In the early ’70s, there was no fire protection in Barrie Township. Around 1972, Barrie purchased fire protection.

In 1990 the Fire Marshall’s office conducted a survey and a new department, the Kaladar-Barrie Fire Department was formed.

In 1998, municipal amalgamations took place but the Kaladar-Barrie Fire Department remained the same.

This past year, Loomex Training and Consulting conducted a North Frontenac Fire Review, an independent study on the level of fire service in Ward 1, as compared to Wards 2 and 3.

Last Friday, the Council of Addington Highlands met with their counterparts in North Frontenac in Plevna to discuss the results and recommendations of the study.

The study concluded that the level of service in the three North Frontenac Wards is very similar in the way they respond, the training standards, the challenge of recruitment and retention, the infrastructure and the daily operations.

“There is a difference, however, in how the departments are being managed, as well as differences in public education, fire prevention and inspections,” the report concluded.

As such, the report gave five recommendations as well as five service level options to be considered.

At the end of the day, however, things stayed pretty much status quo as both Councils passed identical resolutions.

About the only things changing are that Kaladar-Barrie Chief Casey Cuddy will present the Ward 1 budget to both Councils and a financial audit to ensure that the current 50/50 cost sharing is correct will be “discussed at the next Joint Fire Committee meeting.”

Both Councils agreed that the level of service has been working for some time now and took a don’t-fix-what-isn’t-broke attitude.

“The arrangements have been in place for four decades now and I’m not hearing people complaining about the service they’re getting at a car accident or house fire,” said Addington Highlands Dep. Mayor Tony Fritsch.

“I don’t think the service in Ward 1 is different than in Ward 2 or 3,” said North Frontenac Coun. Fred Perry.

When it was suggested that it might be an option for North Frontenac to simply purchase protection from its neighbour, Addington Highlands Reeve Henry quickly put an end to the idea by saying that while his Township might be able to afford half a pumper, the entire truck was essentially out of the question.

He also worried that without Ward 1 residents, they might have trouble fielding enough recruits for a fire department, especially when they’d still have to cover Highways 41 and 7.

Last week, the Province of Ontario confirmed the annual funding for infrastructure needs, that they provide to rural Ontario municipalities, in the run up to the annual Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference.

The Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund was established under the former Liberal government in 2014 to provide funding to small, rural and northern municipalities in order to help them “build and repair critical infrastructure”.

The funding was minimal in the first couple of years, but doubled in the run-up to the 2018 provincial election. After the election, which saw the vast majority of rural ridings elect Conservative MPP’s, the program has doubled once again.

In Frontenac County, most of the money goes directly to the townships, which have responsibility for just about all of the municipal infrastructure, which is dominated by roads and bridges.

South Frontenac, which has already passed its 2020 budget based on estimates, will receive $508,412 for 2020, up from $498,738 in 2019.

Central Frontenac will receive $361,718, down from $368.076 in 2019.

North Frontenac will receive 304,907, down from 310,472

Frontenac County received $50,000, the same as last year.

In Lennox and Addington (L&A), the county level of government has more infrastructure responsibilities than the local townships. L&A will receive 761,841 this year. In 2019 they received $758,478.

Addington Highlands Township will receive $54,461 this year. In 2019, they received $55,084.

Rural municipalities also receive funding each year under the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) based upon a formula that looks at population as well as fiscal circumstances. OMPF is crucial to the smallest municipalities.

For 2020 Addington Highlands will receive $2,053,400 ($743 per household) the same as 2019.

Central Frontenac will receive $2,148,900 ($520 per household) about the same as last year.

North Frontenac gets $1,705,200 ($499 per household) down about $700 from last year.

South Frontenac will receive $1,553,400 ($148 per household) also about the same as 2019.

One aspect of last week’s story on the new bus service from Land O’Lakes Community Services is the role the Township played, said community bus coordinator Katie Turl. “LOLCS approached Addington Highlands and the Township approached MTO and put in some money.

“(CAO/Clerk-Treasurer) Christine Reed put it all together.”

“We applied for the grant because only certain organizations are eligible to apply,” Reed said. “It seems like a long time ago, there was a Liberal government when we made the application.”

Reed said the Township pledged $2,000 annually for five years originally (now down to four years) in order to sweeten the application.

“These applications are looked upon more favourably if there’s local support,” Reed said. “It’s not a large financial contribution from us but we are partnering with MTO, who put in $265,505 in provincial funds.”

Reed said the community bus program is scheduled to continue until 2023, at which time it will be re-evaluated based on usage.

