They say third time’s the charm and it could be so for new Frontenac County Warden Frances Smith. Smith, who is on County Council by virtue of being Mayor of Central Frontenac Township, was sworn in in December for a third term as warden, having served previously in 1996 and 20 years later in 2016 during the last County Council term.

“In 1996, there were 29 people around the horseshoe so it was bit intimidating,” Smith said. “This time, I know the people on Council as many of them were also on Council in the previous term.

“Also, I know a little bit more of what to expect.”

Smith said she’s actually looking forward to the job, although it’s already taking up much of her time.

“Already January is booked solid,” she said. “There are a lot more conferences to attend when you’re warden and each one requires a lot of reading to prepare. But that’s what I signed up for and I do still enjoy it or I wouldn’t be doing it.”

Smith said agreements with the City of Kingston figure prominently in this term’s agenda as do budget cuts to Fairmount Home and the Frontenac Paramedic Service

She said she looks forward to business development in the County with events like last year’s Open Farms and other agritourism and “foodie events.”

“I think the County kind of kickstarted those but as others started to get involved, I think they’ll grow stronger with the County assisting more than taking the lead,” she said.

She said that while she was reluctant to do the social media County Council recaps, they seem to have a following and she’ll continue doing them, “event though I had no aspirations of being an actress growing up.”

Frontenac County wardens serve a one year term. Only the mayors of the Frontenac townships are eligible to seek election. Smith, who served as deputy warden in 2019, was acclaimed to the role. South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal was acclaimed to the position of deputy warden.

When Neil Carbone was hired as the new Chief Administrative Officer in South Frontenac last summer, it signaled that the council of the township was ready for a new future. Carbone, who is in his mid-thirties, is from a different generation than the leadership that has forged the four founding townships, that make up South Frontenac, into a single entity.

He also comes to South Frontenac from a job in Prince Edward County, where he served as the Director of Community Development and Strategic Initiatives, a role that has no parallel in Frontenac County. Prince Edward County, which is a single tier municipality, with a population of over 24,000 people, with a diverse local economy thanks to its mix of residential, agricultural and commercial sectors.

“The department underwent an expansion during my tenure. It had an Economic Development focus when I started, and by the time I left, not only had it doubled in size, but had a much broader role as well,” he said in an interview last week from his office in Sydenham. “Not only had we taken on destination tourism marketing, but also customer service and oversight of capital grants and even project management. The department’s role has become one of putting a community lens on everything that the township does.”

An example that he cited was a $4 million water and sewer replacement on the main street in Picton.

“We knew that the businesses on that street do 50% of their business in July and August, so we looked at the cost factor if we set out an RFP [Request for Proposal] that called for construction to shut down for two months in the summer. A contractor found a way to make it work for them, to do it that way, by taking some other work in the region during the summer. It cost about $200,000 more to do the project that way but it made a difference for the business community in Picton,” he said.

When he learned that South Frontenac was looking for a new Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Carbone did some research, and his interest was piqued, by the growth potential of the township and also by its financial position, so he decided to put his name forward.

“I saw a lot of opportunity in South Frontenac. The house is in order financially. It has a very lean organisation and has been building its administrative capacity, a bit pre-emptively, to handle the growth that is coming. I saw coming here as CAO as a great opportunity for me,” he said.

Coming in to 2020, the future shape of South Frontenac is coming into focus.

“I thought that our budget process was very good, very productive for my first budget, and our new strategic plan will form the basis for us to move forward quickly,” he said.

While strategic plans sometimes get lost in the shuffle, as unexpected day to day and external pressures come to bear, Carbone sees the new South Frontenac plan as a call to action, within the context of pressure from growth on the townships’ ability to maintain service levels, increase its organisational capacity and upgrade community amenities.

“When we considered those pressures in the context of increased provincial uncertainty, Council recognized the need to take control of its own destiny, a common theme of the strategic plan and the 2020 budget is a desire to lead, to grow, and to look outside our borders for opportunities to collaborate,” he wrote in a year end township press release.

