Central Frontenac Council

Jeff Green | Apr 15, 2015

Parham library branch under siege

The future of the Parham branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library (KFPL) is very much in doubt.

Central Frontenac Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Jim Zimmerman reported to Council on Tuesday, April 14. that he has been contacted by the Limestone District School Board concerning the Parham Library.

“They said that they do not want anything in the way as they try to find a buyer for the Hinchinbrooke school property, so they have offered to sell us the portable where the Parham Library branch is located as long as we move it off the site."

Councilor Jamie Riddell said, “Can we not throw it back at them? My feeling is, we tell them we will move it as soon as they get an offer on the property.”

“They made it quite clear that they have no intention of entertaining something like that,” said Zimmerman. “They want the portable out of there or abandoned by June 1.”

Zimmerman said that he has had a discussion with the executive director of the KFPL, who said that the library has had plans to close the Hinchinbrooke branch dating back a number of years. The township is planning to build a new fire hall in Parham later this year and would like to include a library branch in the new building. Zimmerman indicated that it would be possible to move the portable from its location next to the closed school to a spot nearby, next to the Parham ball field, which has washroom facilities.

“Could we not close the branch temporarily, store the books, and put them in a new branch when the fire hall is built instead of spending thousands to move it?” asked Councilor Bill MacDonald.

Zimmerman indicated that, given that the library board's commitment to the branch is lukewarm at best, closing the branch temporarily may not be a good idea.

“They also said they have no budget for outfitting a branch this year,” Zimmerman said.

Several years ago a consultant's report for the KFPL called for a radical re-thinking of library service in Central and North Frontenac. It called for a 5,000 square foot branch to be built in Sharbot Lake, and the closing of all three other branches in the township.

The report was received but not endorsed by the library board of the day. However it has never completely gone away. Since that time, Central Frontenac Township, which is responsible for the buildings that house library branches within its borders, has indicated repeatedly that they are not inclined to build a large branch in Sharbot Lake, and are committed to keeping all four branches (Arden, Mountain Grove, Parham, and Shabrot Lake) open. In the interim the Library has renovated the inside of the Arden branch, a commitment to its future, but has not done any work on any of the other branches, leaving the future of both the Parham and Mountain Grove branches in doubt.

The KFPL board has also demonstrated its willingness to close branches if it sees that usage is low - even if the host township is opposed to the closure, which is what happened with the Ompah branch in North Frontenac.

As it happens, both of the Frontenac County Citizen representatives to the KFPL board are from Central Frontenac, John Purdon and Anne Peace-Fast. South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal is the Frontenac County Council representative.

It was suggested that the local representatives on the board be brought up to speed about the situation before the KFPL Board meeting, which takes place on April 22. A representative from Central Frontenac may attend as well.

While Council is concerned about what the library board may do, there was outright anger expressed towards the Limestone District School Board.

“It bothers me that we may have to spend $10,000 to move the portable and set it up for six months while the Hinchinbrooke site sits empty. There is no buyer in sight for that property,” said Councilor Brent Cameron.

“The township went out of its way to help the school board build Granite Ridge Education Centre. We even cut the building fees and our building department did everything for them - and this is what we see from them,” said Councilor Jamie Riddell. “I think we should talk to the school board trustee from our area about this.”

The matter was left to township staff to bring back more information about options for moving the portable and keeping the branch open.

Clean Audit

Vicky Leakey from KPMG made her annual visit to Central Frontenac to present the audited financial statements that she has prepared. She brought relatively good news. Thanks to a $1.56 million provincial grant towards reconstruction of the Fifth Lake Road, which joins Central Frontenac and Stone Mills township near Tamworth, the township took in $11 million in 2014.

Meanwhile, expenditures were down marginally and the amount of money in reserve funds was up. The township has about 19% in tax arrears, which is higher than the provincially recommended 15%, but Leakey said that the percentage had been stable at that rate and “given the income levels among residents that number is not a worrisome one. If there was a sudden spike, say to 22%, then I would be more worried,” she said. Reserves are also healthy, she said, giving an overall positive tone to the presentation, which was shorter than in past years.

“I have one question,” said Councilor Bill MacDonald. “Did you do the audit for Mike Duffy?"

“I have to go now,” said Leakey.

Building permit numbers remain up

After the first quarter of 2015, permits for three new residential units have been purchased, up from 0 in 2014 and two in 2013. The total value of construction for 2015 is now at $1.15 million for the year, up from $262,000 last year and $453,000 in 2013.

$3 million tender

Crains' Construction of Maberly has received the largest road construction tender for Central Frontenac since Road 38 was rebuilt in 2004. At a cost of $3,000,829, which was $42,000 under budget, Crains' was the lowest of four bids on the contract to reconstruct Fifth Lake Road.

Consolidated service delivery

Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Jim Zimmerman made a preliminary report on a comprehensive plan that Frontenac County CAO Kelly Pender presented to a meeting of the CAOs from the four Frontenac Townships and himself earlier in the day. The report, which was to be discussed again on Wednesday at a Frontenac County Council meeting in North Frontenac, provided a grading system for consolidating 68 different services offered within the county.

“The system is designed to determine if combining forces to deliver specific services will be beneficial or detrimental,” said Zimmerman.

While many of the items in the report will be looked at over time, Zimmerman thought that the county was in a hurry over the Information Technology and Global Information Systems departments.

“They have pans to hire three people by the end of the year, so we will have to look at that part of the plan pretty soon,” he said.