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After Fire Chief Eric Korhonen and consultant Terry Gervais completed a power point presentation of how they intended to go about drafting the 2017 Master Fire Plan, North Frontenac Council was pretty specific about what it didn’t want - an expensive and complicated document.
The presentation came at North Frontenac Council’s regular meeting last Friday morning in Harlowe.

“I guess I have one concern that this is ballooning into a huge project,” said Coun. John Inglis. “We had looked at some fairly simple document.
“What will this cost? Are we getting into too much detail?”
“I don’t see the cost becoming too exorbitant,” said Korhonen.
“There’s a huge potential pitfall there,” said Coun. Gerry Martin. “We tried this before.
“We had too much input and ended up getting nothing.”
“You’re absolutely right, it can go in too many ways,” said Gervais. “But I’ll be developing questions very tailored to your needs.”

Mayor Ron Higgins asked for quarterly reports on the project.

“We will give your reports when we hit critical points,” said Gervais. “We don’t want to come in here on June 1 and drop a huge document on you.”
Council expressed its concerns about Bill 148 – Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 and the implications it could have for rural municipalities’ fire departments, especially in the areas of vacation pay, scheduled time and the 3-hour minimum rule.
“This is big-city thinking and would totally destroy rural fire departments,” said Coun. John Inglis.

Council drafted a resolution to this effect to be shared with neighbouring municipalities and AMO.Mayor Ron Higgins said he expects to have a report on an “Ubuntu Contributionism Implementation Plan” for one of the two Council meetings in November.
Coun. Gerry Martin told Council the committee looking after Remembrance Day ceremonies is looking for family military memorabilia for a display.
“The memorabilia will be returned,” he said. “Anyone with memorabilia to share is asked to contact Brenda Martin at 613-479-2837.”

He said the members of the Tweed Legion will be coming to the cenotaph in Plevna this year, following the closure of the Northbrook Legion branch.

Published in NORTH FRONTENAC

Council and various dignitaries gathered at the site of the new fire hall planned for Perth Road Village last Friday to put the first shovels in the ground.

“This is our first new fire hall in three decades,” said Mayor Ron Vandewal. “We’ve been looking at it for two years since the old hall was condemned for training purposes.”
The new hall, with an estimated price tag of $1.5 million, will join the eight other fire halls in South Frontenac and will likely be the go-to site for firefighter training.
“It’s going to be a great space with a training room for 30 people,” Vandewal said. “Public Works will probably use it too.

“It’s been very frustrating for firefighters because they’ve had to use Sydenham for training programs but this station has the third highest call volume in the Township.”
Vandewal said the price tag wasn’t the best but in the end Council unanimously supported it.

“The old site just didn’t have the space,” he said. “Plus this one, with drive-through bays and being on Perth Road as opposed to an interior street, will have much better access.”
Fire Chief Rick Chesebrough agreed.

“For firefighters, not having to pull into a residential area alone should make response times faster,” Chesebrough said. “This is a tremendous asset for response time, training and safety.
“It will have all the proper equipment such as IT, ventilation and we’re expecting it to have at least a 40-year lifespan.
“We have 18 volunteers here now and we’re hoping to get that up to 25.”

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

“This is where your tax money goes to,” said North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins at the 2017 Essential Services Fair last Saturday at the Ompah Rest Stop.

The idea was to get representatives of the various essential services in one place — police, fire, conservation authorities, public health, community services, etc — to show the public what they do.

“This has been an awareness raiser for me,” Higgins, who used to be a volunteer firefighter. “You know we’ve been trained in disaster management but we’ve never really practised with an exercise.

“I think we should schedule one.” 

Coun. Gerry Martin, chair of the personnel and audit committee, organized the event.

“I almost panicked this morning because some guys were a little slow on our crooked roads up here and there were almost a few no-shows,” Martin joked. “(But) there has been a steady flow of people through here and it’s mostly for education purposes but I think people will see where their tax dollars go.”

“This is a unique opportunity to display our capabilities,” said Director of Emergency Services/Fire Chief Eric Korhonen. “All three stations are participating and we even have a contingent from South Frontenac.”

There was also a bit of PR and recruitment on Korhonen’s mind.

