Feature Article November 6, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeFear of Commitment at Central Frontenac CouncilWhen it comes to Line Fences, Central Frontenac Council does not seem to want to sign on the dotted line.
At their meeting last week, Mel Conboy brought forth another draft agreement for council to sign, which would have committed Central Frontenac to completing a fencing project on his land and the land of three of his neighbours, by June 1, 2004.
Earlier this year, Conboy cited section 20 of the Line Fences Act when he asked the township to replace worn fencing separating his and his neighbours lands from the K&P Trail north of Highway 7.
In order to satisfy the requirements of the Act, which places the full responsibility for fencing lands adjacent to abandoned railways on the townships that have purchased them, Council agreed to fence a portion of the lands this year, expecting to complete the job next year.
All we are looking for is something in writing that says it will be done next year, Conboy said.
Councillor Marsden Kirk cautioned Council against signing any agreement.
It is my opinion that is not very smart to enter into an agreement. There is a lot of work being done in Grey and Bruce Counties, and we shouldnt tie ourselves to any agreement.
Kirk pointed to an article called Sitting on the Fence that was published in the September issue of Milestones, a magazine published by the Ontario Good Roads Association. The article points out that with the changes that have occurred in the Federal Railways Act, municipalities that own abandoned railways are under more stringent rules than are active railroads, which are now taking the position that fencing is a responsibility to be shared by adjacent landowners.
The article quotes Bruce Knox, the County Engineer in Bruce County, who said, there appears to be no obligation to provide fences when a locomotive hurries down the track, but there is when people are quietly strolling down a trail. It doesnt make sense. Obviously the legislation needs to be reviewed.
In February of 2003, Bruce County issued its Rail Trail Fence Policy that says, in part, that the county will pay for all the materials required for a standard fence along the property line if the adjacent landowner will install the fence and maintain it for 25 years.
Neighbouring Grey County has decided to work through the legislative process, recently passing a resolution asking the province to amend the Line Fences Act.
Given all these potential developments, Marsden Kirk thinks council should wait and see if there is movement from the new provincial government towards softening the obligations on municipalities to fence abandoned railway lines.
Councillor Bob Harvey, who has been active on the Rails to Trails movement, especially through the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance, which manages the Trans Canada Trail from Tweed to Sharbot Lake, said he is all in favour of fencing, but only where there is farming going on the land. Otherwise, I dont think we should get into it.
Council ultimately decided to refer the new draft agreement presented by Mel Conboy to its solicitor for comment. (The full article, Sitting on the Fence, is available at the Good Roads Association Website at www.ogra.org. Go to Publications on the menu, click on Milestones, then choose September 2003 edition)
OPP questioned by Council Council expressed a certain amount of frustration to Inspector Gerry Salisbury of the OPPLanark Detachment, under whose supervision the Sharbot Lake detachment falls. Several issues of concern were mentioned by the councillors, including; the number of officers patrolling on a regular basis in Central Frontenac, and the tendency towards having officers serving in the detachment who live in other communities and have little attachment to the area.
Inspector Salisbury said the OPP had no right to tell its officers where to live, but did say he had been lax in reporting to Council. He said, I would like to make a formal commitment to reporting quarterly to your council.
I thought you had already made that commitment, Mayor Bill MacDonald said. MacDonald also asked Inspector Salisbury how a commitment he had made previously to spend two days a week at the Sharbot Lake detachment was going.
To be honest with you, not very well. I have been very busy with changes we have been making, and then there was the Ploughing match, which took up a lot of my time in September. I dont really think there is enough work for me to do to spend two days a week in Sharbot Lake, to tell you the truth, Inspector Salisbury said.
An Enforcement Statistics Report for 2003 in Central Frontenac was presented by the OPP delegation. The OPP has investigated 64 Break and Enters this year in the township and 27 of them are listed as cleared, meaning the investigation has been finalized and the culprits found. Fifteen of those cleared offences were for Break and Enters that took place in September.
All in all, a total of 206 criminal offences have been investigated by the OPP in Central Frontenac in 2003.
Goodfellow Road turnaround Council learned of a possible break in the impasse over the request by the Villalta family to have the council construct a turnaround at the end of their road so the school bus can get to their house. The Limestone School Board has requested Public Works Manager Bill Nicol meet with a representative from their transportation committee to look at the condition of the road to see if the board will permit a bus to go down it.
The last time this issue was discussed it was pointed out that the school board would not extend service to the road unless it was taken over by the township, and the cost of bringing the road up to township standard exceeded $50,000, which all concerned agreed was more money than the township could spend on a lightly travelled road.
However, it might be possible for council to apply a less stringent standard on the road and take it over in more or less the same condition it is in now, with a minor expenditure for a turnaround.
Fire Presentations: Four long-serving Volunteer Firefighters, who were not available when a service awards ceremony took place in Mountain Grove earlier this fall, received their service medals at the meeting. Deputy District Chief Bernie Quinn from Hinchinbrooke received his 25-year service medal, as did Hinchinbrooke Disrict Chief Paul Lowery. Gord Whan, a former chief of the Oso District department, received his 30-year service bar, and Keith Hawley received his 50-year service bar.
