanderplan, said the biggest challenge she faced was the size of the document. “The challenge with a project like this is we’re updating a huge document,” she said. “And it’s all open to discussion.” To that end, Zander identified nine priority items, which were outlined in some detail on boards around the room. The nine areas of interest are: Accessory buildings Solar panels Backyard hens Live/work developments Hobby farms Outdoor furnaces Tiny houses Forestry Recreational vehicles “The live/work developments and tiny houses are new in the Official Plan,” Zander said. “I haven’t had much feedback as of yet but the staff here asked for something about keeping backyard hens and perhaps a ban on roosters. “The other points are a matter of fine tuning.” Zander began working on the document at the beginning of March and this was the first opportunity for public feedback. One thing that did come out of this meeting was a request for a definition of yurts and pods. They anticipate another open house towards the end of June or beginning of July. Planner Tracy Zander and Coun. John Inglis discuss North Frontenac’s proposed new Zoning Bylaw at an open house in the Council chambers Saturday in Plevna. Photo/Craig Bakay
North Frontenac Council’s regular meeting in Plevna last Thursday was a relatively quiet affair but a presentation from John Price of the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority on the Shabomeka Lake dam has the potential to be an ongoing story. The dam was built in the 1950s with rehabilitation works done in 1988 to reduce seepage. However, Ontario Hydro determined that these works were temporary as the structure did not meet the stability requirements for overturning/sliding conditions. In 2016, an assessment was performed and recommended reconstruction of the embankment including raising the embankment and road elevation; rebuilding the control structure; adding gravel or a drainage blanket on the downstream slope; adding emergency discharge capacity. The conservation authority is looking at three alternatives: do nothing; complete embankment and structure deconstruction and reconstruction at an estimated cost of $545,000; embankment rehabilitation and control structure reconstruction at an estimated cost of $420,000. The conservation authority is leaning towards the third option. Clerk Tara Mieske said that which option is chosen will be up to the conservation authority as it’s not a Council decision. However, the matter has come up at a couple of Council meetings as a number of residents have been using the dam as a bridge of sorts to access the lake and/or cross Semicircle Creek. At one meeting in Henderson, residents proposed Council become involved to make a permanent crossing there. But the conservation authority has maintained that it can’t have the public access its control structures for liability reasons. “My personal thoughts are we have no obligation (to provide a crossing),” said Coun. Gerry Martin, who is North Frontenac’s representative on MVCA. “Dep. Mayor Fred Perry did point out that the Township owns 66 feet on either side of the dam but the riverbed belongs to the MNR. “If owners bought lots in the area cheap it was because there was no water access. “It is not a Township or MVCA responsibility (and) the conservation authorities are not in the business of building dams. • • • Council received the treasurer’s report on remuneration and expenses for Council and Committee of Adjustment members: Mayor Ron Higgins received $26,552.93 including mileage and expenses ($22,820.46 salary) Dep. Mayor Fred Perry received $22,461.99 including mileage and expenses ($19,141.46 salary) Coun. Gerry Martin received $19,589.55 including mileage and expenses ($15,462.46 salary) Coun. Denis Bedard received $17,935.76 including mileage and expenses ($15,462.46 salary) Coun. Vernon Hermer received $17,623.45 including mileage and expenses ($15,462.46 salary) Coun. Wayne Good received $16,478.93 including mileage and expenses ($15,462.46 salary) Coun. John Inglis received $16,062.46 including mileage and expenses ($15,462.46 salary). In addition, Committee of Adjustment members were compensated for inspections, meetings/conferences, mileage and expenses: Chair Barbara Sproule received $755.01; Janice Arthur received $2,656.05; Carl Tooley received $1,182.03 and alternate Fred Fowler received $580.21.
North Frontenac Township is recruiting for it fire department. “We have banners up in the municipality and hopefully we’ll get some response,” said Eric Korhonen, director of emergency services/fire chief. While Korhonen has no idea how much response he will get, he would like to add about 10 new firefighters per station (Snow Road, Ompah and Plevna; the department also has a joint operation with Addington Highlands in Cloyne) or 30 overall. But, he recognizes that goal is more long-term. “Realistically, we’ll probably add a handful at a time,” he said. Prospective applicants are asked to send an email to the chief (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) expressing interest. From there, there will be an application interview, basic medical requirement and a driver’s abstract. “Then you start training,” he said. New firefighters receive a rural firefighters course, first aid, CPR and defibrillator training. Once every four months, there is a mandatory training session as well. There is weekend involvement but Korhonen said “as a department, we try to be flexible, such as training on weekends so students can attend their classes during the week.” Korhonen said there’s no cause for alarm at the moment but they do need some more people. “Our roster is just not where it should be,” he said. “We have sufficient people to respond but people have other lives outside the department and we have to be able to cover for this.” For Korhonen, the biggest reward of the job is “to protect your community and the people you’ve grown up with. “When people need us, it’s at a time when they’re really down and really need us.” There are other rewards as well, he said. “We’re also teaching you a skill as a young person that you can easily transfer to the big city,” he said. “Plus firefighting is a brotherhood and the camaraderie is a big part of it. “It’s a family and as you make a commitment to them and they’ll make a commitment to you.” There’s also a lot of gratification when you help somebody that really needs it, he said. “And let’s face it, lights and sirens are a rush.”
