South Frontenac Council – March 2/10

BUDGET SAGA CONTINUES

Council met an hour early to complete their walk-through of the proposed 2010 budget. The line-by line discussion, slated for March 23, will be when Council will make decisions, recommendations and modifications, with all members of Council present. (Councilor Fillion is on holiday at present.) One major issue is reserves: how much reserve is enough - how much should Council draw down reserves before they start to raise taxes?

ZONING BY-LAW AMENDMENTS APPROVED: Two controversial zone changes came up for final approval: one, near Inverary, involves the creation of a business Park on 87 acres just south of the village. Speaking on behalf of himself and his neighbours, Wes Garland expressed concern that this development would threaten the rural nature of their homes in many ways: noise, traffic, lights, water pollution, lowered property values. Municipal Planner Lindsay Mills reported that a number of studies had been done on the property, none of which gave any reason not to proceed with development. Businesses will be limited to light industry, and there will be no direct access onto Perth Road. The lots are large, providing flexibility to use site plans to address concerns as each lot comes up for development. Council voted to forward the proposal to the County for final subdivision approval.

Three neighbours spoke against the Gordon application to rezone the corner of Sydenham and Rutledge Roads to highway commercial. Fran and John Willes, Peter Svendsen and Jack Springer all referred to their concerns about traffic, water management, and commercial development outside the village. Lindsay Mills reported that the engineering consultant had visited the site twice, and was aware of the size and situation of the culverts. The Ministry of the Environment felt the storm water report meets all standards, and the conservation authority had no objections. Councilor Del Stowe said he felt the public's concern had led council to take a cautious approach to the proposal. Councilor Alan McPhail said he thought that council was moving too quickly on the issue, without adequate long-range planning for development of the Sydenham area. The motion to rezone passed 5 to 3.

Another zone change, to permit a "granny flat" on the Wilmer Road, passed without comment.

25 Year Service Presentation - Fire Chief Rick Chesborough presents a 25 year service award to fireman Dale Reynolds, while Mayor Davison looks on. Included in the presentation was a pin for Reynolds' wife.

Lto R: Fire Chief Rick Chesborough, Mayor Davison, and Dale Reynolds.

Volunteer fireman Mark Bostad of Inverary was presented with the Scott Babcock reward, for service above and beyond the call of duty. The award is in honour of Scott, who died in June of 2005. Scott's mother Theresa Babcock told of her son's fascination with all things related to firefighting, and of South Frontenac Fire Department's generosity and support of Scott, including many visits, and making him an honourary fireman.