Feature Article - February 23, 2006

Feature Article

February 23, 2006

Province commits to ambulance funding:FrontenacCounty ambulance service welcomes announcement, but awaits details

by Jeff Green

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty did not come empty handed when he addressed 1200 municipal politicians at the annual Good Roads/Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) in Toronto this week. In addressing a longstanding grievance between municipalities and the province, McGuinty announced that a historic shortfall in ambulance funding will be addressed.

Ambulance service was a provincial responsibility until 1998, when it became a municipally delivered service. At the time, the province committed to paying 50% of ambulance costs, but that promise has not been met.

Through a funding increase to an estimated $285 million this year, $333 million in 2006, and $385 million in 2008, McGuinty says the province will be paying 50% of ambulance costs by 2008.

“Municipalities have been patient but this is an issue of fairness,” McGuinty told municipal leaders, “I’m pleased that we are finally going to be able to achieve a true 50-50 partnership.

Ambulance service in Frontenac County and the City of Kingston are delivered by the Frontenac County Ambulance Service, and Paul Charbonneau, the Director for Emergency Services for Frontenac County, welcomed the commitment by the Ontario government.

“The real question will be about the criteria for the new funding, which I understand will be clarified in the coming weeks, but this is good news, it’s definitely good news,” Charbonneau told the News.

The province currently pays about 36% of the ambulance costs in Kingston and Frontenac County , according to Paul Charbonneau, while municipal taxpayers cover the other 64%.

Charbonneau was uncertain about how much extra funding will result from this announcement. He noted that last year when the Frontenac County Ambulance service put on an extra 24-hour ambulance into service, the provincial decided not the fund the new ambulance at all.

“I think it is very unlikely that the province will say, ‘Go ahead and spend whatever you need to spend for ambulance service, and we will pay half of the costs’, but we’ll have to wait and see the details about how the new money will be allocated,” Charbonneau said.

The ambulance funding issue has been high on the priority list for the Eastern Ontario Warden’s Caucus, of which Frontenac County is a member.

A day before the funding announcement, Paul Charbonneau accompanied Frontenac County Warden Bill Lake to a meeting with the Ontario Minister of Labour, Steve Peters, to discuss the county’s attempt to change provincial regulations regarding lunch breaks for paramedics. Last year, the Ministry of Labour ruled that guaranteed lunch breaks must be implemented among Frontenac County Paramedics, which has led to increased ambulance costs.

The county has been lobbying for regulatory changes for the past year.

As well as announcing new funding for ambulance service, Dalton McGuinty called for a federal-provincial-municipal commission to examine fiscal relations between the three levels of government, and said that the province will propose extending the term of office for municipal councillors and school trustees to four years from the current three years, a move which may be implemented in time for municipal elections this coming fall.

