ICSPs: A Mouthful of DetailsBy Jeff Green
If the Ontario civil service were run
by advertising people, Integrated Community Sustainability Plans
(ICSPs) would undoubtedly be called something else, something like
the Community Green Plans.
In any event, after well over a year’s
work, and the input of a number of individuals and groups from across
the county, Frontenac County now has a draft ICSP in hand. The next
question is what to do with it now that it is in place.
Graham Halsall, an intern presenting
the plan to a joint meeting of Frontenac County Council and
councilors from its four constituent townships, said the project has
attracted 350 volunteers “who brought a lot of energy and
commitment to a sustainable future in Frontenac County.”
Developing an ICSP is required in order
for the county to keep receiving financial support in the form of
federal gas tax transfers in the amount of $1 million per year.
In Frontenac County’s case, the ICSP
is designed to be the delivering mechanism for those monies.
So what, aside from language about a
sustainable future, desired future states, is the Frontenac County
Integrated Community Sustainability Plan all about?
A list of the 10 projects recommended
for immediate implementation is a good place to start.
A Social Services Development Plan
for the County, to look at health care, social services (including
housing and daycare) and community services for people, facilities,
or infrastructure. Cost: $100,000. Potential funding sources –
Ministry of Community and Social Services, Federal Gas Tax funding.
An Inventory of Community Assets
(Natural and Built), described as “a comprehensive asset mapping
exercise to identify existing and potential industrial and
commercial lands, economic assets, natural assets including soil,
water, forestry, mining, and to look at species at risk, and areas
of ecological interest. In addition, social assets such as health
care, leisure and recreation, and cultural assets such as churches
and heritage buildings will be inventoried. Cost - $50,000.
Potential funding sources – Federal Gas Tax funds, Community
Futures Development Corporation (CFDC)
Integrated GIS mapping – Global
Information System (GIS) mapping. An inventory of assets and their
precise locations on a multi-layered digital map to help plan for
social, recreational and health care services in the future. Cost =
$140,000. Potential funding source – Federal Gas Tax funds.
Local Food Summit – A one-day
event where people can meet, network, and identify strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and barriers. Cost $5,000. Potential
funding sources: National Farmer's Union, Frontenac CFDC, Federal
Gas Tax Funds.
Support for the AFAR (Addington
Frontenac Area Radio Station) – which is being developed by a
volunteer board and is based in Northbrook, with the potential to
reach Arden and Mountain Grove and perhaps Sharbot Lake. Cost
$5,000. Source: Federal Gas Tax funds.
Salt Management Plan - while each
township has been developing salt management practices over several
years in order to comply with provincial regulations, it is proposed
that a county-wide plan to consider salt storage and spreading,
tonnage used, etc., on a county side basis. Cost - $50,000.
Potential funding source – Federal Gas Tax Funds.
Naturally Rich Frontenac Booklet –
a glossy booklet that “will unabashedly boast of the county’s
social, cultural, economic and environmental riches. Cost $42,349.
Funding confirmed - $22,000 from Federal Gas Tax and the Frontenac
Stewardship Council. Potential finding source – Frontenac CFDC.
Assessment of Renewable Energy
Potential – A pre-feasibility assessment to develop local energy
systems in the county. Cost $30,000. Potential funding source –
Federal Gas Tax Funds.
Develop a Common Energy Plan for
all five municipalities. To work collectively between the County and
the four lower-tier townships on the adoption of energy conservation
plans, as called for under the Ontario Green Energy Act. Cost -
$50,000 to $100,000 depending on the scope of the project. Source –
Federal Gas Tax Funds.
County-wide Solid Waste Management
Plan. It is proposed that municipalities work together “to examine
and employ new technologies, diversion infrastructure and incentives
(e.g. fees charged and materials accepted for recycling) Cost -
$75,000. Potential funding source – Federal Gas Tax funds.
The total cost of all these projects
would be around $600,000, with most of the money coming from Federal
Gas Tax dollars. Only the smaller projects, the radio station, the
booklet, and the food summit, at a total cost of about $20,000, would
be carried out by non-municipal bodies. The other 7 projects all
would be either led or supported by Frontenac County staff.
Although these 10 projects are slated
for immediate implementation, they form only a fraction of 120
projects that have been identified by the ICSP.
Detailed information is available at
the website – Directionsforourfuture.ca
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