Feature Article May 27, 2004
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeContact Us
Bag tags, salaries questioned -North Frontenac Council May 24, 2004
Bag tags and dumping fees went into effect throughout North Frontenac Township on May 15, and the new regulations continue to cause controversy. Another delegation appeared before council at Tuesdays meeting to address the subject.
The delegation was headed by Wynne and Doug Cameron, who presented council with a letter stating that the new fees are excessive. They fear they will lead to garbage being unloaded outside of waste disposal sites, and they feel that issues such as dump fees and road tolls should be election issues, and should require more public debate and even a referendum before implementation.
The letter also asked for an explanation of the increases in remuneration for the mayor and councillors up from $81,000 in 2003, to an expected $93,000 plus mileage for 2004. However, the letter acknowledged that the change to paying fixed salaries to council members was a good thing, as figures provided by the township to the Camerons indicated that under the old system of paying councillors for the number of meetings they attended plus mileage, remuneration for the mayor and councillors could have been as high as $142,500 for 2004.
Mayor Maguire explained that the new council started out with 16 committees, some of which they inherited from the old council, and in the beginning of the year there were also many extra meetings for orientation and training. Clerk Administrator Penny Sharman pointed out that in 2003 the old council was winding down and projects were put on hold. Consequently there were fewer meetings, resulting in lower remuneration.
Mayor Maguire said that councillors put in far more work than you can imagine; that when theyre not actually in meetings theyre thinking about and researching issues. Its a full time job with part time pay, he said, adding that it was also a stressful job that carried much responsibility. Councillor Cybulski said that the new salaries amount to about $7 an hour based on a 25-hour week, but that represents only half of the time that councillors actually put in.
In response to the continuing concern about bag tags, councillors indicated that the feedback was not all negative; they had also received positive feedback on the system from people who found that recycling had reduced their bags of garbage considerably.
Councillors Cybulski and Clayton were at the dumps on May 15 to deflect flak from the attendants and to monitor the implementation of the new system. They admittedly had some concerns such as that questions about the grace period, and the discovery that Addington Highlands is actually still only charging $1 per bag of garbage (their fees will rise to $2 on July 1); however they are clearly committed to working out the problems.
In response to the Camerons assertion that they had seen garbage on the mountain all winter long, Councillor Clayton pointed out that was before bag tags. Mayor Maguire said that although illegal dumping did increase for a time in neighbouring townships when bag tags were introduced, it had eventually tapered off.
Jessie Lavery of James General Store addressed council with her concerns about cottagers using her bins to dump their garbage. She has decided to remove the bins.
Council generally acknowledged that they had not done a good enough job of communicating and consulting with ratepayers, and Mayor Maguire said that in future, more meetings must be held on controversial issues.
Grass cutting Tenders: A late tender for grass cutting was accepted from Jim Boles, as Councillor Clayton was willing to go on record that he had mistakenly given the wrong information to Mr. Boles. Boles was awarded the tender for Ward 1, at $5055, and Dennis Scott won the tenders for Wards 2 & 3, at $5984 and $3589 respectively.