Feature Article - February 9, 2006

Feature Article

February 9, 2006

Plus change

Editorial by JeffGreen

Last week, the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC) hailed the election of the new Harper Conservative government as good news for Eastern Ontario. They may have begun cheerleading a bit too soon. The caucus is a group of 13 county wardens that have been lobbying the federal and provincial governments in recent years for help in dealing with the infrastructure deficit and fiscal plight that rural eastern Ontario counties are facing.This situation, the wardens claim, resulted from actions of the provincial government, specifically the downloading of responsibility for roads, bridges, and social programs.The wardens base their optimism mainly on the commitment Steven Harper has made to increase funding to the provinces, and hope this will translate into a better deal from the province of Ontario for rural municipalities. In a press release entitled “Wardens see the federal result as ‘light at the end of the tunnel for rural areas’”, Warden Caucus Chair Bob Sweet from Renfrew County said, “Stephen Harper has clearly stated his willingness to deal with the fiscal imbalance between the federal government and the provinces. Cuts in federal funding to Ontario in the 1990s were part of the reason that provincial services got downloaded onto municipalities. We urge the new government to act on the imbalance, and the province to take back responsibility for its services because our taxpayers can’t go on picking up the tab." Another cause for optimism among the wardens lay in the fact that the new government is heavily weighted towards rural Canada. In Ontario, almost all of the MPs elected come from rural ridings. But the EOWC might want to reconsider their optimism in light of the cabinet that was sworn in earlier this week. First of all, rural Eastern Ontario was shut out of the cabinet even though 1/3 of the cabinet members come from Ontario. The closest thing to a rural Eastern Ontario minister is Tony Clement from the Muskoka riding. But Tony Clement was a fly in candidate. He lives in Brampton. Clement was also a minister under the Harris Tories, as were the other two major cabinet selections from Ontario, Jim Flaherty Finance, and John Baird President of the Treasury Board. It was the Harris Tories that did the downloading for which the Eastern Ontario wardens are still seeking financial relief. The wardens are banking, as is the Ontario government, on a flow of money from Ottawa to Ontario to address the so-called ‘fiscal imbalance’. Although the wardens are unhappy with the McGuinty Liberals, and they have a long list of grievances, they seem to think that not only will more money flow from Ottawa to Toronto, but that it will continue to flow from Toronto to Eastern Ontario. In spite of Mr. Harper’s commitments to increase payments to Ontario, the first thing he plans on doing, according to what he said this week, is to implement his daycare policy, and in so doing eliminate a cost sharing agreement for a daycare policy that was negotiated in good faith with the provinces by the previous government. This will leave the Ontario government with less money in transfers from Ottawa. So, a government that campaigned on improving relations with the provinces cuts a cost-sharing program with the provinces within hours of taking power. Another aspect of Monday’s events should make the wardens wonder about Mr. Harper’s commitment to addressing the fiscal imbalance. How good is Stephen Harper’s word after Monday? The decision to offer a cabinet post to David Emerson, elected just two weeks ago as a Liberal in Vancouver Kingsway, certainly makes Stephen Harper’s respect for the democratic process suspect, as well as his much touted commitment to run an honest and transparent government. In Vancouver Kingsway, the Conservative Party’s candidate received 8,649 votes, or 18.8% of the vote. Running as a Liberal, David Emerson received 20,062, 43% of the votes cast. No one could reasonably claim that the people of Vancouver Kingsway were so enamored with David Emerson that they would have elected him if he were a Conservative. Emerson himself said this week that he remains a small ‘l’ Liberal. So, Stephen Harper is committed to addressing the fiscal imbalance. Does that commitment mean more than his commitment to honesty and integrity in government, his supposed number one priority? The Eastern Ontario wardens might well ask themselves this question. JG

Feature Article - March 30, 2006

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Feature Article - March 30, 2006

Townships get a slice of the budget pie

byJeffGreen

There were some goodies for municipalities in last week’s provincial budget. North Frontenac will receive $76,537, Central Frontenac will receive $193,659, and South Frontenac $697,590. The County of Frontenac will receive $1,037,397. The money is designated for use in road and bridge construction, and since the county does not have any roads and bridges under its purview, most or all of that money could be transferred back to the townships, which could double the amount they can apply to their own projects.

The townships will have a lot of freedom with this money, since it can be applied to their pre-existing capital budgets for road or bridge repair, thus freeing up the money already budgeted for those uses.

“The money is welcome,” said Central Frontenac Mayor Bill MacDonald. North Frontenac Mayor Ron Maguire said his township would be happy to receive any kind of help the province is offering. “As a very small municipality, we always get less than others,” he said, “even though we still have to maintain as many roads and bridges as some larger municipalities.”

Frontenac County Council will decide what to do with the provincial infrastructure money later this spring.

The county is meeting this week in hopes of finalising their 2006 budget, but this new infrastructure money, will not likely be allocated in the budget.

“We will list the

monies in our budget statement but they won’t be used to pay for county expenses. Any decision concerning those monies will be made by the county mayors,” said County Treasurer Marion Vanbruinessen.

Other municipalities in our readership area are receiving infrastructure money from the latest provincial budget. Addington Highlands will receive $102,078, and Lennox and Addington County will receive $1,676,979. Lanark Highlands will receive $203,774, Tay Valley $231,184, and Lanark County $2,267,434.

“Funding will be provided immediately so that high priority projects can get underway as soon as possible in the upcoming construction season,” according to the Ontario Ministry of Finance.

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Feature Article - March 9, 2006

Feature Article

March 9, 2006

SouthFrontenacCouncil

by Wilma Kenny

Sunday HuntingA delegation led by Rodger Jones asked Council to approve Sunday hunting during deer season in the Township. Mayor Lake pointed out that a motion to approve Sunday hunting had been defeated in May of last year, with only Councillor Barr supporting it, and it would require a 2/3 majority to bring a defeated motion back to Council so soon.

