Feature Article March 4, 2004
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Addington Highlands Council meeting Chip Wagon revisited Chris Winney appeared before Council on behalf of Wayne Ozen, who was in attendance as well. Winney explained that Mr. Ozen had requested she attend because he has a hearing impairment. The issue at hand was a decision that Council took at its Feb 16 meeting. Mr. Ozen operates a chip wagon on his property on Highway 41. Since the highway is provincial government property, the provincial Ministry of Transportation has requested that Mr. Ozen present them with a certificate of compliance. Back in June 2003, Wayne Ozen received a letter from township Clerk/Administrator Jack Paul stating that the township has no bylaw prohibiting chip wagons, so no letter of compliance was necessary. At the council meeting on Feb. 16, the same position was taken. Chris Winney, expressing some frustration, pointed out to Council that Mr. Ozen needed a letter of compliance to stay in business. Reeve Ken Hook pointed out that Mr. Ozen was in receipt of an unfair advantage over his food service competition on the highway, because he does not pay commercial taxes on his property, while all other restaurants do. At this point Chris Winney suggested that Mr. Ozen would be willing to pay commercial tax on the of an acre that he uses to run his Chip Wagon. This was accepted by Council, and Mr. Ozen will contact the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) to request a change in his assessment. Council then passed a motion to send a letter of compliance to the MTO once the change in assessment category is forwarded to them from MPAC. Wayne Ozen thanked Council for their decision on the matter.Bicycle paths on County Roads A memo was received from Steve Roberts from Lennox & Addington County concerning a plan to put up signs to direct cyclists through the bicycle path system on the County roads in L&A. A plan is in place that will see new bicycle lanes established on all County roads as they are repaved over the next 20 years.
In his memo, Steve Roberts pointed out that while the County is paying to widen all the roads, the townships will see savings in maintaining those roads; One of the quantitative advantages of installing the widened platforms is a reduction in roadside shoulder maintenance a local responsibility.
In return, the local townships are being asked to pay for 60% of the cost of signage announcing the bicycle- friendly roads system (40% of the cost will be covered by a Land OLakes Tourist Association Funding). The total cost to Addington Highlands is estimated at $10,275, to be paid over three years.
Councillor Eythel Grant wondered whether ATVs would be allowed to use the new paved shoulders on the roads, and Reeve Hook said, If you like, Eythel, we can ask if ATVs will be allowed to use the bicycle paths. The proposal was accepted by Council.
Water Source Protection Act A consultation session will be held in Kingston on Friday to discuss the Watershed based Source Protection Act. Reeve Ken Hook will attend. He told Council that he had attended a briefing on the white paper while at the recent Good Roads/ROMA conference in Toronto.
There are far-reaching implications to this white paper, and some of them are pretty scary, including a plan to use Global Positioning Systems and metres on all wells, private and public in the province. The province also plans to charge for water, and this could extend beyond bottlers and exporters to all commercial water use, said Reeve Hook.