“We are taking applications today,” he said. “We can always use more community support and I’d love for more individuals to apply to become members of the fire department.”

Coun. John Inglis was also in attendance but couldn’t stay long. He was engaged in the Ompah Community Centre Association elections taking place across the street.

“I pay $1 a year and I get to vote,” Inglis said. “It’s very exciting this year because we have four people running for three positions.

“That hasn’t happened for the past two years.”

For the record, Rick Morey, Betty Kelford and Elaine Moffitt won seats on the executive and will be joining Rob Harris and Stacey Couture.

Published in NORTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 19 July 2017 12:51

Perth Road Fire Hall cost: $1.5 million

South Frontenac Council held a brief meeting this week to resolve the question of exceeding the amount ($1,000,000) budgeted for the construction of a new fire station at Perth Road.

The current station is in disrepair and considered unfit to be used for training meetings, and Council has already purchased a larger lot on the main road for the new fire station.

Public Works Manager Segsworth confirmed that only the supplemental water tank has been removed from the specifications presented at last week’s Council. There was brief discussion confirming the intent that the same building design could serve as a prototype for future firehalls in the Township. The training room has potential to be used by the Township for public meetings to gather community input on issues, training space for public works, and Federal and Provincial Polling stations.

Mayor Vandewal said that while in an ideal world all the Township fire halls would be replaced in the not-too-distant future, in reality some of the halls are functioning adequately, and with proper maintenance and upkeep could have their lives extended. “We need to keep our halls maintained to a higher standard; there has been no upkeep on these buildings for years.”

Council unanimously agreed: to award the contract to Anglin Construction in the amount of $1,465,569 (the low bid); to fund the extra $491,363 from the Facilities/ Property Reserve; and to budget the costs for site works, paving and landscaping in 2018 for the estimated amount of $200,000. Councillor Schjerning noted that the final cost of the building was close to the original architect’s estimate. No one commented on whether or not the 2017 budget might have been trimmed unrealistically.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

CAO Orr brought a recommendation that a special meeting of Council be called next Tuesday to award the tender for the Perth Road Fire Hall, because although six bids have been received, the evaluation of these bids by the Architect (based on 80 points for price and 20 for references) has not yet been received.

Since 2009, Fire Hall Studies have recommended the replacement of most of the current fire halls. A 2014 RFP for a firehall concept brought estimates ranging from $2.1-$2.5 million. The same year Council approved a capital budget of $225,000 for land acquisition, site servicing and architect fees for a new Perth Road Fire Hall, and in 2015 set a budget of $1 million for construction of the fire hall. The land was acquired in 2016, and in December of that year, Council approved the design criteria after having gone on two bus tours of various fire halls.  

The architect’s contract was also awarded in 2016, for $112,350. The resulting design has been described by Public Works Manager Segsworth as “not an opulent building, or out of the ordinary.”

During 2017 budget discussion Council rejected a $750,000 increase in the construction budget “for fear of creating unrealistic expectations.”

So site works, paving, water tanks and landscaping were pulled out prior to issuing tender for construction because final estimates still exceeded budget. (unofficial estimates put the costs of the excluded items at $200,000.)

Four of the six bids received are within $45,000 of each other, all coming in at or near $500,000 more than the amount budgeted by Council.

Much discussion ensued: Barbeau and Schjerning said that first priority should be given to the sort of building Council wants, rather than setting the price first. CAO Orr said “ The over-budget tenders should not come as a surprise: $1 million would produce a reduced-standard building. Clearly, there is no appetite for extending the budget up. We could push it all back, change from a metal to a shingle roof, etc, but this would reduce the quality and life of the building. Is this what we want?”

Mayor Vandewal referred several times to Amherstview’s much less expensive firehall, and the future needs for new firehalls in Sydenham, Verona, etc. He asked for assurance from staff that this is indeed the minimum size of hall needed for Perth Road. Fire Chief Chesebrough was shaking his head in what appeared to be frustration, and Segsworth said staff had been discussing, but were prepared to come back to Council for direction next week.
There seemed to be agreement among Council that there was no wish to postpone the project one more year. (It should be noted that there does not appear to be any external source of funding assistance for firehalls.)
A special meeting has been called for Tuesday July 18, by which time the six bids will be evaluated and ranked by the architect, to decide the fate of the Perth Road Fire Hall.