Proposed Changes to Fishing RegulationsWade Leonard spoke for a delegation asking Council to write a letter to the Ministry of Natural Resources asking them to delay making proposed changes in the fishing regulations for at least 18 months, so the economic/social impacts of these changes could be examined. He noted several reasons: the proposed regulations on catch sizes threatened to destroy tourism related to walleye fishing, without substantially protecting the fish population, and suggested that better education and enforcement, combined with closing the walleye season before spring spawning in March, would be more benefit for both the fish and the fishers. Council agreed to draw up the letter as recommended.

Bottle-to-Bottle Glass Recycling Council moved a resolution in support of introducing a deposit return system on glass beverage bottles.

ATV’s Trespassing Off-roadIn a letter to Council, a local resident noted that ATVs are trespassing on the Cataraqui Trail, and on trails in Gould lake Conservation Area, causing damage to the trail surfaces. He expressed concern that the damage would become much greater, once the trails thawed this spring. (Although the writer didn’t say so, ATVs have permission to travel on all roads in the Township.)

Longer Council Terms?The Ministry of Municipal Affairs has informed Council that the provincial government plans to propose legislative changes to the Municipal Elections Act which, if passed, would extend the term of office for Municipal councils and school boards from three years to four. "A four-year term would provide municipal councils with more time to plan and implement their agendas, in a similar fashion to the federal and provincial governments." If passed, the legislation would make the change effective for the 2006 municipal elections, and bring Ontario into step with half the other provinces in Canada .

Feature Article - April 27, 2006

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Feature Article - April 27, 2006

County budget increase drops to 4.22%

by JeffGreen

An increase in the level of provincial support for ambulance services has enabled Frontenac County Council to amend their budget estimates for 2005, saving taxpayers a bit of money.

The budget had been approved last month with a 5.96% increase in the levy to taxpayers, based on what county treasurer Marion Vanbruinessen called a “conservative estimate” about the increase in provincial support for ambulance services.

Ontario counties have been lobbying the province for increased ambulance funding ever since the service was downloaded by the province several years ago. At the time the province said they would fund 50% of ambulance costs, but as costs have risen, the provincial share of funding has been dropping. By the year 2005, the province was paying only 35% of the cost of running ambulances for Frontenac County and the City of Kingston .

In February, the provincial government made a commitment to increase funding to 50% of the cost of delivering the service within the next couple of years. Funding levels for the Frontenac service in 2006 were announced just days after the county had completed its budget, and the county was able to make amendments to the budget last week.

Properties within Frontenac County have had property assessment increases averaging over 18%, and for that reason an increase in the county levy of 4.22% will be achieved in spite of a substantial tax rate decrease.

The county levy will be $282 for every $100,000 worth of property assessment this year, compared to $330 for every $100,000 worth of assessment in 2005, a decrease of 14.73%.

County taxes represent about 1/5 of the total property tax bill that ratepayers receive.

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Feature Article - April 27, 2006

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Feature Article - April 27, 2006

COMRIFcomes through forCentralFrontenac

by JeffGreen

Years after receiving a downloaded highway in need of reconstruction, Central Frontenac will be fixing Road 38, and they hope to be doing so this year.

COMRIF, the Canada Ontario Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund, will be contributing over $4 million to the project, provided Central Frontenac can pony up an additional $2 million.

The COMRIF fund is supported equally by the federal and provincial governments, and a complicated application process has been set up for municipalities to compete for the funds.

Results from this second of three intake periods for COMRIF were expected this past winter, but with a new government in Ottawa , the announcement was delayed.

For Central Frontenac Mayor Bill MacDonald, it has been a long wait for funding support to reconstruct the crumbling Road 38. Before the road was downloaded to South and Central Frontenac, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation completed a reconstruction project on it, from Hwy. 401 north through South Frontenac, ending within metres of the boundary between South and Central Frontenac.

In recognition of this, the province agreed to provide a grant of $3.2 million to Central Frontenac, which was supposed to represent 60% of the cost of reconstructing Central Frontenac’s 35-kilometre portion of Road 38.