The plan has four priorities: becoming a regional leader, supporting growth while protecting the environment, enhancing the township’s organizational capacity, and “being a catalyst for the creation of vibrant and complete communities”.

The idea of ‘vibrant and complete’ communities will play out when the township looks at its official plan this year. It involves making a decision to promote development that does not turn South Frontenac into a bedroom community for the City of Kingston.

“They way things are set up now, we are able to develop subdivisions with two acre lots. That limits the people that can move in to our townships and limits the business opportunities. I think the idea of communal servicing, that Joe Gallivan from Frontenac County has been leading, will be something we will talk about a lot this coming year,” he said.

Communal servicing refers to a water and sewer system, similar to a municipal system, to serve a private development. It can substantially increase the density in a development, making retail, commercial, and multi-residential development possible in rural settings where publicly owned water and sewer systems are not viable. There are technical, bureaucratic and financial liability hurdles to overcome, however.

“To realise the growth that has to be in place for complete communities in South Frontenac, let’s identify what those needs to be in place for the developer, lets talk about municipal ownership versus private ownership, let’s put the model together,” he said.

The township will also be undertaking a branding initiative this year, which fits with the strategic plan vision.

“The practise of branding itself is not just about a logo. Your brand is who you are. The act of branding a place is not about creating something new, it is about making sure that everybody sees themselves in the community,” he said.

It also ties in with an evolving role for the township, in Carbone’s view.

“We can establish one to one relations with the City of Kingston, with the Province of Ontario,” he said. “That’s part of becoming a regional leader, which is also in our strategic plan.

North Frontenac Council essentially turned down a request from the Ompah Community Volunteer Association (OCVA) to honour trail permits from the Ottawa Valley ATV Club (OVATVC) and the Ontario Federation of ATVs (OFATV) in agreements similar to the one the Township has with the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance (EOTA).

“The message is that we’re not going to entertain multiple agreements,” said Mayor Ron Higgins. “Get together and come as one.”

In a letter to Council, OCVA President Mike Widmeyer asked for an agreement with the OVATVC and OFATV advising that the two clubs “have played a major role in the community’s ability to participate i the spring and fall ATV runs for the last seven years.

“Recent issues regarding trail passes, maps, road passes, threatened legal action, etc, may impact the Club’s ability to participate in the spring and fall ATV events.”

“If on our trail(s), they’ll have to have a North Frontenac or an EOTA trail permit,” said Corey Klatt, manager of community development. “People want access but they’re not bringing anything to the table.

“It’s a North Frontenac project (and) we need revenue.

“And frankly, I don’t want to be in the middle of a disagreement or a ‘who does what.’”

Klatt said the arrangement with the EOTA has evolved to the point where the EOTA has contributed $49,588.16 since 2009 including one-time donations and covering permit sales shortfalls for the Crown Land Stewardship Program (CLSP).

“Moreover, the EOTA applied for Provincial funding in 2019 and included a request for $20,000 for the CLSP within their application,” Klatt said. “We will know if this request for funding was successful in 2020.

“Furthermore, the EOTA made a donation of $12,000 to the Township in 2016 for the construction of the Ompah Rest Stop.”

He said “if they want us to honour their trail passes, they’ll have to come to Council with a business case.”

There was considerable discussion on the matter before a decision however.

“I don’t know why we couldn’t allow as many people as possible to contribute to our trails,” said Coun. Vern Hermer.

“This could open up a can of worms,” said Higgins.

“It could be a cash cow,” said Coun. John Inglis.

“It’s a cash cow now, leave it as it is,” said Dep. Mayor Fred Perry.

• • •

And speaking of Dep. Mayor Fred Perry, the last meeting of the decade was also his last as deputy major.

Council voted 5-2 to name Coun. Gerry Martin as deputy mayor for 2020.

Perry could of course put his name forward for 2021.

• • •

Council reserved making a decision on Rural Frontenac Community Services request for $5,400 to provide children’s services until budget time.