Sydenham Lake Association’s State of the Lake Report
Gord Rodgers of French Planning Services and Bill Peairs of the SLA presented Council with the State of the Lake Report, which is to be followed this fall with a Lake Stewardship Plan, currently in draft form. Thanking the Township for help and cooperation received from Township staff members Lindsay Mills and Jenny Kapusta, Rogers called it “one of the best processes I’ve ever been involved in.” He listed many other agencies and individuals that had worked with them to compile this summary of the most current and relevant environmental information on Sydenham lake and its watershed. The Lake Plan will “guide actions towards protection and management of of the environmental characteristics important to the health of the lake.” The entire project has cost $65,000, all of which has been funded by a variety of grants, some related to the fact that Sydenham lake is a source water lake for the village.

The report, which is readable and interesting, can be found on the SLA’s website: www.sydenhamlake.ca.

Annual Report: Sydenham Water Treatment
Kevin Riley, of Utilities Kingston, gave a brief and positive report on the water treatment plant: there were no reported problems, and no questions. There has been some concern about the functioning of the water meters, which is under investigation.

Minimum Distance Separation Zoning Changes
Forbes Symon spoke to a public meeting about proposed revision of the Minimum Distance Separation (MDS) requirements between barns and neighbouring houses and cemeteries which would reflect new provincial guidelines and should make the zoning easier to understand and more flexible. There were a few comments and questions for clarification, but no major disagreement.

Hartington Community Association
Two notices of motion were brought by Councillor Schjerning, a) to reimburse the HCA $23,730 for expenses incurred by their hiring of an expert witness and b) to cover the est. $8700 costs of testing all 29 residences within 300 m of the former gas station. They were deferred until legal proceedings with the OMB are concluded.

Fermoy Hall Repairs Hit a Snag
Plans to repair the plaster at Fermoy hall have been put on hold, following the revelation that there is asbestos in the skim coat of the plaster, which will necessitate removal of all the plaster as well as the wainscotting and electrical service panel and conduits.This is estimated to double the price of $30,000 which was the amount budgeted for all upgrades including well, septic system, paint and insulation.

The future of this “historic pre-confederation building with good footings, strong construction and full accessibility” has been referred back to the Fermoy committee for a strategy and plan for fundraising.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 14 June 2017 12:36

What were Those Fire Trucks Doing??

Anyone travelling Rutledge Road between Sydenham and Harrowsmith in the early afternoon last Saturday may well have wondered where the fire was. For an hour or so, several fire trucks raced back and forth between the two villages, sirens howling.

The quick answer is that they were helping keep our fire insurance rates down. A relay of tankers filled up at Sydenham creek near the Rutledge Road bridge in Sydenham, raced off to dump the water on the outskirts of Harrowsmith, turned around and screamed flashing back to Sydenham to repeat the performance. Deputy Chief Veldman took time from directing traffic to confirm that the goal was to prove to insurance actuaries their ability to pump and deliver a given amount of water per minute over a set length of time, in what’s called the Superior Water Shuttle. South Frontenac Volunteer Fire Department has continued to maintain an excellent performance record, which is applied to insurance statistics in rural areas.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

Chief Rick Cheseborough personifies the South Frontenac Fire department. Whenever and wherever the department is called out on a major call in the vast expanse of the township, he is there to support the firefighters.

Not many people in South Frontenac were aware, however, about the reputation Cheseborough has built within the firefighting community over the last 30 or more years, starting from his days as a volunteer with the former Pittsburgh Township fire department.

They know now, however, since Cheseborough won the Bill Williams Humanitarian award at the annual gathering of chiefs from the 400 plus Ontario fire departments in Toronto in early May.

Don King, currently a rep for Global Fire Safety, a major supplier of fire equipment, met a younger Rick Cheseborough in 1986.