The $3.2 million was well short of the cost of reconstruction, and with the road deteriorating each year, Central Frontenac has applied for a series of grants from provincial programs, with names like Superbuild and OSTAR, but to no avail.

Four years ago, the township used most of the $3.2 million provincial grant to reconstruct two parts of the road that were in the worst condition: the section from the border with South Frontenac north to the edge of Parham, and a section in the village of Sharbot Lake. A stop gap patching job was done on the remaining 21 kilometres.

With an annual budget of under $4 million per year for its entire range of operations, the $6 million price tag for completing the reconstruction of Road 38 has been out of reach for Central Frontenac.

Hopes were rekindled in 2004 when the $900 million dollar COMRIF program was announced for rural Ontario , but when Central Frontenac was unsuccessful in the first intake of COMRIF, Bill MacDonald expressed extreme frustration, and wasted no time apprising local MPP Leona Dombrowsky of his feelings on the matter.

Now that Central Frontenac will be receiving $4 million from the second intake, $2 million from each of the senior levels of government, MacDonald is quick to credit Dombrowsky, who is now the provincial minister in charge of the COMRIF program.

“I think you have to give credit where credit is due. Our local representative did a good job for us,” said MacDonald earlier this week.

Central Frontenac will now have to determine how it will fund its own portion of the project’s costs. Of the original $3.2 million grant, $700,000 remains in a reserve fund, leaving the township the task of raising $1.3 million.

Treasurer Judy Gray informed the township council this week that Central Frontenac has been approved for a low-interest provincial government loan program, should council want to take that route. The option of dipping into the township’s general reserve funds remains open as well.

Public Works Manager Bill Nicol said that he is preparing to bring this project to completion by November of this year, and he received approval from council this week to set out a tender for an engineering plan for the project.

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Feature Article - April 27, 2006

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Feature Article - April 27, 2006

High salt levels in water

by JeffGreen

Central Frontenac Township officials confirmed this week that elevated salt readings have been found in water tests at the township garage located on Road 38 between Godfrey and Parham. Elevated salt levels have also been found in the wells on neighbouring properties as well.

The township stores a salt/sand mixture in a large pile at the site.

Bill Nicol, the Public Works manager for Central Frontenac, said that the provincial Ministry of The Environment contacted the township about the salt levels in the groundwater in the vicinity of the garage, and requested that the township investigate the cause of the heightened levels.

Jackie Theoret, the eastern regional communications advisor for the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MoE) told the News that a neighbouring resident complained about salty water in August of 2005.

“An environmental officer attended the site and took a water sample. When lab results indicated elevated levels of sodium, the officer returned to collect samples at the township yard and two additional wells. Lab results indicated elevated sodium levels in three of the four samples,” said Theoret.

Theoret also said that “preliminary investigations indicate salt storage practices in township garage to be the most likely source [of the elevated levels],” and the MoE has requested that the township submit a work plan to investigate the off-site impacts of the salt storage.

“In accordance with that request, we have contracted Golder and Associates to do an engineering study,” said Bill Nicol. “They will be reporting back to us in June, and we will have to take appropriate measures at that point.”

In the meantime, the affected residents have been provided with bottled water at the expense of the township.

The township’s work plan, which is under consideration as Central Frontenac Council considers their budget this month, includes the construction of a salt containment dome, with an asphalt ground cover, at the Godfrey garage site.

The township has set aside monies in the past two years to go towards salt containment structures in the township, in accordance with provincial regulations regarding salt containment.

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Feature Article - April 6, 2006

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Feature Article - April 6, 2006

Frontenac County budget lands with a 6%increase

by Jeff Green

Frontenac County staff took longer to put the county budget together this year because of financial software problems and some last-minute changes to provincial funding for ambulance service.

In fact, the final draft budget was presented to the Frontenac mayors last Thursday even though the ambulance subsidy levels were still not available, and the actual spending figures for the county in 2005 had not yet been finalised.

The final draft called for a 6.2% increase in the county levy to taxpayers, down from 10.7% in the previous draft. The county levy makes up about 22% of the overall property tax bill.

The change came about mostly because of increases to provincial transfers for the Fairmount Home for the Aged and the Frontenac Ambulance Service, which together account for the bulk of the county budget.

The Frontenac mayors met twice on Thursday, from 3-6 and from 9-9:30 before giving final approval to the budget estimates. Some final tinkering brought the budget in with an increase to the taxpayers of 5.96%.