Long wet drive, for a short, dry session Court workers, including the court clerk and reporter, in addition to crown lawyers, probation officers, two members of the OPP, along with Judge Geoff Griffin, all trudged in from Kingston and Napanee through the ice and rain for the 10 ...
Last night Central Frontenac Fire & Rescue responded to a reported house fire on Townline Road with a person and pets still inside. On arrival Firefighters found the house involved in fire. Firefighters quickly entered the burning house to perform search & rescue, they found and removed a victim and began resuscitation. The victim succumbed to injuries as a result of the fire. The Fire Department and the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office will be investigating the cause of the fire today. No Firefighters were injured. The fire was quickly brought under control. There were no other occupants in the house at the time of the fire. Pets also died as a result of the fire.
For the last three years, the first Saturday in April has meant a trip out to Conboys’ Maple Syrup operation to see how it’s done. And last weekend, a steady stream of visitors did just that. This year’s strange freeze-thaw cycle has played havoc with production schedules but in the end, things should be like most years. “It should be an average production this year but it’s taking a long time,” said Ryan Conboy. “It was a warm February, a cold March and it’s starting out as a cold April. “The sugar content is a bit lower but the quality is on a par with most years.” For the Conboys, an average year means about 6,000 litres. Most people hope to do about a litre per tap and the average in Ontario is about 1.1 litres per tap. Because of their advanced operation and techniques, the Conboys usually get around two litres per tap. “We’re probably around 5,000 litres right now and I think it’s an average year,” said Conboy. “But we could still have two more weeks. “It all depends on the weather.” But it’s unlikely the visitors on this Maple Syrup Weekend care about any of that. The Conboys have been averaging more than 500 visitors on these weekends and most are there for the experience and to have a day out after a long winter. “There’s lots of room for the kids to run around and this year we two trails.” Once again, the Frontenac Blades tomahawk and knife-throwers were there to let people try their hand a the historical pass time as well as Cota’s Mobile Catering. Looking around at everybody taking things in, the self-confessed “oldest one of the bunch,” Ron Conboy reminisced about how things used to be. Conboy grew up with the maple syrup business but left home at 17 to become a teacher and eventually a principal. “I guess the biggest difference now is the plastic piping,” he said. “It used to be that if you got a wet, messy snowstorm, you had to go around and empty buckets. “And there was a tank on the back of a sleigh that horses pulled along the trails. “But the actual process is not all that different.”
Public Works Manager Brad Thake had a fairly extensive written agenda at Tuesday’s regular Central Frontenac Council meeting but he also had quite a number of verbal reports as well. He received approval from council to spend $379,672 on a new, variable horsepower grader, plow and wing (it is in the budget) to replace a 27-year-old model that is well past it’s useful life. Thake then presented his policy on nuisance beaver and beaver dams. Beavers and their dams are only a concern for the township in cases where beaver activity has an impact on township assets (roads, bridges, culverts) and the township uses tubular culvert protectors and other “beaver baffler” techniques, but when those are not effective the policy is to remove beavers first, and the dams after that. Frontenac Addington Trapper’s Council members provide trapping services for the township on an as needed basis, at an average cost of $15,000 per year. Thake also announced that the Crow Lake construction project is “getting to the final stages.” He said the final costs should be in the neighbourhood of $100,00 - 150,000 but he wanted to have a public meeting o May 23 from 7-9 at Oso Hall. He said he didn’t think the schoolhouse in Crow Lake would be big enough. “We have a couple of different traffic calming measures we’d like to get feedback on,” he said. Then Thake announced a plan to spray for parsnip along the 38-509 corridor in conjunction with North Frontenac to save on costs. Council approved the idea in principle but before any spraying starts, it’ll have to come back to Council. “I hate parsnip too but we need to know what we’re spraying,” said Mayor Frances Smith. Finally, Thake told Council he’d been contacted by MTO concerning work on turning lanes at the junction of Hwy 7 and Road 38 that’s been triggered by new Ultramar gas bar. DelegationsCouncil heard presentations from Frontenac County on Economic Development and The Health Unit on a variety of topics. It also heard a presentation from the Friends of Arden on replacement of the footbridge in Arden Park. Council