“I was the national sales manager for Hearst Sales Jaws of Life and I was conducting training on how to use the equipment. I trained him on auto extrication, cold water rescue, all while he was a volunteer. I don’t know if people realise that Rick was always a volunteer firefighter. He took training over the years on weekends and vacations for all of his qualifications and on the business side of it before becoming a full time Fire Chief in South Frontenac. He knows what his crews face as volunteers because he has lived it,” said King in a telephone interview.

King said that he was very happy to hear that Cheseborough was this years recipient of the award, which given out jointly by his company and the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs.

“The Association of Fire Chiefs handles the entire process of choosing a winner, we don’t see any of that. It is named for Bill Williams, who was a firefighter and later a salesman of fire equipment. Bill had a generous personality, he was always giving of his time, he was a very benevolent man, and that is what the award is all about,” he said.

To cite an example, King talked about an elderly woman in South Frontenac who had sort of been adopted by the department after they had received a number of medical calls for service, some of them unnecessary because her health monitors kept going off when she was not in distress. She was embarrassed by these calls and found them stressful. Eventually Cheseborough gave her his own phone numbers so she could phone and let him know if the call was necessary or not.”

“Not too many Fire Chiefs give out their phone number to residents,” said King.

King said that Cheseborough was not sure he was going to attend this years conference because he was busy and did not necessarily want to spend the department’s money because he has other requests going before Council for equipment and new halls, so he ended up being encouraged to go by senior township staff who were told to make sure he went because he was going to win an award.

Fire Chief Gary Bullock of the Gananoque Fire Department has also known Cheseborough from his Pittsburgh department days. A recipient of the Bill Williams award himself two years ago, Bullock sent a letter of nomination for the award.

“I thought Rick should be recognised for his commitment to South Frontenac and to the people who live there, both as Fire Chief and as a leader and for his contributions to the community. When I won the award, it was the highlight of my 53 year career and it is an honour to have it hanging in my home. I know Rick doesn’t like to be singled out, but I’m glad he won the award this year because it is well deserved,” said Bullock.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

After a joint North Frontenac-Addington Highlands Council meeting last Friday at Barrie Hall in Cloyne, it appears that concerns about equipment reserves for the joint Kaladar Barrie Fire Department (KBFD) have been laid to rest.

The meeting was called at the request of North Frontenac (and Mayor Ron Higgins in particular) to address funding for the replacement of the Rescue 5 vehicle at an estimated cost of up to $315,000.

Both Councils agreed to approve budget submissions of $281,119 being added to the Vehicle/Equipment Reserve in 2017.

The Councils also approved an allocation of $110,000 ($55,000 per Township) for the next nine years (2018 to 2026), with the amount required to be reviewed on an annual basis when the KBFD Asset Management Plan Tangible Capital Asset Replacement Schedules are reviewed as part of the annual budget process.

The budget in general was also approved as presented in draft #2 permitting the KBFD to have all the equipment, personnel and training required to provide the core services as set by Councils in the establishing and regulating bylaw.

The Kaladar Barrie department is an anomaly in Ontario because it is managed by two different townships  in two different counties, but since the department pre-dates the municipal amalgamation process in 1998 and serves a single community on either side of Hwy. 41 it has persisted through successive councils for almost 20 years. Occasionally differences in the way North Frontenac and Addington Highlands run their townships has caused friction from time to time, however.

“North Frontenac has had concerns that the Joint Fire Committee (JFC) hasn’t put enough money away, but we’ve put in $281,000 to buy a rescue vehicle,” said Addington Highlands Reeve Henry Hogg.

“It’s something we have to do,” he said. “It means a tax increase but it has to be done.

“It’s as good as we can get. It’s always that way.”

“I think it went fairly smoothly,” said Addington Highlands Fire Chief Casey Cuddy of the meeting.

“Both Councils were brought up to speed.” Cuddy lives in North Frontenac but serves as Fire Chief for Addington Highlands and for the KBFD.

Higgins agreed.

“I feel good about how it’s gone,” Higgins said. “It’s comforting to me that Councils addressed errors in asset management.

“I just wanted assurance that Councils agreed.”

Councils also agreed to have the JFC review the agreements as required and to revisit the Tangible Assets Replacement Schedule in 2017 with respect to the options available.