These final changes resulted from the elimination of a $20,000 site development study for the basement of Fairmount Home, and of a $5,000 provision for tax rebates. These cuts were offset by an increase in the pay for members of county council of $1,500 per year for councillors and $2,500 per year for the warden.

The tinkering of the final budget numbers did not satisfy North Frontenac Mayor Ron Maguire.

During a two-hour afternoon meeting, Maguire made several proposals. He wanted to see some budget cuts, and to pay for more of the budget using the county’s accumulated reserve funds. His proposals had been outlined in a memo he sent to county staff and the mayors earlier in the week.

It contained 19 suggestions, ranging from a $1500 cut in the $3,500 county advertising budget, to an increased $200,000 draw down of county reserve funds.

“I will not be in favour of any tax increase in our basic budget. Indeed, I would like to see a modest tax decrease …” Maguire wrote in the preamble to his budgeting memo.

County Warden Bill Lake said that bringing in a tax decrease, or even keeping the budget increase to the 3% rate of inflation, was not so simple.

“There is nothing we can do when hydro rates go up 6 or 10 per cent. Or when the province makes demands on us that cost more money to meet. Sometimes costs go up and you have no control over that,” Lake said.

Frontenac Islands Mayor Jim VandenHoek was reluctant to change the depleting county reserve funds.

“I can’t consider these proposals of Mayor Maguire without a sense of what this would do to our reserves. As the budget stands now, are our reserves up or down?” he asked of County Treasurer Marion VanBruinessen as the first part of the budget meeting drew to a close. “Could you get us that information before we come back.”

Following a supper hour joint council meeting, where members of council from the four townships met to discuss various issues, the mayors returned to finalise the budget.

Marion VanBruinessen informed Mayor VandenHoek that the reserve funds will see a decrease of about $300,000 in 2006.

The county maintains a variety of reserve funds, some of which are directly connected to programs whose costs are shared with the City of Kingston . The main fund that is accessed to supplement the county’s own operations is a $2.5 million working capital reserve fund.

At that point, Mayor VandenHoek moved that the $20,000 study and the $5,000 charitable rebate line be cut, and that the rest of the budget be approved as presented by staff.

Mayor Maguire asked for a recorded vote, and then registered the only no vote. The budget was approved.

In a subsequent interview, Mayor Maguire said he had voted against the budget because he thinks the budgeting process is flawed. He mentioned that there was not enough time allotted to consider the many issues he raised around the budget.

“All in all I found the process unsatisfactory. We were pressed for time when we finally had a chance to go over the budget, and I could sense that the Warden was very conscious of that,” he said. “The second thing is, and this is a theme that I had pursued last year, that we just had too much in reserves. I don’t get much traction with the other mayors on that one.”

Maguire admitted, however, that the county’s auditors told him the county’s reserve funds are in line with other clients they serve.

“There is no magic rule in regard to reserves, as far as I know,” said Central Frontenac Mayor Bill MacDonald, “and we are drawing down reserves this year. The bottom line, for me, is that we have a good staff at the county, and they present us with information, and you have to go with the information you have. To go any more in depth, would almost become an exercise in micro-managing.”

As the result of an average increase of 22% in property assessment throughout Frontenac County , the tax rate will be decreasing by over 13% in spite of the overall levy increase of 6%. Taxpayers will pay about $287 for every $100,000 of assessable property they own, compared to $330 in 2005.

(Late breaking change: On Tuesday afternoon, Warden Lake informed the News that he received a fax from the Province of Ontario detailing the increase in the provincial transfer for ambulance costs. He could not reveal the figures, but said they were higher than the amount that had been estimated by the county in preparing their 2006 budget. The budget will thus be re-opened at the April 19 county council meeting, and the provincial transfer will be used to mitigate the 5.96% increase)

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Feature Article - April 6, 2006

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Feature Article - April 6, 2006

Land Claim talks resume

by Jeff Green

After a four-year hiatus, talks aimed at settling the Algonquin Land Claim have resumed.

The Land Claim territory stretches from Algonquin Park to the Quebec border, the entire Ontario side of the Ottawa Valley . Most of Addington Highlands , and North and Central Frontenac are part of the claim, as is much of Bedford District in South Frontenac.