reiterated its support for the project — promising to help where it could. Dep. Mayor Tom Dewey said he’d like to see accommodation for wheelchairs on the bridge as well as on other projects including the new washrooms at the ball park in Sharbot Lake and government docks. Clerk Cathy MacMunn said she’d contact Jannette Amini at the County for guidance on this. Mystery train ...Mayor Frances Smith said she’d been contacted by VIA telling her that they’ve received $8 million for a study into a rail system in our area. So you want to run for councilFor those thinking of running for municipal Council this fall, applications are now available at the Township Office in Sharbot Lake. Also, there will be an information session April 30 at 7 p.m. in Oso Hall entitled “So You Want to Run . . .” OPThere will be a special Council meeting in Oso Hall at 4 p.m. on changes to the new Official Plan. Building bustConstruction values in Central Frontenac as of the end of March 2018 are down considerably from the past two years at $171,857, despite there being a lot more permits issued than in previous years (18). At this point in 2017, 5 permits for $434,000 in construction value had been purchased, and by the end of March in 2016 five permits for $448,000 in construction value had been purchasedm
They gathered at the Legion Branch 425 in Sharbot Lake Saturday to honour their own. After honours and awards chair Patty Middleton introduced Zone Commander Ty Seeley, Dep. Zone Commander Jean Compeau and President Alden McLellan, guest speaker Tom Miller spoke on the importance of volunteering. “A volunteer is someone willing to provide a service to another, not expecting to be paid for it,” said Miller, who was in the RCAF from 1953 to 1958. A resident of Amherst Island, Miller was a member of that branch until it surrendered its charter and now he’s a member of 623, Bath and Area. “I can’t imagine a Legion Branch operating anywhere without volunteers,” he said. “For one thing, you need somebody to lock the door at night but then there’s cleaning, cooking, cutting grass, shoveling snow, office work and bartending.” Miller told stories about working on the ferry service, operating a small store on Amherst Island and the very first time he ever heard the radio — Dec. 7, 1941. “We didn’t have electricity in the house so we had to take the buggy to the store to get a dry cell and a wet cell battery charged,” he said. “When we got back, we tuned in to a U.S. broadcast telling us that Pearl Harbour had been attacked. “That was the first thing I ever heard on radio.” He concluded his talk urging people to be decisive. “Be decisive, right or wrong,” he said. “The road is paved with flat squirrels who couldn’t make a decision.” Then it was time to pass out the awards and James Smith led the procession with something you don’t see very often — a 50-year ordinary member pin. There were a couple of other long-service pins presented to Gloria Cunningham, 40 years, and Marcel Giroux, 35 years. Lloyd Arnold received a 15-year pin and Dave Hansen a 5-year pin. Judy Huffman, Joyce Irwin and Sharon Quinn received Associate 20-year pins. William Bush, June Crawford, James Gutowski, Peter Hallam, Sandy Hallam and George Hollywood received 15-year Associate pins. Denzel Killingbeck, Evelyn Killingbeck, Carolyn Richardson and Kathleen White received 10-year Associate pins and Bill Zwier, Candy Claessen and John Richter received 5-year Associate pins. Alden McLellan, Bill Bowick, John Campbell, Linda Cooke, Francis Smith, Connie McLellen, Vern Crawford, June Crawford, and Patty Middleton received various executive medals and bars. Peggy Muldoon was named Volunteer of the Year. Paul and Carol Raymo donated a cake in memory of Paul’s father who was a veteran and member of the branch
“Saving pets is kind of what we do,” Tracy Trumble of Invisible Fence Bellville/ Kingston told South Frontenac firefighters Tuesday night. “We’ve been keeping pets safe for 45 years.” And on this night, Trumble was at the Hartington Station to prese...
Grandparents went back to school last Thursday in Verona as Prince Charles Public School kicked off a two-year project to help families find fun and effective ways that engage children with mathematics that coincided with the final day of the Scholastic Book Fair. The project, in conjunction with the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University, is part of the Ontario Renewed Math Strategy in the primary classrooms of Mrs. Gilpin/Mrs. Trousdale, Mr. Casement, Mrs. Cousins and Mr. Schneider. “Many of us learned basic counting, number recognition and arithmetic skills by playing familiar card games (Crazy Eights, Uno, Go Fish) and board games (Trouble, Connect Four, Snakes and Ladders) with our parents, grandparents and siblings,” said Casement. “Our Grandparents and Games event is intended to be a fun afternoon where children and family members have time to approach math in a relaxed, playful atmosphere. “We will provide all the games for the afternoon, some snacks and even some games for each child to take home.”
