Remembrance Day November 10, 2004
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Light agenda at Central Frontenac Council
by Jeff Green
The most exciting part of the short Central Frontenac Council meeting this week took place before the meeting even started, as there were several accidents on Highway 7 between Sharbot Lake and Mountain Grove due to black ice conditions on the road. Police closed the highway until maintenance crews arrived to sand the road.
The only delegation scheduled for the meeting was Gordon Garey, who was not present. Mr. Garey lives in Henderson and he may have been affected by the road closing.
FEP still waiting Several members of the Frontenac Environmental Partnership (FEP) were in attendance at the meeting, hoping to receive approval from Council to use digital parcel mapping for an online application of a Global information system they have developed for Lake Associations. Through the use of a password- protected website, lake association members can have access to a large amount of information about the properties on their lake. The issue for Council is granting the FEP the right to use the digital lot and concession mapping that they developed when they were preparing for the pending 911 emergency system.
This information was provided to the township by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation subject to the condition that the digital file is not distributed externally by the township.
The FEP submitted a report concerning how this issue was handled in Tay Valley Township, where the FEP has entered into a contractors agreement in order to use the digital file. The Tay Valley bylaw includes the clause The municipality is free to utilize the digital file for its own internal purposes, including providing the data to contractors, while performing work for the Municipality, under condition of non-disclosure and non-retention once the work is completed.
North and South Frontenac townships have accepted this interpretation of the MPAC regulations, and both have signed agreements allowing the FEP to use the information.
In a written submission to Council, the FEP notes several benefits this project could bring to the municipality at no cost. These include an increased ability for local people to spot inaccuracies in the data, help with gathering water quality information; potential partnerships for gathering information on septic systems; and improvements in emergency planning.
Clerk Administrator Heather Fox told Council that she has asked MPAC to let the township know if they consider it acceptable that Central Frontenac enter into a contractual agreement with the FEP in order to allow the parcel mapping to be used, and has not yet heard back. Council deferred action on the matter until hearing back from MPAC.
Tichborne-Parham Santa Clause parade The District 4 firefighters will be hosting a Santa Clause Parade on December 5, and Council is invited.
Pyle road allowance usage A request by Allan Pyle to construct a roadway on a road allowance near St. Georges Lake in Olden District led to a discussion concerning one of the clauses in the potential bylaw which would permit him to build the road. As proposed, the bylaw includes a clause that would require Mr. Pyle to provide proof of liability insurance on a yearly basis, protecting the municipality against any liability. Councillor Jack Nicolson thought this was not a reasonable request on the townships part, except for the period of time while the road is being constructed. I consider myself pro-development, as most of the people on the Council do, and I live on a private road that has 68 people living on it, provides the township with $13 million in assessment, and never has a question of liability insurance come up. I dont see why it should in this case.
Clerk/Administrator Fox said it was Councils decision whether to take the clause out or not, but that the townships planner had recommended it. The road, if constructed, will have to conform to the private road standard that was developed within the townships official plan, but it would not be a private road, it would become an unassumed public road. Both Councillors Harvey and Murray said that by applying the private road standards, the township will end up with liability over the road whether we like it or not, Murray said, so why ask Mr. Pyle to have liability insurance once the road is built.
The matter was tabled for further information.
One more issue was mentioned in regards to opening up road allowances, harkening back to the issue that Gordon Garey had been expected to bring to the meeting. Councillor Murray said that in cases where roads are being built on road allowances, the timber the trees that are cut should become the property of the person who builds the road. They have to undergo sugnificant costs, for construction and surveying, so whatever value of timber there is on a 66 road allowance, and it is not a lot, should go to them and not to the adjacent landowners.
I agree with Logan Murray, said Bill MacDonald, pausing to reflect on the fact that this may have been the first time he has uttered such a statement since the formation of Central Frontenac.
Nonetheless a final decision on who gets the wood when a road is built on a township road allowance was not made at this Council meeting.
