Central Frontenac Council - Nov 10/15

Julie Druker | Nov 11, 2015

“State of the Organization” report to CF Council

-The good, the bad and the ugly according to County CAO Kelly Pender

In an effort to make improvements in the state of the township's organization and to move forward in a positive manner, the Council of Central Frontenac earlier this year invited County of Frontenac CAO Kelly Pender to review its existing structure and report back to council with his recommendations.

At council's regular meeting on November 10, Pender presented his findings after reviewing budget and report documentation and conducting a series of confidential interviews this past summer with nine council members and 14 members of township staff.

Like a well seasoned diplomat, Pender reported the good news first. Pender praised staff and council as “good people, doing good work” in an environment where trust, honesty and good relations were the norm, adding that staff's financing arm seems “well positioned”.

On the not so good side of the scale, he cited “a general feeling of the organization lacking direction”, and the presence of what he termed “silos” i.e., a situation where departments and/or individuals feel that they are working in isolation. He noted feelings of a lack of consistency in applying policy; the lack of a safety culture; and the township IT staff displaying a love/hate relationship with software and network reliability.

He also sensed a frustration at the township’s ability to keep quality senior staff. He defined what he called "a leadership gap" where council, though largely unified, needs to be able to make “tough decisions” and to “chart a course, then explain it to staff and the community and then steer towards it”, as opposed to front line staff members taking control in the face of a lack of clear directives and a fixed chain of command.

This led him to talk about the current lack of a Chief Administrative Officer.

Pender said there are three options available to council: to maintain the status quo, where there is no hierarchy among senior staff; to establish the position of Clerk-Administrator; or to hire a Chief Administrative Officer to oversee all the township's operations.

He said the status quo is not recommended because it makes for a less cohesive, leaderless staff complement and “puts the mayor in an awkward position as the political and administrative head of the township.”

Establishing the clerk-administrator position would place the clerk of council, the job held by Cathy MacMunn, in a position of leadership over all operations of the township.

A Chief Administrative Officer is a similar role, except it gives that person full authority over all other staff. Essentially the chief administrator becomes council's only employee, who then determines the activities of everyone else, within the confines of the Municipal Act and clear job definitions.

Pender said that at least half of the provinces in Canada require that municipalities have a CAO in place, but Ontario does not, only requiring the position of clerk.

“That might change when the Municipal Act is renewed in a few years,” he said.

Regarding the township's fire department, Pender recommended engaging an external fire professional to review the department's operations, citing gaps and equipment needs and surpluses.

Other longer term recommendations include developing a business planning process and providing citizens with a five-year forecast of what to expect. Pender also suggested that the public works manager and the treasurer provide a fully costed report to council regarding the consolidation of the township's two public works yards.

Other recommendations included sharing human resource expertise with neighboring municipalities; targeting 2017 for the implementation of a new financial software program; implementing an ongoing asset management policy; committing resources to economic development; and reviewing the functionality of the township office's public foyer.

Lastly Pender recommended that council adopt a “community of communities” approach to governance that focuses on the overall benefit of the township as a whole rather than allowing one community to be pitted against another.

Following the report, council agreed there is much work to be done and invited Pender back to review their progress in a year's time.

Haven't seen Kyle in awhile?

When asked about the whereabouts of Kyle Labbett, Mayor Frances Smith said that it was the County CAO Kelly Pender's organization review that led to Labbett being let go last week.

“We looked at what jobs need doing and Kyle's combination job as public works supervisor/waste disposal coordinator was determined to be redundant. Kyle did a great job setting up waste management but that job is now done. Similarly the public works supervisor position is not and has never been a full time position”, she explained.

She added that with grants not coming in for large construction projects and with a number of larger projects now completed, it did not make sense to keep Labbett on.

Construction numbers healthy

Chief Building Officer Jeremy Neven was pleased to announce that as of the end of October, construction numbers this year are $6,417,300, compared to roughly $5 million at the same time last year. Permit fees to date are $91,000, close to double where they were at the end of October 2014 and a third again as much as at the end of October 2013. Similarly the number of residential units at 16 has surpassed the nine units built by the same time last year.

OCIF Grant for Sharbot Lake reconstruction denied

Mayor Smith regretted to announce that staff's application for government funding for infrastructure reconstruction of Sharbot Lake village was denied. Smith said that the application would be kept on file and updated so that when another round of grants is announced, staff can re-apply.

Putting a bounty on beavers

Councilor Jamie Riddell posed the question of possibly setting up a bounty on beavers since they are costing the township money in road repairs and maintenance.

Sign By Law review

Currently council does not a have a by-law in place regarding signage in the township. Cathy MacMunn, who looked into the matter, noted that a resolution passed to propose a by-law in 2001 was never completed, leaving council now without a by-law in place. Council and staff will be reviewing and proposing a new signage by-law.