Central Frontenac Council -
Nov 25/08
by Jeff Green
Policing report to
Central Frontenac Council
Sergeant Jeff McCann of
the Sharbot Lake OPP made a thrice-deferred appearance before Central
Frontenac Council on Tuesday, November 25, and he brought a report on
the activities of the Sharbot Lake detachment over the past six
months.
McCann reported that the
11 officers who are assigned to the detachment have been busy in
2008, but the incident reports, although relatively high, show no
“alarming trends”.
Between May and
September, a marine officer was working full time at the detachment,
and levied 49 off-road vehicle and small vessel charges, and 25
liquor regulation offences.
“That’s a lot of
people who are boating without life jackets or riding ATVs without
helmets,” McCann said, “I’m not sure if boaters are getting
educated about their requirements for safety equipment.”
McCann also reported that
a significant number of criminal charges have been laid by his
officers, 150 in one three-month period, and there was a large
marijuana grow-op “taken down” in October on the Clark Road. With
an 11-officer complement, McCann said that under normal circumstances
there are two officers on duty in North and Central Frontenac, day
and night.
Strong, maybe not, but
consistent, yes – Vickie Leakey, from the Accounting Firm KPMG,
presented the 2007 financial statements for the township. She
reported that the township has a “good amount” in its reserve
funds.
“Would you say we are
in a strong position, considering what we are hearing about the
global financial situation?” asked Councilor Gary Smith.
“I would say
consistent. I would say there is a consistency to your base,”
Leakey replied.
She added that all the
numbers will change in 2010, when in line with provincial
requirements, the township will have to put a dollar value on all its
physical assets: roads, bridges, buildings, vehicles, etc., and a
dollar value on the depreciation and repair costs for those assets.
“When all of that amortization is included in your financial
statements, your capital fund of about $3 million will be faced with
$5 or $6 million in expenses. That might be very interesting. You are
going to need a plan to develop around these new facts. You will not
need to double your tax rate or anything like that, but there will be
new information for you to consider,” she said. “But you are
pretty consistent.”
Chiarot zoning bylaw -
A proposed condominium development near Sharbot Lake that has
been the subject of some controversy on council was brought back for
discussion when the township’s planning consultant presented a
report on a proposed zoning change on the property. Tunnock proposed
that the township approve the zoning application, but include a
holding symbol until an as yet undetermined amount of money is placed
in trust to counter for the possibility of a failure of the water and
sewage systems that are proposed for the property, which could
conceivably become a liability for the township.
The proposed development
would include a tertiary treatment system for sewage, which is well
beyond the septic systems that are common in the township, but the
township’s lawyer did say that if the developing company fails
after building the project and the systems fail they would become the
responsibility of the township and should be accounted for.
Councilors Harvey and
Guntensperger both said they would oppose the proposal, which was
scheduled to come forward as a bylaw, because they felt the
development proposal is ill-conceived.
Although Tunnock’s
report was received by council, the bylaw was deferred to the next
meeting because of some missing text in the copy that was presented
to council.
Bridgens Island
sub-division – A proposal to make an existing co-operative on
Bridgens Island a legal sub-divsion has run into a snag because the
Ministry of Municipal Affairs has said it will only accept the 10
lots on the island that already have buildings on them as legal lots,
leaving the owners of four lots that do not have cabins or cottages
on them without the ability to build in the future because they will
not have legal building lots.
Tunnock suggested that
the township seek a legal opinion before responding to the ministry.
“I agree,” said
Councilor Frances Smith, “we have an obligation to fight for those
people.
Boundary Road –
In place of vacationing Public Works Manager John Simcock, Matt
Murphy appeared before council to talk about public works issues.
The flooding problem on
Boundary Road, which was the subject of an article in this paper last
week, was raised. Murphy said the township is “in the process of
getting out the dams that are responsible for the flooding, then we
can put gravel on the road.”
“We have been in touch
with South Frontenac and we do need their co-operation. However, we
do need to get the water level down to a reasonable level before we
can get to the road work,” said Mayor Janet Gutowski.
“The problem has been
there for a long time, but nobody has built that road up for five
years. We should raise it,” said Councilor Bill Snyder. “They
know all about this in South Frontenac as well. It’s been going on
forever.
Christmas turkeys, hams, or tofurkeys for staff
–
Council agreed, without
comment, to present all full-time staff members with a $30 gift
certificate to the Sharbot Lake Freshmart as a Christmas bonus of
sorts, in continuation of a long-standing tradition to buy Christmas
turkeys for township staff. Staff members will be free to spend the
$30 on anything in the store.
