Feature Article January 23, 2002
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Commentary Central Frontenac council in the New Yearby David BrisonWe reported last week that Mayor Bill MacDonald and first-term member Marsden Kirk thought that the council had worked well together during the first year of their three-year term.
In the first council meeting of the New Year, the rest of the members agreed. In fact, when Mayor MacDonald asked council members to reflect on the last year and comment on their plans for the future, the councillors all said that they had worked well together. Many of them contrasted the new boards unity with the conflicts that had hindered last years council.
In an editorial during the election campaign in 2000, I had said that one of the main problems with the Central Frontenac Council was the lack of unity. This was highlighted by the Road #38 fiasco the old council had let out tenders for construction, and then when tenders came in refused to go ahead with the work. The consequences of inaction at that time were highlighted when a section of #38 across from the Simonnet building caved in because the storm sewer had collapsed. The engineering report had indicated that the storm sewers were in dire need of repair that was one of the reasons why the Sharbot Lake section of the road needed to be done. In addition, the township looked bad sitting on a large sum of money allocated by the province for Road #38 and not using it.
Most observers at the time agreed with a comment made by Marsden Kirk during the election campaign; Marsden said that the council had egg on its face because of the decision to delay construction.
This years council acted, after working out a plan for starting on both ends of Road #38 - and we have an improved road to show for it.
Credit for the marked improvement in this years council should go to Mayor MacDonald, Deputy Mayor Nicolson and all of the other members of council. Three new councillors - Frances Smith, Marsden Kirk, and Boyce Peters deserve special recognition. Although they have strong opinions on some topics that at times put them in opposition to their colleagues, they try to iron out problems first, and if consensus cant be reached, promote an agree to disagree approach.
However, Road #38 is an example of why council will have to continue to pull together. More work on #38 remains to be done, and the province has not allocated anywhere near enough money to complete the job. OSTAR funding has not come through.
The same problem downloading services without the necessary funds is evident in a number of other areas, such as ambulance services and affordable housing.
As pointed out in these pages in another commentary, the Mike Harris government (yes it still is) can go through this sleight of hand act of downloading services without funds, at the same time that they are lowering taxes. In fact, the municipal governments have no responsible alternative to raising taxes in order to pay for needed services.
The consequences of cutting services at the provincial level have been brought to the forefront with the release of the Walkerton report. The government has been found to be responsible for that tragedy, along with the Koebel brothers, by gutting the Ministry of Environment and not putting needed regulations in effect when they privatized services. In effect, they didnt have critical supports in place before they downloaded services to the municipalities.
When asked what they think should be addressed in the New Year, councillors agreed that it was necessary to get the budget process finished earlier this year, so that departments could get going with the work earlier. Bill Snyder said that if the budget was approved earlier, Gravel orders could be placed and work on the roads could begin. Bill, who has often clashed with council over his dogged determination to improve roads in his district, said, I have enjoyed my year in council. It is a big change from what it used to be and I think I am beginning to fit in.
Other matters that members think should be addressed in the New Year are: putting a comprehensive zoning by-law in effect (Kirk), a sign control by-law (Kirk), a 0% budget increase (Smith), finishing Road #38 (Peters), and resolving the non-profit housing and ambulance problems which loom on the horizon (Harvey). The 0% budget increase and finishing #38 are probably more like fond wishes than expected realities.