“We’re taking our time this year,” said Mayor Ron Higgins. “We’re not expecting to approve the budget until February or March.”

• • •

The internet “speed test” is now active on the Township website. The test will provide documentation for government grants related to the development of high-speed internet networks.

• • •

Mayor Ron Higgins updated Council on his recent meetings with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

Higgins said the District Officer in Bancroft commended the lake associations for their work on evasive species and that there was some discussion to “resurrect our two fish hatcheries.”

The discussion migrated to Areas of Natural or Scientific Interest (ANSI) and that unlike the Frontenac County Official Plan, the Ministry did not acknowledge Regional ANSIs, only Provincial ones.

“They’re not interested in non-provincial ones,” Higgins said.

“What it is right now is that if somebody is in an ANSI and they want a building permit, there needs to be a study,” said CAO Cheryl Robson.

“The County is making a mistake,” said Coun. John Inglis

“Compounding a mistake,” said Coun. Gerry Martin.

“I think we need to ask (the County) for an Official Plan amendment,” said Higgins.

There wasn’t a whole lot going on at Addington Highlands final Council meeting of the year in Denbigh Tuesday afternoon, according at the Reeve Henry Hogg.

“We did meet in closed session as we have a union contract coming up but I can’t talk to you about that,” he said Tuesday evening.

The union contract will have implications for compensation for non-unionized staff as well as Council however but that won’t be discussed until the union contract is finalized.

Other than that, they did have a presentation from the County on physician recruitment and retention but Hogg was skeptical that much would come out of it.

“I guess the way the province is going, we’re not sure what will happen,” he said. “If things are headquartered in Kingston, we won’t be too important to them up here.

“They have a couple of hundred thousand people down there and we have a couple of thousand. I can’t see us being a high priority. But I’ve been up on that soapbox before.”

Another soapbox is the high costs of insurance.

“It just gets more expensive every year,” he said. “But we have to have it and the province also mandates that we have to have Workers’ Safety and Insurance Board coverage for our firefighters. And the maximum ceiling for that is going up to $95,400 (from $92,600 in 2019).

And as a matter of housekeeping duties, it was also time to transfer “underspents” to reserves, with any unused funds being moved into the appropriate reserves.

When it was pointed out that Addington Highlands seems to have more unspent funds to transfer than many municipalities, Hogg said: “maybe we’re a little closer with what we spend.”

Council also received an end-of-the-year report on emergency preparedness, when had one particular aspect that caught Hogg’s eye.

“Cyber attacks are something we’re seeing more of these days,” he said. “I see there was one on health care records just the other day. We have some security measures in place but we’re going to investigate further. But these guys always seem to be one step ahead of you and they can hold you hostage.”

Hogg said Council is now done until the middle of January but noted that the concrete has been poured for the new office addition.

“We may be meeting in new Council chambers by summer,” he said.

It’s Official – there is a fellowship of the pig and it lives in Central Frontenac

They are not likely to chase a strip of bacon over the edge of a cliff into a fiery abyss, but that does not mean they are not committed to their quest.

It all started way, way back … well back in 2012. Michael McKenzie of Seed to Sausage held a party on Victoria Day weekend to mark the opening of a summer outlet for his fresh and dried sausage factory on Road 38, halfway between Tichborne 0and Sharbot Lake. He called the event the “Day of the Pig” and that first year a lot of people showed up, many of them from Toronto and Ottawa. You could tell the ones from Toronto from the black, tapered skinny jeans and ball caps that the men were wearing. The Ottawa attendees were cooler than the locals, but not by as much.

It got bigger each year, and eventually McKenzie decided to transform it from a party to a food festival and it was held at the Sharbot Lake beach, with support from the District 3 Rec Committee, in 2017. That was the only year when weather was a factor, but even with an entry fee of $20, a pretty good crowd attended.

