The 3^rd and final intake of submissions to the Canada Ontario Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (COMRIF) resulted in funding support for relatively small initiatives in South and North Frontenac.

South Frontenac Township will receive up to $352,500 towards the reconstruction of the Mitchell Creek Bridge from the federal and provincial governments, and North Frontenac will receive up to $79,000 towards the construction of special household waste depots.

Both townships had applied for larger projects in earlier rounds of the program, which is bringing a total of $600 million in provincial and federal funding to rural Ontario municipalities. (For the purposes of COMRIF, rural is defined as a community with a population under 250,000)

Central Frontenac Township was a big winner in round 2 of COMRIF, receiving $4 million towards the $6 million reconstruction of Road 38. In earlier rounds South Frontenac had applied for support towards a program to repave all of the roads downloaded with amalgamation, and North Frontenac sought support for a plan to widen the one-lane Missisippi bridge over Road 509. After having its application rejected in both rounds, North Frontenac realised that the Mississippi bridge was an unlikely candidate for funding, because it is in good repair even though it is only one lane wide.

“We decided to change horses after Round 2,” North Frontenac Mayor Ron Maguire said at a meeting of council last Thursday, “and seek funding for special waste disposal. And it appears that it has worked. This is good news for us.”

Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites for North Frontenac:  North Frontenac will use its funding to build special household hazardous waste containment areas at the waste sites on Hwy. 506, at Plevna, and at Mississippi. The areas will be fenced and bermed in, and will be equipped with special trays to ensure materials are contained. The materials will not be permanently stored in the township. The township will have to enter into a contract with a licensed hauler to have the material shipped to a hazardous waste disposal site such as the ones in Kingston and Renfrew.

Until now, the only legal way to dispose of hazardous waste (solvents, car batteries, motor oil, propane, antifreezes, pesticides, etc.) in North Frontenac has been to purchase a $32 pass from the township office and bring up to 20 litres to the Kingston Area Recycles Centre in Kingston.  Very few of these passes are sold each year, leading township officials to believe this dangerous waste is either being stored in people’s sheds or is finding its way into the waste sites. 

Mitchell Creek Bridge: Unlike the Mississippi bridge, there is little doubt about the state of repair of the Mitchell Creek bridge, which is located right in the middle of South Frontenac, near Frontenac Park. It is crumbling and must be replaced.

There has, however, been an ongoing dispute over plans to make the bridge larger and higher.

The township originally planned to rebuild the bridge to the same dimensions of the current bridge, but the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Canada), which oversees bridges over all navigable waters, insisted that the bridge be built higher, allowing for bigger boats to travel under it. Local residents formed a group, dubbing themselves the “Friends of the Mitchell Creek”, and argued that the bridge should not be made larger for fear of changing the character of the creek and the lake it feeds.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) modified their demands, and are now allowing the township to build a bridge that is lower than their original demands but higher than the current bridge. This has not satisfied the “Friends of the Mitchell Creek”.

In December, in response to a request from the “Friends”, the township sent a final letter to the DFO asking once again that the township be permitted to build a smaller bridge. This letter has not yet been answered.

The COMRIF grant does not specify the size of the bridge, according to South Frontenac Chief Administrative Officer Gord Burns.

“We estimated the project at $528,000 in our COMRIF application, which would pay for the larger bridge, but we can build any bridge we want up to that price, and the COMRIF grant will pay 2/3 of the cost,” he said, “but the grant makes it more important than ever for the township to complete the project this year.”

To that end, South Frontenac has written a letter to MP Scott Reid, asking him to check with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, to ensure that the letter of request the township sent in December receives a quick response, so the township can move forward with the project.