“The more it’s used, the greater the chance it will be sustained beyond the funding period,” she said.

Initially, LOLCS will be operating trips to Belleville (Nov. 28). Renfrew (Dec. 5) and Kingston (Dec. 19). These are designed as Christmas shopping excursions but once riders are at the destination, they’re free to do what they want (ie. medical appointments, socializing, etc).

To book a trip or for more information, contact Land O’Lakes Community Services at 613-336-8934, toll-free at 1-877-679-6636 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

While the Ottawa area and the Muskokas have been battling floods all spring, mainland Frontenac County has pretty much escaped the worst of things.

All three townships have posted warnings on their websites but only North Frontenac has had to do much flood fighting of any note, and that hasn’t been bad, said Director of Emergency Services/Fire Chief Eric Korhonen.

“When they opened the dam on the Mazinaw, it created some flooding on Head Road,” he said. “We’ve had water over the road in Plevna, a little bit of flooding on Kash and in the Snow Road area, there have been five or six homes flooded along the Mississippi.

“We’ve given out about 3,000 sand bags and I’d really like to commend the citizen volunteers and firefighters who have risen to the occasion,” he said. “We’ve had seven culverts go and seven road washouts but the Public Works Department has really been on the ball.

“There’s no need to call an emergency.

“If residents have problems, they can call us and we’ll have firefighters run out there with pumps.”

In Central and South Frontenac Townships, flooding has been virtually non-existent.

“We’ve fared very well compared with others,” said Central Frontenac Emergency Management Coordinator/Fire Chief Greg Robinson. “We have had some road washouts and flooding but no houses have been flooded.”

Robinson said when Central has flooding issues, it’s commonly in the Depot Lakes area but this year they’ve been more concerned about the northern areas.

“The Salmon River is high,” he said. “We’ve been preparing for flooding and we do have a sandbag program but we haven’t had to implement it.”

“(South Frontenac) is in excellent shape, comparatively speaking,” said Fire Chief Darcy Knott. “We haven’t had any significant issues.”

Knott wanted to remind people that the Township is holding a Touch-the-Truck event May 9 from 5-8 p.m. at the Keeley Road Garages in conjunction with United Way, where people can see and touch the equipment emergency personnel use including police and paramedics.

Over in neighbouring Addington Highlands Township, things haven’t been quite as quiet, said Road and Waste Management Supervisor Brett Reavie.

“We’ve had a couple of washouts (including Hughes Landing Road where crews worked through the night to correct the situation) we’ve worked on,” Reavie said. “We’re busy for sure.

“Rose Hill Road is still down because we’re waiting on getting a culvert.”

He said area waters are still high, especially in the north.

“It’s been a little extreme because of the amount of snowfall we had all winter,” he said. “And in the north, it’s tending to stick around because it didn’t get the thaws that the south end of the Township got.

“The north didn’t get the melts the south got and so it’s tending to come all at once.”

North Frontenac Township is recruiting for it fire department.

“We have banners up in the municipality and hopefully we’ll get some response,” said Eric Korhonen, director of emergency services/fire chief.

While Korhonen has no idea how much response he will get, he would like to add about 10 new firefighters per station (Snow Road, Ompah and Plevna; the department also has a joint operation with Addington Highlands in Cloyne) or 30 overall. But, he recognizes that goal is more long-term.

“Realistically, we’ll probably add a handful at a time,” he said.

Prospective applicants are asked to send an email to the chief (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) expressing interest. From there, there will be an application interview, basic medical requirement and a driver’s abstract.

“Then you start training,” he said.

New firefighters receive a rural firefighters course, first aid, CPR and defibrillator training. Once every four months, there is a mandatory training session as well.

There is weekend involvement but Korhonen said “as a department, we try to be flexible, such as training on weekends so students can attend their classes during the week.”

Korhonen said there’s no cause for alarm at the moment but they do need some more people.

“Our roster is just not where it should be,” he said. “We have sufficient people to respond but people have other lives outside the department and we have to be able to cover for this.”

For Korhonen, the biggest reward of the job is “to protect your community and the people you’ve grown up with.

“When people need us, it’s at a time when they’re really down and really need us.”

There are other rewards as well, he said.

“We’re also teaching you a skill as a young person that you can easily transfer to the big city,” he said. “Plus firefighting is a brotherhood and the camaraderie is a big part of it.

“It’s a family and as you make a commitment to them and they’ll make a commitment to you.”

There’s also a lot of gratification when you help somebody that really needs it, he said.