Seed to Sausage then entered into some major retail ventures in the Greater Toronto Area and McKenzie decided not to run the festival at the beach in 2018, and almost canceled the Day of the Pig entirely, but ended up holding a stripped-down version at Seed to Sausage this past May. He told some friends that he was thinking of calling it quits, not because he did not enjoy the event but because he did not have enough time available to pull it together.

Those friends decided that the Day of The Pig was too well established and had too much potential as a local food event and a tourism draw for a community like Central Frontenac to let go of, so they began to meet. A new location, a plan of attack, and a set of responsibilities emerged over a couple of meetings, and the Fellowship of the Pig was born. Slowly, word slipped out about the fellowship, but they have remained a mystery until they emerged this week, in an unlikely place.

On the agenda of the final Central Frontenac council a meeting of the decade, at the tail end of the agenda package, item 16, under ‘Oher business’ it says: “Day of the Pig – that council receive the information and presentation from Councillor Heese regarding the Day of the Pig event.”

Councilllor Heese, it turns out, is a member of the formerly secretive fellowship.

And on page 142 of the agenda package there is a letter which reveals all of the members and something about their plans and how the township fits in.

“The members are Mike McKenzie (Seed to Sausage), Brian Wilson (Orbital Talent Inc.), Rob Moore (Cardinal Café), Ken Fisher (Sharbot Lake Business Group) and Victor Heese (Township Councillor). This group, informally called the Fellowship of the Pig, has met 3 times to begin planning for next year’s event (meeting notes included). Although it is still early in the planning process, we envision the upgraded Day of the Pig to be a Food and Beverage event with various artisanal food, beer, wine and distilled beverage vendors displaying their products. There would also be demonstrations by well known chefs, a pig roasting contest, and entertainment for all ages throughout the day.”

The group is seeking that council make the Day of the Pig a Central Frontenac event, and “appoint the group as a township committee either as a committee of council or a sub-committee of the Central Frontenac Rec Committee.”

This would set the stage for the township to provide various “in-kind” donations to the Day of the Pig, such as inclusion in the township insurance policy, free use of the Parham Fairgrounds, and access to other resources such as “fencing, barricades, tables and chairs, etc.”

The township is not expected to provide any financial support and the Day of the Pig is to be run as a not-for-profit event, although it will include vendors, including Seed to Sausage, who will sell their product as part of it.

Council decided to take on the Day of the Pig as a committee of council, using the precedent of the Frontenac Heritage Festival as a model for how to set up the relationship.

It was a fairly light agenda for Addington Highlands Council at its regular meeting Tuesday afternoon in Flinton, said Reeve Henry Hogg.

“We spent most of our time in closed session because we have a union contract with roads employees coming up but I can’t talk about that,” Hogg said.

“We did have a request to change our meeting times to the evening but we decided not to change,” he said. “The idea is to make it more attractive for people who work during the day to attend but we don’t have a lot of interest in coming to our meetings.

“If there’s something that affects somebody, they’ll come.”

And speaking of meetings, Hogg said they did set their schedule for 2020 with the first meeting set for Jan. 14 at 1 p.m. in Flinton.

“We still have one more meeting this year, in Denbigh at 1 p.m.,” he said “We’ll be looking at current budget adjustments.”

Hogg said there was discussion and some concern over correspondence from the Ministry of Health regarding Public Health Modernization and in particular, Emergency Health Services Modernization.

“We have concerns if they create a mega-health team out of Kingston that there won’t be much consideration for rural areas,” he said. “I did note there was talk about ambulance services but some of those changes were proposed years ago by the Niagara Region and disregarded.

“Of course that was a different government.”

As far as health services go, Hogg doesn’t see much changing for the rural areas.

“For us, we’ve always had an issue with doctor attraction and retention,” he said. “We do have an arrangement with North Frontenac to create incentives to attract doctors but we haven’t had much success.

“Of course if they create something based in Kingston, there’ll probably be less incentive for doctors to come here.”

Finally, Hogg said he was pleased to see work begin on the office addition in Flinton.

“It’s just getting started,” he said. “Fences are up, propane tanks are in place and they’re looking at where to relocate the hydro poles.