Published in NORTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 01 March 2017 11:25

No Smoke Alarms Found in Recent Fatal Fire

The investigation by the Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management into the fatal fire in Brampton, on Tuesday, February 14, 2017, revealed that there were no smoke alarms present in the residence.

The Kaladar Barrie & Denbigh fire departments are urging the public to make sure that they have working smoke alarms on every storey of their home and outside all sleeping areas.  Have and practice a home fire escape plan with everyone in their home.

Early detection and warning of a fire in your home is crucial to your survival,” said Fire Chief Cuddy. “The Ontario Fire Code requires working smoke alarms on every storey of the home and outside all sleeping areas. For added protection, our fire department is recommending that you also install a smoke alarm in every bedroom. Larger homes may require additional smoke alarms. It is against the law for anyone to remove the batteries or tamper with an alarm in any way.”

Just as important as having working smoke alarms is making sure everyone in your home knows exactly what to do to escape BEFORE a fire occurs. It is up to you to make sure these types of tragedies do not happen in your home or cottage,” continued Chief Cuddy.

  • Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms can save your life:
    Install smoke alarms on every storey and outside all sleeping areas of your home. For added protection, install a smoke alarm in every bedroom according to manufacturer’s recommendations.
  • Install carbon monoxide alarms outside all sleeping areas if your home has a fuel-burning appliance, fireplace or attached garage. For added protection, install a carbon monoxide alarm on every storey of your home according to manufacturer’s recommendations.
  • Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms monthly by pressing the test button.
  • Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms wear out over time. Replace alarms according to manufacturer’s recommendations.

Give your family a fighting chance with a home fire escape plan:

  • Everyone should know two ways out of each room, if possible.
  • All exits must be unobstructed and easy to use.
  • If someone in your home has a disability, develop an escape plan with your household that takes into account their unique needs. Determine who will be responsible for helping young children, older adults and anyone who needs assistance to escape.
  • Choose a meeting place outside, such as a tree or a lamp post, where everyone can be accounted for.
  • Call the fire department from outside the home, from a cell phone or neighbour’s home.
  • Practice your home fire escape plan.
  • Once out, stay out. Never re-enter a burning building.

If you are a landlord:

  • It is your responsibility to ensure your rental properties have working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in compliance with the law.

If you are a tenant of a rental property:

  • Contact your landlord immediately, if your rental property does not have the required number of working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
Published in General Interest

There’s a curious trend that’s been developing over the last little while and Central Frontenac Fire Chief Bill Young is all for it.

What we’re talking about here is younger firefighters going away to school but returning home on a regular basis to continue their training and land a hand whenever and wherever they can.

“We have this younger generation of firefighters who want to be on the department while they get their education,” said Young. “It works.”

Currently the Central Frontenac force has four members who continue their training and time on the force while getting their post secondary education — Andrew Hole, Simon Gowdy, Suzanne Allison and Dave Basra.

“Clayton Conboy and and Jason Conboy did that too, so yeah, we have a few,” said Young. “The young ones are stepping up to the plate.”

Young said he can “see it becoming a regular thing” because it gives him more personnel and it’s building for the future.

“We have our junior program which begins at age 16 and when they become 18, they’re regular firefighters,” he said. “But, that’s also about the time they’re ready to head off to further education.

“So, we work around that because we don’t want to turn anybody away and after all, fire fighting is a young person’s game.”

For Basra, who’s in his second year of electronics engineering technology at Algonquin College in Ottawa as well as pulling regular shifts at the family PetroCan business in Sharbot Lake, admits it can be “challenging” at times but after going through the junior program, he was hooked on fire fighting and can’t imagine not doing it.

“My (firefighting) training is going well,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed learning how pumps and nozzles and things work and now we’re doing ice water training.

“I don’t want to miss that.”

He said it’s a matter of “balance” and because school will lead him to a full-time job, there are times when it has to take priority.

“It’s OK,” he said. “If we get a call and they need lots of guys, I’ll go.

“I did have to miss one training session because of exams, but I don’t like to miss too many.”

But that’s OK with the Chief.

“They’ve been very dedicated,” Young said. “They make the effort to get here for training nights.

“I don’t say anything if they miss a night because they can’t stop their education.”

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC
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