North Frontenac Council -
June 12/08
by Jeff Green
Neighbours
want to block islanders’ plan for dock on Big Gull
A
delegation of Big Gull Lake residents, led by Keith Rowe and Adair
Crosby, appeared before North Frontenac Council last week. They
raised concerns about a proposal to build a dock for 12 island
cottagers on the east end of Big Gull Lake on Crown land that is
administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The
islanders came to council on May 1 to request access through two
small pieces of township property, and the rest of their dealings
have been with the MNR.
On
May 29, council received a consultant’s report from a group of
land-based residents of the east end of Big Gull Lake, which
challenged the assertion by the islanders that the dock proposal is
the “preferred alternative” to the problem of access to the 12
cottages.
According
to one of the delegates, the information that was presented to the
MNR and the township by advocates of the dock, “is full of
assumptions that have not been tested”. The neighbours say they are
concerned about the impact 12 or more boats could have on water
quality. “The issue is the concentration within the bay. We are
concerned about spillage. We have to look at the future viablity of
the bay,” one of them said. “There have been no studies on the
bay this far to gauge the impact of what has already been done
there.”
The
docks are being proposed in the wake of the closing of two marinas
that formerly provided docking services for the cottagers.
One
of the delegates argued that two marinas on the other side of the
lake, which he said “are only a 10-15 minute boat ride away”
should be offered the opportunity to provide docking to the
islanders. “We should not be competing with businesses that need
all the help they can get,” he said. “They need the business.”
Deputy
Mayor Jim Beam, sitting in for Mayor Maguire, who was attending a
meeting in Ottawa, said “Council will take both sides into
consideration, but truthfully most of the approvals come from the
MNR, and the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority. They are
strict when it comes to the environmental impacts of new structures.”
Clar-
Mill hall water woes: It
seems that township staff have determined why the basement of the
Clarendon and Miller hall at Plevna continues to have a mould
problem. The mould has led the Kingston Frontenac Public Library to
close the branch located in the hall until the problem is addressed.
According
to a report from Recreation Coordinator Corey Klatt, when council
members and staff met with members of the community for a work bee at
the hall on May 1, they saw water running into the basement at
several locations. The source of the water is a spring at the west
side of the building. “Due to this spring along the seamy fractured
rock the water is able to seep down the rock layer and under the
building,” the report said.
The
report goes on to say that staff is concerned that work intended to
bring the library to a state where it can re-open will not succeed;
the library could “still be damp and musty” because of the wet
basement.
The
proposed resolution includes purchasing and installing new soffits
and fascia, and digging around the west side of the building,
removing water and mud, and ditching to create an alternate route for
the water from the spring to take. The cost of this project is to be
covered by the ward 2 special park reserve fund, which has over
$8,000 in it, with the balance being transferred from a township
contingency fund.
Council
approved the proposed course of action.
Letter
re: moratorium on uranium exploration: Council
received a letter from Mary Lynne Stewart Holtin and Jim Holtin
asking if North Frontenac has received a response to its September 13
letter to Premier McGuinty. The letter petitioned the province to
“enact a moratorium on uranium prospecting, exploration, and mining
in eastern Ontario”
Township
staff said that no reponse has been received. Council decided to send
a second letter, along with a copy of the Holtin's letter, to the
premier, asking why his response has been so slow in coming.
OMA
does not get support: In
a carry-over from comments by Mayor Maguire at a previous meeting,
council considered whether to support the Ontario Medical Assocation,
which is asking that nurses-only clinics not be supportred in the
Province of Ontario. Mayor Maguire had made the comment that North
Frontenac, which has no medical services offered within its borders
and is served mainly by clinics in Northbrook and Sharbot Lake,
“would take anything we can get,” and would not be averse to a
nurses-only clinic.
Council
decided not to heed a request for support from the Ontario Medical
Association.