“We’ll have to use the disabled entrance while construction is going on and that will be awhile.

“These things take time.”

Good news for alumni and/or anyone who’d like a keepsake of the old Sharbot Lake Public School.

Andy Dillon, manager of development services/CBO, told Central Frontenac Council at its regular meeting Tuesday evening at Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake that he’s having a number of bricks delivered to the Township offices which will be made available to the public at no cost.

“We don’t want people going on-site to pick up a souvenir as it could be dangerous,” he said. “But it will be one (brick) to a customer.

“That’s so they don’t think they can come and get a bunch of bricks to build something,” he said with a grin.

Dillon said that while there have been some trucks and equipment on-site, the work being done is all on the inside.

“We don’t expect the actual demolition of the building to begin until sometime in January,” he said.

Coun. Bill MacDonald asked where the material that’s being demolished was going, wondering if it would be added to the Oso or Olden sites.

“I don’t really know,” Dillon said. “But it’s somewhere out of Central Frontenac.”

Building values up.

Coun. Bill MacDonald was also curious as to the increase in construction value being more than a million dollars more in 2019 than 2018 ($10,965,340 vs $9,561,283) despite there being one less building permit issued (seven vs eight).

“That would probably be because the average value of homes being built is about $350,000,” said Andy Dillon, CBO.

“That’s good for taxes,” said Mayor Frances Smith.

Dewey elected Deputy Mayor for 2020

Council elected District 1 Coun. Tom Dewey as Deputy Mayor for 2020, replacing Coun. Victor Heese.

Tanker pulled off the road

With tanker 441 out of Station 4 Parham in such bad shape and due to be replaced in 2020, Fire Chief Jamie Riddell told Council he is taking it out of service as of Dec. 4.

“To go a number of months without a tanker in Parham does not sit well with me,” said Coun. Nicki Gowdy.

Riddell said that tankers from Mountain Grove and Sharbot Lake will respond to all fire calls in the 400 and 600 Zones and a tanker from South Frontenac’s Verona station will respond to all confirmed fires in Zone CF6-601.

“I’ve spoken with the the fire chief in South Frontenac and they’re willing to extend the mutual aid agreement in this way until our new tanker arrives,” Riddell said.

“The fire hall in Verona is closer to Piccadilly than Parham is anyway,” said Mayor Frances Smith.

Members of Kingston City Council were disappointed last week when Frontenac County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Pender did not show up to brief them on how much the city will be charged for the delivery of land ambulance service and Fairmount Home in 2020.

Both services are operated by Frontenac County, with funding support from the Province of Ontario, City of Kingston ratepayers and Frontenac County ratepayers.

At a budget meeting on November 26, city council member Wayne Hill is quoted in the Whig Standard article as saying “I don’t understand why they are not here tonight. It seems to me they don’t want to answer these questions in front of Council. It leaves us really blind.”

When contacted this week from his office at Frontenac County headquarters in Glenburnie, Pender said the real question in the matter is not whether he attended or not, but why his name was on the agenda in the first place.

“When we met with the mayor and other city officials at RULAC [Rural Urban Liaison Committee] on October 30th, I told them that I could give them a number for each of the services in 2020, but it would almost certainly be wrong. We won’t know until we find out how much the province is paying into those budgets next year, and we don’t know when they are going to tell us.”

Pender said that, even after informing the city that the budget numbers are not available, in early November he received an invitation to the November 26 city budget meeting.

“I informed them that I would not be attending the November 26 meeting, for reasons that I made clear to them once again. Apparently my name was not removed from the agenda and Council still expected someone to be there from Frontenac County.”

When Frontenac County Council met in October to work on their own 2020 budget, the amount paid by the province in 2019 to support Frontenac Paramedic Services (land ambulance) and Fairmount Home was plugged into the budget. Pender told his council the same thing he told City of Kingston officials, that the number was certainly wrong for 2020.

