The incoming Central Frontenac Council received word at their first meeting that Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Heather Fox needs to take a leave of absence due to illness.

Council decided that the CAO role is too important to leave the post vacant for any length of time, according to Mayor Janet Gutowski.

“Council authorised the Mayor and the Deputy Clerk, Cathy MacMunn, to explore options. We decided that it would be unwise to have another staff member take over, because they are all so busy, and began looking for a temporary replacement,” she said

It turned out that John Duchene, known locally as the artist whose drawings were used as fundraisers by the train museum committee and mural project, has significant municipal experience. He was approached and agreed to take on the CAO role on an interim basis.

“We were very fortunate to find someone,” Gutowski said.

John Duchene has resided on Kennebec Lake with his wife for the past ten years. He worked as Chief Administrative Officer for Lanark Highlands Township for 3½  years, and was the manager of the Otonabee Region Conservation Authority until the summer of 2005. He resigned from that position partly because he did not want to be working so far from his home. Since then he has been doing some consulting work in the emergency planning field. This past fall, he taught a course in emergency planning at Fleming College in Peterborough. He had already decided not to teach at Fleming this spring when he received a call from the township, again citing distance issues.

“It works out for me to be taking this job on at this time,” he told the News, “which I see as a caretaker role. I’m not looking for long-term work.”

Central Frontenac Council met in emergency session just after the New Year to discuss the hiring, which was confirmed at council’s regular meeting this past Monday night in Mountain Grove.

John Duchene started working for the township on January 5.