Central Frontenac Council - Apr 9/13

Jeff Green | Apr 11, 2013

CF Council flexes muscles, cancels equipment purchases

It is unusual for a township council to turn down a budgeted equipment purchase at the 11^th hour, particularly when the price is lower than the estimated cost that was originally brought to Council for the item, but that is what happened twice at a meeting of Central Frontenac Council on Tuesday April 9.

First, they told Public Works Manager Mike Richardson to buy only one $186,000 snow plow when Richardson had recommended buying two. Then they rejected the $112,000 purchase of a tractor with a boom flail mower, which was to be used to clear brush from township roadsides.

As Councilor Frances Smith pointed out after the votes had been taken, “One of the problems is with the budget process this year. These discussions should have happened at that time, but we just received the budget requests and did not debate them, so we are debating them now, after Mike has already gotten prices on the machines.”

Rather than working through the budget priorities in detail this year, Council asked the treasurer to consult with staff and bring in a budget that will keep the tax burden from rising over 5%. Further complicating matters is the fact that the budget has still not been approved.

So it wasn’t until the equipment was at the point of being purchased that Council, led by Councilor Jeff Matson, began to debate whether the public works department should spend money on equipment or on more small scale road work.

“I’m not against buying new equipment," Matson said in regards to the proposal to buy two snow plows for $372,000, “but we also need roads. If we don’t do any work on these roads we will have trucks but no roads to drive them on. We can spend $5 or $10 thousand on 30 different small roads for the cost of this truck. $5,000 will do a lot of work to a small road. These are the kind of improvements that make the people who live here stay here. I can support one truck but not two.”
Five members of Council (Frances Smith, Wayne Millar, Bill Snyder, Jeff Matson, and Heather Fox) voted against the two truck purchase and it was defeated. A subsequent motion to buy one snow plow was approved unanimously.

The debate about the tractor centred on the amount of use the township has for the tractor.

Works Manager Mike Richardson said, “The tractor and boom mower will allow us to keep the smaller brush cut more effectively as well as allow us to cut around guard rails. This tractor will also cut grass in the rougher terrain locations and act as a replacement for older grass mowers as required.”

Richardson said that the township has fallen behind in keeping roadside brush at bay and the new piece of equipment, in addition to the larger brush cutter the township owns, will enable crews to catch up over time.

“It is a piece of equipment that is basically to fulfill the level of service that is expected of us,” he said.

Council was not convinced by Richardson’s argument.

“We don’t have the staffing for the equipment we have now,” said Frances Smith. “We need to put money into staffing.

By a vote of 8-1, with Mayor Gutowski being the only member to support the purchase, the tractor was scrapped.

Recyclable hauling contract stays local – Council was faced with a choice between their existing hauler, Scott’s Snow Removal of Sharbot Lake, and the services of Waste Management of Kingston, a division of Waste Management International. They decided to jettison the recommendation by their waste management co-ordinator, Kyle Labbett, and chose Scott’s Snow Removal.

The three-year contract is for hauling new 40 yard containers to a Belleville recycling depot, at an estimated cost of just under $70,000 per year. The two companies submitted very similar bids.

“If somebody were to ask me what the two prices are, I would say they are basically the same,” said Mike Richardson of the bids.

“Scott’s has been doing this job for five years,” said Jeff Matson, “It is also important for me that somebody has a job within the township.”

“I am expecting that the level of service be maintained,” said Mayor Gutowski, “and I would like council to be kept informed if there are problems. Otherwise I’m in agreement that hiring local is preferable.”

Council composition

In a discussion about Council composition, two proposals emerged. The first was a six-member Council, with one member elected in each of the four wards, and the mayor and deputy mayor/county council representative both elected ‘at large’, in township-wide elections.

The alternative proposal, which also received significant support, was the status quo: a nine-member Council with two members from each ward and the mayor elected in a township-wide vote.

The matter will come back to Council, before a proposal or two are ready to be presented to the public. Any change must be approved by the end of 2013 in order to take effect in the 2014 election.

Bridgen’s Island

Council approved in principle a site plan agreement for seasonal residents of Bridgen’s Island on Eagle Lake. Planning Consultant Glenn Tunnock said that a ten-year exercise in bringing the Bridgens Islanders into compliance with the Ontario Municipal Act should be completed by this fall.

Council reinstates Free Amnesty Load program

Following a motion put forth by Councilor Wayne Millar to reconsider a motion passed by council at a previous meeting on March 12 to end the free amnesty load program, council debated the pros and cons of ending the program.

Councilor Norm Guntensperger, who was absent when the motion was passed on March 12, said: “When I read it in the paper I thought “people will not like this' and I would not have supported the motion.

Wayne Millar said he received emails about it from constituents saying the program is “one small thing that makes voters happy” and agreed that it should be reinstated.

Tom Dewey supported reinstating the program and also suggested having staff re-evaluate the program after this year. Frances Smith was also in favour of re-instating the program.

“We want to encourage people to clean up their properties and by offering one free load we will encourage people to do that.”

Councilor John Purdon disagreed and supported his view with facts he garnered from the 1998 bylaw, noting that at that time people had to pay to have tires, large appliances such as fridges, freezers, BBQs and other e-waste items accepted at the township's waste sites. “Now that is not the case. The majority of these items can now be recycled for free. People may not realize this. I think we should stand our ground.”

In a recorded vote to reconsider the previously approved motion, which requires a two thirds majority to pass, six councillors voted in favour of reconsidering the motion to end the program. Mayor Gutowski and Councilors Purdon and Matson voted against reconsidering it. Following that vote council put forth a new motion to reinstate the program and direct staff to re-evaluate the program in another year's time.

CF Mayor Gutowski awarded Diamond Jubilee medal

Councilor Tom Dewey relayed to council that “our own Iron Lady of Central Frontenac, Mayor Janet Gutowski” was awarded the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee medal for her contributions and service to the country at the municipal level for ten years of service in Central Frontenac and for six years of service prior to that in Thorold, Ontario.

She was selected by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities as one of 60,000 Canadian recipients to receive a medal. The mayor will officially be presented with the medal at the Sharbot Lake Legion annual awards banquet on Saturday April 13.