Theme Night in South FrontenacCouncil heard three not completely unrelated presentations: Gord Mitchell of the KFL&A Health Unit, discussed septic systems, Andrew Girourard, also of the Health Unit, outlined the role of Public Health Inspectors, and Stephanie Weaver of Cambium Environmental presented the results of the annual Township Waste disposal sites. Weaver’s report showed that of the three remaining waste sites, Portland’s has the greatest capacity (27 years), Loughborough the least (7years). However, Loughborough is awaiting final approval of an adjoining area, which should increase its capacity considerably. Councillor Sleeth suggested that perhaps Council should re-address the pros and cons of disposing of Storrington’s waste in the Township sites, rather than continuing to truck it outside the township. Public Works Manager Segsworth said that next spring his department will be preparing to reissue the bids for waste collection, so that would be a good time to bring the question to the new Council. Two Rezoning ApplicationsAn application to rezone a property on Collins Lake in Storrington to permit the removal of a derelict cottage and its replacement by a larger residence set further back from the shoreline led to discussion about whether or not a preliminary environmental assessment should be done, because of the neighbouring wetland. The CRCA had indicated in writing to Planner Mills that they did not think it was necessary. After considerable discussion, Mayor Vandewal asked for comments from the public. Ms Corcoran, the owner, settled the question by saying she had had an environmental assessment done a week ago. There were no objections to rezoning to permit two residential lots along Bedford Road on the outskirts of Sydenham. The current house and garage which are very close to the road will be removed, and replaced by two houses on smaller lots, both of which will be serviced by municipal water. Community Grants AwardedFor the fourth year, Council has set aside funds ($15,000) for Community Project Grant awards. This year, there were 19 applications; 9 were approved. Projects were not considered eligible if they were not geared to South Frontenac residents or towards improved community service or potential economic growth or were repeat projects, or profit oriented. Grants were issued to: Frontenac 4-H Garden Club, $850 ($1,300 was requested) for a flower and vegetable gardening program; Harrowsmith Beautification Club, $500 ($2,000 was requested) for wreaths, holders, flags, etc.; Harrowsmith S&A, $2,000 for a message centre, benches and dog park amenities at Centennial Park; New Leaf Link, $2,000 for a Community Participation Day; Portland D&A Heritage Society, $2,000 shared heritage cataloguing software; Storrington Lions’ Club, $2,000 for Lion’s hall restoration; Sydenham and District Lion’s Club, $2,000 for light up community welcome signs; Sydenham Lake Canoe Club, $943.13 for equipment for younger paddlers; Sydenham Women’s Institute, $1,000 ($2,000 was requested) for items related to the 100th anniversary of the club, including a plaque and camera to digitise records.. The $1,706.87 in remaining funds will be allocated to next year’s Community Grant program. The following groups submitted requests for a cumulative total of over $17,000 but did not receive funding: 4H Lennox and Addington, Five Star Farm Education Centre, Frontenac Arch Biosphere Network, Granite Ridge Education Centre, Kingston Area Ice Stock Club, Lions Club of Verona, SF Lakes and Trails, Southern Frontenac Community Services, and the Verona Community Association.