Pender said this week that he does not expect to have final numbers in time for the Frontenac County Council meeting on December 18, and Frontenac County will likely go into 2020 without an approved budget.

“The provincial numbers may not be available until provincial budget time in March,” Pender said over the phone on Tuesday (December 3).

“At some point we will need to approve our budget in order to set a tax rate for our member municipalities to plug in to their tax bills. But it won’t be on December 18.”

He added that once the province tells Frontenac County how much they will be contributing for 2020, he will bring that information to Frontenac County Council. Once Frontenac County Council finalises the budgets for Frontenac Paramedic Services and Fairmount Home, that information will be provided to the City of Kingston.

The City of Kingston has requested that all third-party agencies that they fund, keep any increases to 2.5%, the same request that they made in 2019.

In 2019, the bill to Kingston for Frontenac Paramedic Services was up by 7.7% over 2018 and the bill for Fairmount Home was up by 5.2%.

City staff managed to find money in reserves to cover most of the increase, which was not accounted for in the 2019 Kingston budget, but at a Kingston City Council meeting in September, the decision was taken to withhold the last $200,000 from amount levied to the city by Frontenac County for the services.

Frontenac County has not backed down, and the matter of the $200,000 payment is now the subject of mediation.

Under a separate agreement, the City of Kingston provides children’s services, Ontario Works and social housing services for Frontenac County, and levies funds to Frontenac County ratepayers to cover a portion of those costs. For 2020, the levy for children’s services and Ontario Works is up, by 6.6%, while the social housing levy is down, by 4.4%.

Deputy Mayor for 2020

Councillor Ross Sutherland took the declaration of office as Deputy Mayor for the coming year, and was welcomed by Mayor Vandewal. 

Johnston Point Delegation

Meela Melnik-Proud spoke on behalf of a delegation of residents concerned about the Johnston Point condominium project. Specifically, she addressed the construction of a walking bridge on lot 6, built to connect the main property to an island in order to provide access to the lake. Apparently the structure in question was partially constructed before the CRCA issued a permit for it, and to date, the only available copy of the accompanying benefit permit has been blacked out (redacted) so thoroughly that what remains are mostly a few pronouns and the words “Grey rat snake” and “Blandings turtle”. A benefit permit is the document that details particular actions the applicant must undertake within a specified time, in order to provide an overall benefit to the species that is threatened by their proposed activities.

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) states that: “No person shall damage or destroy the habitat of a species that is listed on the Species at Risk in Ontario list as an endangered or threatened species…(However) the Minister may issue a permit to a person under subsection 17(1) of the Act that authorizes the person to engage in an activity that would otherwise be prohibited by the Act.”)

Many questions remain: what are the requirements of this particular benefit permit, and who has the authority (the Ministry? The Conservation Authority? The County? The Township?) to ensure that they are met in a timely manner? Where does the OMB decision fit into this puzzle? How does this affect further development on Johnston Point?

Deputy Mayor Sutherland brought a notice of motion that council direct staff to contact the township solicitor for clarification on the township’s obligation to approve and enforce the site plan control and condominium agreements.

However, CAO Carbone and Director of Development Claire Dodds both advised patience, saying “there are processes underway addressing some of these issues”, and “every day we are getting more information and action on this file.” They are looking at updating the condo agreement, and both recommended it would be premature to seek further legal advice. Carbone said a reasonable timeline would be for Council to revisit the issue “in the first Q” ie, in late February or early March, by which time the issue might be sorted out. Council agreed to defer Sutherland’s motion until they receive their staff’s report.

Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve (FABR)

Julie Savant director of the FABR presented a summary of the reserve’s activities, reporting that its UNESCO designation had been renewed for the next 10 years. As of 2017, South Frontenac Township and Frontenac Provincial Park are included within its boundaries. The designation does not come with any federal or provincial funding, although the reserve, through grants and donations, contributes substantially to education, tourism, trails and networking in the area. In order to ensure their financial stability, they are seeking to secure support from the municipalities within their boundaries. Mayor Vandewal advised Savant that although the township was positive to the reserve’s work, and had provided a degree of support in the past, the 2020 budget process was in its final stages.

