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CF_Council_Dec9_and_Dec16_2002

Feature Article December 18

Feature Article December 18, 2002

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Central Frontenac Councilby Jeff GreenCentral Frontenac Council held their regular meeting in Mountain Grove on Monday, December 9, in Mountain Grove. Faced with the prospect of a meeting on December 24, Council opted to meet again in Sharbot Lake on December 16 to wrap up business for the calendar year 2002.

December 9:

Public meeting on road names.

A public meeting was held prior to passing a bylaw to change the names of roads in order to comply with upcoming 911 requirements that all road names be distinct. Several letters had been received about proposed name changes and two delegations appeared before council. While council held steadfast to the view that duplicate names could not remain, they agreed to changes that fell within the road naming protocol that has been developed over the past year. Changes proposed to the road naming bylaw that resulted from the public meeting are listed in a township ad in this issue of the news that appears on page 10. The ad is entitled Notice of Public Meeting re: road name changes.

IOOF Mayflower Lodge donation: An administrative report from clerk Heather Fox asked for clarification concerning a decision from the previous meeting to grant back the money collected in taxes from the Oddfellows and Rebekahs in Parham for the Mayflower Lodge in exchange for use of the Hall for public functions. The clerk wanted to know if the grant was to cover the entire tax bill ($604.60) or only the municipal portion ($315.23). After debating the issue for a time, it was decided to grant the Oddfellows back the entire $604.60, on the argument that the Mayflower Lodge is the only Public Hall in Parham, and is still cheaper for the township than maintaining a Hall of their own.

EOTA Insurance Woes: Council received a request from the Eastern Ontario Traills Alliance to give them $1,000 in 2003 to help offset a $32,000 insurance bill. Bob Harvey told council this was the last time EOTA would be making such a request because the insurance issue was coming to a head for trails and if a solution could not be found within the year it would be devastating for the trails movement. This insurance issue is crucial to the future of trails, Harvey said. Other councillors expressed scepticism, remembering Harvey saying last year there would be no further request from EOTA for help in deferring insurance costs. In a recorded vote, the motion was passed, with the mayor casting the deciding vote.

Parham Fair A request came from Phillip Smith, President of the Parham Fair for help to cover a shortfall that resulted from lower than expected attendance at the 110th Fair last August. Smith noted insurance cost increase, the lack of a midway, and damp weather as reasons for the shortfall. Council decided to grant $1,000 to the Parham Fair.

December 16 meeting

List of Fees and Charges

A run down of the various fees charged by the township for everything from building permits to cemetery rates and planning fees was presented for Councils information. Most, if not all, of the fees had been approved at other times by this or the previous council.

Council took the opportunity to raise the fee to be charged for all new civic address signs from $50 to $75, because of the preponderance of rock within the township and the cost of drilling holes for civic address signs in rocky locations. The full list of fees should be available at the township office.

Frontenac Centre (See Frontenac Centre Moves Forward, page 2)

Road Report

Public Works Manager Bill Nicol appeared before Council. He presented options for the completion of a roads inventory, which must be done by the end of 2003. The township could hire a consulting firm to complete the work, or could endeavour to complete it themselves, using volunteer or summer workers, a digital video camera, laptop computer, and a GPS machine. An audio-visual demonstration showed how the job could be done. Council gave Nicol the go ahead to explore the options.

Nicol presented council with a questionnaire about winter Control Standards, sparking a discussion of snow removal and sanding practices so far this year. Several counsellors, including Bill Snider, Boyce Peters, Marsden Kirk, and Jack Nicolson all expressed concern about icy roads and the time it takes for sand trucks to arrive. This prompted a lengthy discussion of which roads are problematic, with some counsellors saying the roads are fine and others expressing concern, with the mayor cautioning counsellors that any more road service would mean increasing the roads budget. The discussion ended inconclusively, with some counsellors saying paved roads ice up more than gravel roads, while others took the opposite view.

With the participation of the Government of Canada