“And let’s face it, lights and sirens are a rush.”

When the Ontario Liberal government took power in 2003, one of the key issues for municipal governments was dealing with all of the downloaded costs that had been one of the features of municipal amalgamation under the previous Conservative administration under Mike Harris.

The municipal share of costs for social programs, ambulance service, policing, and other services had increased or been instituted for the first time. While the McGuinty, and now the Wynne Liberals have not taken uploaded entire sectors as municipalities had wished, they have uploaded some costs. They also brought in, early in their first mandate, a funding program aimed at helping more vulnerable municipalities cope with the cost of uploaded services. Over time, the program, which is now called the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) has become focussed on helping rural, remote and financially challenged municipalities cope with a variety of costs. The program includes a rural communities grant, a fiscal circumstances grant, and an assessment equalization grant.

The way the program works in 2018, larger municipalities (in relative terms) such as South Frontenac, which has over 10,000 households and an average property assessment of $307,000, will receive $1.52 million in 2018, up slightly from $1.49 in 2017.

A smaller township, such as Addington Highlands, with 2,500 households and an average property assessment of $177,000 will be receiving $2.04 million, up from $1.8 million in 2017.

To illustrate the realtive impact of the grant on the two townships budgets, the OMPF grant for South Frontenac equals less than 8% of the amount council collects from taxpayers, whereas in Addington Highlands it equals about 75%.

North Frontenac Township will receive $1.6 million in OMPF payments in 2018, up $240,000 from the $1.4 million that they received last year. There are 3,500 households listed for North Frontenac at an average value of $250,000.

Central Frontenac Township will receive $2.05 million in 2018, up $75,000 from $193 million in 2017. There are 4,100 households in Central Frontenac, at an average value of $218,000.

Fatal Snowmobile Collision
On December 16 at 12:10am officers from the Central Hastings Detachmentwere dispatched to a single snowmobile accident that occurred on Elzevir Road in the Municipality of Tweed. The driver was eastbound on Elzevir Road when it left the roadway and collided with a tree.

The male driver of the snowmobile, 34 years old Adam Connoly of Addington Highlands Township was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The OPP Technical Traffic Collision Investigators was called to the scene and the investigation is continuing.

OPP – Ice Fisherman Located Deceased
On Saturday December 16 at 9pm,=, members of the Lanark County detachment responded to an overdue person call on Bennett Lake in Tay Valley Township.

Police responded after receiving information that a male had been ice fishing on the lake and did not return home on his ATV. His family observed a large hole on the ice surface and became concerned that he had fallen through the ice. Lanark County OPP members attended to search for the male with the assistance of the OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit

Elmer Abercrombie age 80 of Tay Valley Township was located deceased. It was determined that Mr. Abercrombie had been travelling on the lake ice earlier in the day with his ATV and fell through.

If any person has further information in regards to this matter they are asked to please call 1-888-310-1122

Break and enter in Inverary
On December, the Frontenac Detachment responded to a break and enter that occurred at a residence near the area of Round Lake Road and Latimer Road.

Sometime that day, between the 10am and 2pm, unknown person(s) entered into the residence. Entry was forced through a basement window and several items such as jewelry and electronic dev ices were stolen from the residence. The homeowners arrived to find their front door open and immediately called police.

The OPP are seeking the assistance of the public that may have observed any suspicious persons or vehicles in the area of Inverary at that time to contact the Frontenac OPP Detachment at 1-888-310-1122. Contact: Provincial Constable Roop Sandhu 613-532-0247 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

It started up 74 years ago, during the second world war in 1943, when the idea of forming a marketing organization for a region that was just developing road access was pretty forward thinking.

Over the years the Land O’Lakes Tourist Association (LOLTA) has seen many ups and downs, and this week in Sharbot Lake the current Board of Directors took the difficult decision to disband.

Harvey Webster, the Manager of the Loughborough Inn, was the chair of LOLTA until Monday. He has been an active member and a member of the Board of Directors over the years.

He said that while LOLTA is shutting down, the marketing work that it had been doing will carry on.

“It was a sad situation but its not that the Land o’Lakes are disappearing. The counties and local townships have stepped in over the last few years, and the provincial Regional Tourist Organisations (RTO’s) have come on stream as well. For our members, there are still opportunities for promotion as part of a region even with us closing down,” he said.

“As far as I am concerned LOLTA is not buried yet, it is more like it is more like it is on hold. If the municipalities and RTO’s step back, we will need LOLTA again.”