Council would consider her request, but he could make no promises, and said it would be much better if next year’s request came in October.

2020 Revised Budget

Later in the meeting, when Treasurer Fragnito presented a summary of revisions to the November 7 draft budget, which by taking into account the finalized MPAC assessment and a reduction to the Quinte Conservation levy estimate, has maintained Council’s direction of a 2.0% impact on the average phased-in property.

Through Council discussions, the following have been added: $30,000 for a Lake Study Grant program, $7,040 to reinstate maintenance of non-township facilities as a council grant and the addition of a Winter Festival in the amount of $5,000. Davidson Beach access road was changed from $200,000 to $50,000 and the following projects have been put on hold, pending council approval: branding strategy and implementation, electronic sign, charging station for electric vehicles, ice stock dedicated lanes - pending consideration of  multi-use pad and confirmation of fund-raising contribution. Fragnito confirmed there is a modest discretionary amount council could draw on, if they choose to contribute to the biosphere reserve.

Garbage and Recycle Collection RFP

This RFP will be issued in early 2020, for closure in the fall of 2020. Public works Director Segsworth recommended the following points be included:  the RFP will allow contractors to bid on the entire township and/or separate collection areas; collection areas will be revised to 4 day/week pickup; garbage and recycling on the same day for all residents; the basis of payment shall be an amount of dollars per household; the length of contract shall be 5 years plus 2 optional years, to allow for the rollout of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) within the blue box program on or around 2025; appropriate termination clauses shall be included; the RFP will specify the age of trucks be no more than 10 years; grandfathered lanes will continue service. Mayor Vandewal suggested trucks be assessed by a combination of age and quality/condition. Segsworth said he will be working together with the Public Service Committee to pull together the final RFP document.

In another report, Segsworth recommended and received approval of Waste Management’s bid to continue to receive domestic waste and bulky goods from the township (Storrington has no waste site). Currently, the township exports about one third of its waste annually.

Private Lane Assistance

Council approved $129,264.27 for the private lane upgrading Assistance Program, which has proven increasingly popular every year since its introduction. The 2019 budget for the program was $100,000: the remainder was made up by accessing unused PLA funds from 2018 and leftover money from the 2019 budget for Council grants.

Meeting Cancellation

The Dec 10 Committee of the Whole meeting has been cancelled.

Each year the Addington Highlands Council and the Addington Highlands Economic Advisors for Development call for nominations of a deserving person to receive a Community Builder Award in a number of categories This year’s recipients received their awards at a ceremony last week.

Abbi Woods received the Emerging Youth Leader Award. A grade nine student from North Addington Education Centre, (NAEC) Abbi has exhibited strong leadership skills and enthusiasm towards volunteering. She helped organise the local soccer association and was a coach, and volunteered with the Santa Clause Parade, the Lions Club, the Haunted Walk hosted at Sherwood Park, and the Trunk or Treat Halloween events in Flinton.

Diana Weichenthal also received the Emerging Youth Leader Award.
Diana is a grade eleven student at NAEC. Diana provides leadership through her involvement with volleyball and in the hallways of NAEC, where her positive demeanor welcomes others and makes everyone ready for learning. Teri Woods received the Citizen of the Year Award. Teri was recognized for volunteerism in the community over the past few years. She helped to organize the Breakfast with Santa and Touch the Truck events in conjunction with LARC, the township float for the Santa Clause parade, and the North Addington Soccer Association. Teri has had a positive impact on our local community for many years and has also donated her time to the Lions Club of Land O’Lakes as well as North Addington Education Centre.

Jillian Mumby received the Business Leader Award. She operates a small business and employs a significant number of locals depending on demand. Jillian recently built a two-unit family dwelling in Flinton to provide housing for seniors. During construction a number of local companies were contracted to complete the project.

The Township and AHEAD committee thanked the recipients for their efforts in the community and congratulate them on a job well done.