South Frontenac Council and the Canadian Guitar Festival could be headed towards a showdown, and the outcome could be something that no one wants, the end of the festival. Township Chief Administrative Officer Wayne Orr said on Tuesday that he has written to Del Vezeau, the owner of the Loughborough Holiday Park and the convener of the festival, urging him to seek legal advice about the implications of the ruling by Judge J. Hurley. The township sought a declaration from the court that Vezeau’s use of the property for events “such as music concerts and weddings” is in contravention of the zoning that applies to the property, which is primarily a campground. The township also sought an injunction “restraining [Vezeau] from using or permitting the use of the property” for any purpose not in compliance with that zoning. Judge Hurley granted the application, in part. He made the declaration that the use of the property for the events in question contravenes the bylaw, but did not grant the injunction that was requested by the township, indicating that he did not want to “tie the townships hands” because if the injunction were granted the guitar festival “could no longer take place”. By not granting the injunction, he is in effect allowing the township to defer from enforcing the zoning bylaw. As he said further, this leaves the township the option of granting or not granting an exemption to the township’s noise bylaw to Vezeau for the guitar festival each year. The township had attempted to remedy the zoning matter with Vezeau previous to launching the court case, by urging him to seek a change in the zoning of his property, but he did not do that. Last year, the township did not grant the requested noise bylaw exemption for the guitar festival, partly because Vezeau was already advertising and selling tickets to the festival before requesting the exemption. This year, based on Judge Hurley’s decision not to impose an injunction, Vezeau is again advertising the festival and selling tickets. By encouraging Vezeau to seek clarification of the legal ramifications of Judge Hurley’s ruling, the township is seeking to avoid legal issues in the future. “If he contravenes the ruling, he could be be facing contempt of court charges,” said Orr. Vezeau is also facing a $10,000 bill to the township because Judge Hurley awarded court costs to the township for the hearing that took place. “One of the concerns we have on council, is that based on what is being said on the Guitar Festival website, Vezeau may not be aware of the true implications of the Judge’s decision,” said Councillor Ross Sutherland, of Loughborough District. One the site, it says: “We are very pleased to announce that the court has upheld the worth of the Canadian Guitar Festival to the municipality, the artists and fans of the best fingerstyle guitar music in the world! An attempt by a few South Frontenac Municipality Council members to seek an injunction that would have effectively ended our world renowned Festival and Competition has been denied by Judge Hurley in Ontario Superior Court.” “He seems to have failed to realise that the judgement was essentially in the township’s favour, and that is why court costs were awarded to the township,” said Sutherland. “He needs to petition Council for an exemption to the noise bylaw.” Indeed, immediately after denying the injunction, Judge Hurey wrote: This does not mean that the injunction would not be granted should 366078 Ontario [Vezeaus corporation] contravene the bylaw or fail to abide by the declaration I have made. If that happens, South Frontenac will be at liberty to bring another application or seek a contempt order.” (The News attempted to contact Del Vezeau on Tuesday for comment, without success.)
Like many of the artists who show at Blue Roof Farm near Verona, Joanne (Bertrim) was talked into it by the gallery’s legendary owner — painter, photographer, filmmaker Kim Ondaatje. “Kim said ‘you’ve to do this,’” Joanne said. “I’m not really an artist but I like to dabble in all of it. “I love to create.” Her works involve a lot of found objects but not really in the way of Picasso or Marcel Duchamp’s objet trouve´. The show is entitled Rustic Creations and owes much to her upbringing on a farm near Stirling, ON. “I was walking in the wood one day and saw a piece of wood,” she said. “It started then. “Ever since I was 10 years old, I’ve liked to make things.” And so, in this show, there are many “things,” like wire trees on barn wood frames, acrylics on old storm windows, grapevine wreathes and acrylics on canvas. “I like anything that comes from the country,” she said. “I’m a hoarder, but a neat one. “There’s probably a little bit of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) going on too.” She said the wire trees are probably more “her” than the wreathes but really she’s not sure what’s going on when she creates. “I really don’t know why,” she said. “I just like birds and wildflowers, trees — natural things.” The show is scheduled to run for several more Sundays in April from 2-5 p.m. until further notice.
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 Harme...
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.
On April 5, 2018, members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Community Street Crime Unit (CSCU) of Frontenac and Napanee arrested two male youths connected to several seasonal cottage break & enters and mischiefs in South and Central Frontenac Townships. Between December 2017 and the end of January 2018 Frontenac and Sharbort Lake OPP began to investigative a significant amount of break and enters to seasonal cottages around Bob’s Lake, St. Andrew’s Lake , and Craig Island. The youths ransacked the properties, damage was done to windows, doors and various items inside the cottages were destroyed. The estimate damage total for all dwelling is approximately $200,000. As a result of the OPP investigation two17-year-old males have been charged with 56 Criminal Offences jointly, with the vast majority being breaking and entering, causing mischief to the dwellings, possessing property obtained by crime and a single offence of theft of a motor vehicle. One young offender is solely charged with an additional 14 criminal code offences related again to break & enters, mischief, possession property obtained by crime and theft. One youth was released from police custody with a Promise to Appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Kingston at a later date. The second youth was held for a bail hearing scheduled on April 6, 2018 in Kingston, ON. Their names are being withheld as per the provisions of the Youth Criminal justice Act (YCJA). (The article describing the incidents that lead to this investigation can be viewed here - Rampant Vandalism on Bob's Lake The initial investigation of the Bob's Lake incident is connected, through coincidence, with an otherwise unrelated incident. Police came upon Debra Ann Hill (Teal), who lived on the road leading to where the break ins took place, while investigating the break in.. Police took Ms. Hill home. She died later that evening. Because of the police involvement with her, her death is being investigated by the Special Investigations Unit. Other than the timing of the police presence at that location,the Hill death and the break-ins are unrelated.
