Feature Article February 27, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeRec Committees add spark to South Frontenac Council debateby Jeff Green Resolutions brought forward from the Storrington and Bedford Recreational Committees led to the most vociferous debates at last weeks South Frontenac township Council meeting.
The resolution from Storrington committee deals with a playground risk mitigation effort that was undertaken by the Storrington rec. committee last year in response to a report by the townships insurer from 2002, which called for improvements to the playgrounds throughout South Frontenac. Last September the Storrington committee came to realize the other three District Rec. Committees had not undertaken improvements. They passed a resolution that recommended that any premium increase or claims related to playground equipment be area-rated.
In the words of Strorrington Rec. Committee Chair Ralph Boston, Having made the necessary improvements, we did not want to be dinged with any insurance increases. The motion was not brought forward to council, however, until the year end accounting showed that Storrington had spent almost $23,000 on the improvements last year, more money than any of us had realized, recounts Boston.
Recreation is one of the aspects of South Frontenac Township that is area rated, meaning that monies for recreation are set aside for each district, and a recreation budget for each district is approved by the two district counsellors and the mayor.
In a memorandum to council that accompanied the Storrington resolution, township Clerk-Administrator Gord Burns wrote, I can appreciate their concern, given the size of the financial commitment they have made. Unfortunately, , risk is not based on individual components, but population. They assume we as a municipality are doing what is necessary to reduce our potential risk.
In the end, Burns recommended that the resolution from the Storrington Recreation Committtee regarding Risk Mitigation costs be referred to the Central Recreation Committee.
This provoked Portland district counsellor Bill Robinson, an outspoken critic of the Central Rec. Committee, who told council I have a real problem with this going to the rec. committee again. That committee is a waste of time.
The Rec. Committee is indeed going to get this hot potato thrown at it, says Ralph Boston, who chairs the Central Rec. Committee as well as the Storrington committee. Even though Ralph Boston has been the recipient of much of Bill Robinsons ire in the past, on one point the two agree. The Central Rec. Committee can not force the districts to deal with playground safety. We will have to see what the district committees decide to do, and proceed from there.
In a recorded vote, two of the six counsellors present opposed referring the Storrington resolution to the Central Rec. Committee, counsellor Robinson from Portland, and counsellor Willis from Loughborough.
The Central Recreation Committee meets later this month.
Bedford Rec. Committee and the K&P Trail. A resolution from the Bedford Recreation Committee was presented to council. It stated, in part:
Whereas the proposed K&P trail is an important link to the Trans Canada trail, be it resolved that the Bedford Recreation Committee recommends that the Council of South Frontenac Township negotiate to acquire K & P right of way and develop a multi-use trail on this land.
This resolution comes about in the midst of the consideration of the entire issue by a committee of council, and this led to acrimony on council.
Mayor Leonard and several councillors objected to the motion being on the agenda at all, calling it premature. Councillor Robinson, who is on the SF K&P committee, claimed councillor David Hahn from Bedford had promised not to make the matter public at this time. In the end the motion was withdrawn, the controversy pointing again to the deep divisions on council over the proposed trail.