Monthly meetings have commenced between Algonquin representatives and the federal and provincial government negotiators.

The federal and provincial governments agreed to the hiatus in order for the Algonquin side to settle internal matters.

CB Pappin, the spokesperson for the Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat, said that the talks had been suspended “so that the Algonquin side could be able to come to the table and speak with a unified voice.”

A process was undertaken last year to elect a series of Algonquin National Representatives for the nine off-reserve Algonquin communities. They are joined at the table by the seven elected members of council from the Pikwakanagan First Nation.

The election process for Agonquin National Representatives was organised by Algonquin Chief Negotiator Robert Potts, of the Toronto law firm Blaney/McMurtry. Eligibility for the election was determined by Joan Holmes and Associates of Ottawa.

Many eligible Algonquins did not participate in the election process, and there were complaints from some of the candidates; but according to CB Pappin, the two governments recognise the legitimacy of the people who have come forward to the negotiation table.

“They have agreed to resume negotiations; that speaks for itself,” she said.

The Ontario chief negotiator is Brian Crane, and the interim negotiator for the federal side is Jean Francois Tardiff.

“The hope is that we can reach an agreement in principle in two or three years,” said Pappin.

Municipal township councils within the land claim region have received in-camera briefings in recent weeks concerning where the negotiations may be heading from a government standpoint. Similarly, meetings have been held among Algonquins at three locations in the claim territory.

Previous articles on the Algonquin Land Claim can be viewed at http://www.newsweb.ca/2005/Algonquin_index.html

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Feature Article - May 25, 2006

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Feature Article - May 25, 2006

Councillor makes 11th hour plea to delay building salt dome

by Jeff Green

Central Frontenac Public Works Manager Bill Nicol often expects to face debate when he makes proposals to council, but he must have been surprised when Councilor Bob Harvey spoke out against awarding a tender to Derrick’s Construction for $240,000 to build a salt dome at the township’s Godfrey yard on Road 38, two years after the project was first discussed by Council.

Harvey did not take issue with the price. He is concerned over the location, saying that an engineering study as to the suitability of the site for salt storage should be completed before proceeding any further.

“We have never had an engineer looking at that site to tell us whether it is suitable for a salt storage facility. We are now spending money to put up a storage shed at a location that has already had salt problems. I can see future problems putting a shed on that site,” Harvey said, referring to public complaints that are under investigation concerning salt leaching from the exposed salt/sand pile at the site.

Bill Nicol replied by saying “This issue has been with us for five years, and this site has been talked about for a while … A recommendation by Golder and Associates [an engineering firm], regarding this site was forwarded to me back on December 31st, and it was part of a salt management plan that was submitted to the province last year.”

Bob Harvey was still not satisfied. He said that a shed put up years ago by the provincial Ministry of Transportation at Brooke Valley ended up failing. The province had to purchase a house and property 300 metres away and tear down the shed.

“The site we are talking about here is the worst I’ve seen,” said Harvey . “When you put up a storage shed you don’t eliminate the contamination. I was hoping an engineering study would come forward.”

Several years ago, the provincial government decreed that all municipalities must move towards storing road salt in storage sheds where they will not be exposed to the elements, in order to limit environmental effects from salt leaching into groundwater.

Townships were charged with preparing salt management plans, and were given until the end of 2007 to ensure that all salt they store is contained.

Two years ago, Central Frontenac Council decided to consolidate their four township garages into two, one on Road 38 at Godfrey and one of Hwy. 7 north of Mountain Grove, partly so that they could build two salt storage domes instead of 4. Bill Nicol plans to build the second shed at the Olden Garage next year.

Another councilor, Logan Murray, had problems with Nicols’ plan to hire Derrick’s Construction, but Murray ’s problem was one of process rather than location.

“I think a contract of this size should have gone to tender instead of just seeking a quote, as was done.”

Bill Nicol explained that he has looked at various designs for storage sheds and thinks that the design proposed by Derrick’s Construction is superior to the other designs he has seen.

“There were no other companies available that could build this kind of building for us, so I didn’t really have anything to tender,” he said.

In a recorded vote, seven councillors voted in favour of contracting Derrick Construction to build a storage shed at the Godfrey garage. Councillors Harvey and Murray voted against the motion.

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