As the Kingston Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO) and the Frontenac County Economic Development Department continue their efforts to foster a massive expansion to the capacity of the Ontario goat milk industry, a new milk source that may be even better than goat milk is being studied by Queen’s University researchers. Feihe is a Chinese baby formula company that is building a plant near Kingston in what was a major coup for KEDCO. The company is intent on establishling two production lines, one using skim milk which is available from Ontario dairy producers, and another using goat milk, which is not readily available in Ontario in the quantities required for the massive Chinese market. “We know that it has been a major undertaking for KEDCO and Feihe to interest investors in large scale goat farming, said Professor Justine Schmolka, the Dupont Professor of Agri-business Technology and Innovation in the Queen’s Biology department, “so I assigned some of my top students with an open-ended goal of finding a solution to the conundrum of the goat milk shortage.” The students worked in teams, and one of the teams, team R, came to Professor Schmolka, just one day after receiving the assignment, with a question. “They asked me if they could look into a solution that did not require goats but still produced a baby formula with the qualities that Feihe researchers had found when they used goat milk. I took a leap of faith and said yes,” recalled Schmolka. Within a few weeks, after a number of all-nighters in the field and in the Queen’s bio-lab, the students came up with a radical solution, beaver milk. The definitive study of beaver lactation is called “Lactation and chemical composition of milk of the European beaver” by the team of Zurowski, Kisza, Kruk and Roskosz. They determined that although the volume of milk is low, the fat content is unusually high and there are unique properties to the milk. “Lactose content was low, and decreased significantly over time, from 4.62 +/- 0.1% to 2.65 +/- 0.1%. 4. Milk production peaked at day 14 and ceased by day 35. 5. The unusual milk composition of this tropical rodent, is one of several adaptations correlated with reproduction in a xeric environment,” said the study (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1975538) The Queen’s researchers did field work with the Canadian beaver in recent weeks, and found that the lactose content in the Frontenac County beavers they studied was higher than their long lost European cousins, but the unusual milk composition was the same. “They also found, and this is the exciting aspect of the research, that the milk of the beaver is so dense that it can be frozen without affecting its consistency or nutritional value, and can be diluted with purified water by a factor of 1.04 +/- 0.04% to 467.086 +/- 0.07%. This can yield a product that can then be manufactured into a baby formula with a nutritional value that is significantly higher than that of either cows or goats milk, in high volume,” said Professor Schmolka. With climate change, Canadian beavers are birthing earlier than before, in mid-March, with peak lactation on April 1st in a typical year. “Beavers are still in their lodges on April 1st, so they are easy to find, and using underwater boats, we can locate them and hijack their lactation,” said Lucille Welch, one of the Queen’s students in the ‘R’ team. “It sounds complicated but it is really quite easy, and beaver lodges are easy to find.” Based on preliminary estimates, it would take 1150 beavers to produce enough milk to run the plant for a year, once the milk was diluted. “There is no reason this can’t be done, given enough time and resources,” said Schmolka, who presented her findings to a team of Feihe scientists last Sunday. Schmolka said that the beaver population would not be specifically impacted, and locations where nuisance beavers are a concern would be prioritised over more remote locations. While representatives from KEDCO and Feihe would not speak about the beaver milk proposal in specific terms because the research is so new, one Feihe marketing consultant said they did not think there would be huge resistance to the product in the Chinese market. “In terms of branding the formula for our market, the made in Canada aspect is crucial. Since beavers are your national animal, we might be able to turn this to our advantage from a marketing and branding perspective” the consultant said, on condition of anonymity.
