| Jun 11, 2013


Within the hamlet area of Crow Lake, the Crow Lake road had to be closed on Tuesday night after it was flooded out, The apparent cause was an apparent beaver dam collapse. Crews were on scene all night in an attempt to get the road opened by Wednesday morning. Some homes near the road were damaged. This is the second washout on the road in recent years. In 2006, a dam let out and washed away a house and a section of road about 100 metres to the east of the spot that was damaged this week.

Coincidentally, Central Frontenac Township Council, which met a few hours before the washout, received a draft bylaw dealing with beavers and flooding (see below) Council also heard a presentation later in the evening from the new owners of the Oaks resort (which is located about 100 metres to the west of the washout) urging them to enforce the 40 km. speed limit in the hamlet

Beaver bylaw

Public Works Manager Mike Richardson presented Council with a draft bylaw, which is intended to clarify the township's and property owners' rights and responsibilities when beaver activity causes flooding of township or private property. It is quite common in the township that beavers dam up waterways on private land, causing damage to roads and culverts on township property.

Titled a “Bylaw to Manage Risks to Public Infrastructure from Beaver Dams,” the bylaw asserts at the start that “No person shall permit a beaver dam or other obstruction on property owned or occupied by them to create a flood risk.” It then grants the public works manager leave to “enter onto private property without a warrant at any reasonable time” to do what is necessary to safeguard public infrastructure from flooding caused by beaver activity. The bylaw then sets out the protocol for how property owners are to be notified, etc.

“We are not in the business of managing furry animals,” said Richardson. “We are in the business of protecting property from flooding from time to time.”

“I do think we have a responsibility to manage public property,” said Mayor Janet Gutowski, “but there has been no public consultation on this, and I suggest we put this on our website for public comment, and then come back to it in a month.”

Council agreed and the draft bylaw will be posted this week.

Duchene stepping down as CAO

“I would like to thank CAO John Duchene for pulling together all the information needed in order to prepare this bylaw, which will clarify the situation for everyone,” said Richardson.

John Duchene will be stepping down as CAO of the township as soon as a new person is available. Council has not announced when that will happen as of yet.

The short-listed candidates for the job were interviewed late last month

Planning decision held for two weeks

Central Frontenac Council has deferred a debate on whether to enter into a contract with Frontenac County for all of its planning needs or to renew its long- standing contract with Tunnock Consulting Ltd.

In a letter to the township, Glenn Tunnock offered to hold the line on most of the fees his company charges for a variety of services. Many of the planning charges are borne not by the township, but by applicants who are seeking to develop their properties.

The township has been paying Tunnock Consulting a $1,500 retainer each year for planning advice. He also charges the township for periodic Official Plan reviews and if he is called upon to represent the township to the Ontario Municipal Board.

Members of Council also received an analysis of planning charges from Frontenac County, which has also offered to provide planning services, but without charging the township a retainer and providing for Official Plan reviews and OMB appearances for free as well.

Councilors will have two weeks to weigh the offers, giving staff an opportunity to determine if there are any financial implications to the township if the contract with Tunnock is not renewed.

Snow Plowing on Road 38 – In response to a question from Councilor Wayne Millar, Mike Richardson looked at how much it cost the township for winter clearing of Road 38 this year as compared to last year, when it was done by an outside contractor.

“It cost $14,000 in labour,” said Richardson, “and under the contract it cost over $16,000. If you included the cost of the equipment as you do with a contractor, you would say our costs were about $16,000 as well, but the fact is we already own the truck, so there was a savings. There was no noticeable impact on the time it took us to clear the other roads, having one truck working on 38, because in some cases the truck was used on other routes after 38 was done. So it worked out quite well this year.”

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