Frontenac County Council has decided to continue talking with the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority (CRCA) about the possibility of co-locating headquarters. In a report to Council last week (March 21), Frontenac County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Pender indicated that the CRCA and Frontenac County each require somewhere between 7,500 and 10,000 square feet of office space to run their operations, but together they would each require less space. “We would only need one lobby, one large room for council meetings, one septic system, etc.” he said. “It’s not just the construction cost that would bring savings,” he added, “there would be considerable savings for ongoing expenses, everything from heating to maintenance costs. In terms of use of taxpayers dollars, there isn’t a cheaper option. Building separately will be more expensive.” The motion that was before Council said they “remain open to continuing discussion with the CRCA with respect to the construction of a potential joint administrative facility located either on the grounds of the current county facility at 2069 Battersea Road, or the CRCA property at Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area at 1641 Perth Road (or in the vicinity). The county Administrative Building Design Task Force (ABDTF) is expected to report back at the end of July with a final location and some detail about the potential for a new building. The ABDTF was established two years ago to look at options for an upgrade to the Frontenac County Administrative Office. The office is located in Pittsburgh Township, which was part of Frontenac County when the office was established, but joined with the City of Kingston with municipal amalgamation in 1998. At the same time Frontenac County devolved into a Management Board, whose functions were to oversee Fairmount Home and act as a conduit for relations between the four Frontenac townships, the City of Kingston and senior levels of government. The Management Board began to expand its scope, taking on Frontenac Paramedic Services and a multi-million dollar upgrade of Fairmount Home, and it returned to county status in 2004. Since then the planning, economic development, information technology, geographic information systems, and financial services departments have all been established and/or grown substantially. A consultant report into the future needs of the county that was completed in 2013, recommended looking at an office renovation or the establishment of a new office, with the preferred location being within the current boundaries of Frontenac County. In 2016 Council started to look at options for renovating the existing office or building a new one. The task force met three times in 2016, and came to the conclusion that a new building would be too pricey and that they should focus on renovation. The only scheduled meeting in 2017 was cancelled and the effort seemed to have fizzled out, at least as far as the current council’s mandate is concerned. That changed when the county was approached by CRCA early this year. CRCA needs a new office and wanted to meet in order to see if a co-location initiative might save money. The task force met again on March 9th, with representatives from CRCA. In the minutes from that meeting the possibility of renovating was not well received. The CRCA building is described as being “at the end of its useful life” and the existing county office as “an old building that would be costly to renovate.” As far as the location of a new building is concerned, the minutes say that the CRCA needs to be located in “proximity to the 401”, adding that “it could move further north; however how far north would need to be determined.” The members of the Frontenac County task force were less concerned about location, according to the minutes: “There was discussion around if the county offices should be located in the county; however most people see the city of Kingston as being located in the county and the county administrative offices have always been located in the city so the committee didn't see it as an issue.” Task force members at that March 9 meeting included: Central Frontenac Councillor Tom Dewey, Frontenac Islands Councilor Natalie Nossal, and South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal. Councillor John Inglis from North Frontenac, is also on the task force but was not at the meeting. At the council meeting on March 21st, the matter of location was discussed. “If we are thinking of moving it to Sydenham, it would be better,” said Frontenac Islands Mayor Dennis Doyle. “What real difference does it make to Joe Public if the administration office is located in the county of Frontenac. They don’t even know that it isn’t located in Frontenac County now,” said Ron Vandewal. John Inglis said “my own opinion is that there would be a cost saving by building with CRCS but I don’t think it is a good idea. I think there is a branding issue for county and CRCA if we co-build. My own preference would be to build somewhere in the county, it’s up to Council to decide where.” Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith said “how much cost savings would there be. It would have to be substantial to justify building out of our borders.” South Frontenac Councillor John Mcdougall said “I’d like to challenge the location issue as far as the branding side of things is concerned.” “We are branding ourselves already and our office is not in Frontenac County,” replied Vandewal. “The task force is not looking for a final decision, just approval to move this to the report stage,” said Kelly Pender. Council approved the motion without further comment or dissent.
New Waste Site hours came into effect March 20 and the only complaints received relate to the Mackavoy site so far. Mayor Henry Hogg told Addington Highlands Council at its regular meeting Tuesday in Flinton that he’d received “three or four” complaints, one of...
The Skootamatta and District Ratepayers Association (SDRA) has received the 2017 FOCA (Federation of Ontario Cottagers' Association) Achievement Award for excellence in membership engagement and communication! FOCA represents over 500 cottage associations across Ontario. Skootamatta Lake, which is located west of Cloyne and South of Bon Echo Park, has a bout 300 dwellings on it, most of them seasonal. Debbi Awde, who is describing herself these days as the “proud President” of the Association, said that the award is a tribute to “all of the work the SDRA board, current and past, as well as member volunteers. have done to help the SDRA achieve this recognition! Awde said that an effort to improve communications was initiated by the SDRA doard in 2012, when membership in the association had shrunk to about 175. “We decided to upgrade our website, by making it more interactive, posting events around the lake and from the community as well. Another thing we did was to develop an email list of members and interested friends and started to send out information and newsletters regularly to the contact list.” The thirs thing that the SDRA did was to change the format of their July Annual General Meeting. “We already had a pretty good event with a guest speaker but them we invited outside groups like the historical society, and Quinte Conservation to set up an information booth and that has been well received. The SDRA now has 206 members, and all time high. Awde said the award, which came about because forner board member Nancuy Kallina submitted a nomination,was indeed a surprise because there were a number of nominations and “there are so man y FOCA members who submitted good nominations.” “Nancy Kallina VP Paul Lindsay and I were invited onstage to accept the award and provide a presentation about all of the great work the SDRA has done to elevate membership levels through enhanced communication. It was a big audience of over 130 FOCA member attendees. It was pretty exciting”
The OPP are reminding the public that it is tax time again, which often means an increase of C RA (Canada Revenue Office) tax frauds. The OPP are reminding the public of the following: The CRA communicates with customers by mail. The CRA does not collect money by way of emails, text messages, phone calls, using money service businesses or by pre-paid debit/credit cards. The CRA do not call and threaten to put people in jail. Fraudsters tend to be aggressive in their behaviour on the phone, and they often create a sense of urgency which may cause the victim to not verify the story. Fraudsters use fear to intimidate victims into paying fake bills. The OPP are reminding the public to not provide any personal information. To avoid becoming a victim, police advise you to hang up, check and verify the information with CRA by calling a trusted phone number in which you have found and not the number provided by the caller. Police are advising to only call your local police if y ou are a victim of a fraud, otherwise you can contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) and file a report with the CAFC by calling 1-888-495-8501 (Monday to Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm EST) or by using their online reporting tool at www.antifraudcentre.ca or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or online at https://www.tipsubmit.com/start.htm
It has been years since the Kaladar Hotel closed down, and for quite a long time before it closed, it was a struggle to remain open in a changing tourist region. It has also been a few years since the Ministry of Transportation purchased the property with the intention of tearing down the hotel and using the adjacent land as part of a planned redesign of the Hwy7/Hwy. 41 junction. The highway work is still pending, but this week the building was demolished. The storied history of the Kaladar Hotel will be the subject of a meeting of the Cloyne and District Historical Society on May 19 at the Barrie Hall in Cloyne, starting at 1pm.
Things were just a little bit different at the regular Addington Highlands Council meeting meeting in Flinton this week. First of all, Council was missing Reeve Henry Hogg and Dep. Reeve Helen Yanch. So, at the insistence of Coun. Kirby Thompson and Bill Cox, Coun. Tony Fritsch took the chair. “I’ve done it before, it’s good experience,” Cox to Fritsch. Then, CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed had some news. “We’re finding ourselves in a little bit of a new situation for us,” she said. “Normally, our building department has operated at a loss. “But in 2017, we made some changes to policies and became more pro-active with building permits.” The bottom line is that the building department took in $156,000 in revenues, she said. After expenses, that left $54,748 to go into a new building department reserve. “Of course, that can only be used by the building department,” she said. Guido’s on the moveStephanie Morrisett, who operated Guido’s Gourmet Grub, a chip wagon at the Shell station for several years, came to Council to ask if business licence fees could be waved or reduced. “I had to move from the Shell and then the Kaladar Community Centre asked if I could set up there,” she said. “I have five employees and I know the Community Centre could use the rent.” Morrisett originally asked if the $1,200 zoning change application fee could be reduced or waived. But CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed said that it was likely the zoning wouldn’t have to be changed other than having add a site-specific change to allow the chip truck. However, Reed wanted to check with the solicitor to ensure anything they intended to do wasn’t contrary to the Municipal Act. Morrisett said she’d already contacted the MTO to make sure she’d be well back of the 40 feet from the roadway requirement. Morrisett said she’s looking at opening at the beginning of May or “the long weekend at the latest.” Sand supplies Roads/bridges supervisor Brett Reavie told Council that while winter operations are continuing, they should have enough sand on hand. “It could be touch and go but we can get more if we need it,” he said. Reavie also received Council’s permission to remove some toppled trees in Kaladar Park. “There are some toppled trees there that are really leaning,” he said. “One neighbour offered to cut them down but because they’re on our property, I think the Township should be the ones to cut them down. “Toppled trees don’t typically last long and this is a good time to take them down when the ground’s still frozen because we won’t damage the park.” Contaminated propertiesCouncil voted to support the City of Cornwall’s resolution calling on the Ontario government to implement reforms that would encourage the remediation of abandoned contaminated properties. “Our municipality has been stuck with contaminated properties before,” said Coun. Tony Fritsch. “You never know.” “When people read all this in the paper, they’ll think we actually got something done today,” said Coun. Bill Cox.
Editorials
Letters
REGULAR COLUMNS
CLASSIFIEDS
OBITUARIES
FRONTENAC COUNTY
SOUTH FRONTENAC
NORTH FRONTENAC
CENTRAL FRONTENAC
ADDINGTON HIGHLANDS