The storied history of LOLTA was the subject of a video that was made by Ken Hook in 2013. Hook served as LOLTA manager for one year, after the departure of Terry Shea, manager between 2003 and 2008.

The video outlines how the association got its start as a group of fishing lodges from Tweed, the region called “North Addington” at the time, which is now Stone Mills and Addington Highlands townships, and “North Frontenac”, which at the time referred to the region of Frontenac County north of Verona.

The focus of the association was for lodges and other groups to take advantage of the opportunities that were to come as the war ended and US tourists began to look northward for fishing opportunities. Membership dues went up in 1947 to $5 per season.

Over the years the association changed as new leaders came forward, two of whom, Jeanette Whitfield (1963 -1966) and Faye Henry (1979 -1996) were interviewed. They both talked about issues that were specific to their day, but also to issues that remain relevant today. For example, Henry talked about how much effort it took for the region to be noticed by various levels of government, and they both talked about the need for businesses to work together.

LOLTA was able to access grant money for its members through the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs between the late 1990’s and 2010, but those programs dried up or were diverted to municipalities.

The LOLTA region, which had expanded over the decades to include all Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Counties and the Municipality of Tweed, was essentially cut in half when the province of Ontario set up the RTO’s a few years ago. The Ontario Highlands Region includes North and Central Frontenac, Addington Highlands and Tweed, but Stone Mills, South Frontenac, Napanee, and Frontenac Islands are all part of the Great Waterway region.

Having members split into two regional organizations did not help LOLTA, which has struggled in recent years as managers have come and gone. A couple of years ago, the LOLTA office in Kaladar was shut down and long serving office administrator Joanne Cuddy was let go.

LOLTA was run out of the home office of its latest manager, Jen Fitzpatrick, until she left.

The board began to consider shutting LOLTA down when they realised that, as volunteers who were all busy working on their own businesses, they did not have the energy, or finances, to carry on.

I guess that the Land O’Lakes Tourist Association basically ran its course,” said Harvey Webster. “With the Internet and these other government options that there are for these businesses to be promoted, and the fact that we are a volunteer board, there was nothing for us to do but shut down.”

So, just months from its 75th anniversary, LOLTA is no more.

No Trillium application for kitchen reno at Denbigh Community Centre
The township was preparing to submit a grant application to the Trillium Foundation to cover the long awaited kitchen renovation at the former Denbigh Schoolhouse. In order to apply, it is necessary to include three quotes for the work that the applicant intends to do. Councillor Tony Fritsch prepared a detailed scope of work and three contractors asked for the information package in order to submit bids, but all three decided not to bid.
“It was not the job itself, but the timing and having to guarantee a price for March of next year that stopped them from bidding”.
With no pricing available, the township will not be submitting a grant application this time around.

Bill for OPP
Council and the finance staff are not going to begin dealing with the 2018 budget for several months but they will need to come up with just a bit more money for policing next year. The 2018 OPP bill has been set at $780,379, up from $779,337 in 2017. OPP costs jumped several years ago and have now been phased in. The township paid $735,143 in 2016 and $580,450 in 2015.

Free use of Hall for Maltby Centre
The Maltby Centre (formerly Pathways for Children and Youth) provides mental health and autism services for children and youth in Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington. Jen Whalen, an Enhanced Youth Outreach Worker with Maltby is running a group called New Mentality, a peer support group for youth to reduce the stigma around mental health illness and help peers find a voice in telling their stories. The group runs from 2pm-6pm on Thursdays and Council agreed to provide free space for the group at the Flinton Hall each week.

Implications of Bill 148 on firefighting costs to be referred to AMO
Bill 148 – The Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, has been widely discussed across the province because of its proposals regarding increases in the minimum wage in Ontario to $14 on January 1st 2018 and $15 on January 1st 2019.
Fire Chief Casey Cuddy looked at other provisions in the act in his report to the Kaladar-Barrie Joint Fire Board. His report poses questions about the wage paid to firefighters, because one of its provisions says that all employees, part-time included, must be paid the same rate that is paid to full-time employees doing that job. If that means firefighters in volunteer departments, who are considered township employees and not really volunteers, must be paid the same rate as full time firefighters, costs will escalate. The Act also calls for employees to be paid for three hours whenever they come in to work. In his report, Casey asked whether a 45 minute call involving 10 firefighters might cost $600 in wages instead of the current $250.

Council received the report and referred it to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) for analysis.
In response to another change coming from the Province of Ontario, whereby holders of “D” drivers licences are to be required to take a physical exam each time they apply for a renewal of their licence. The exams can cost up to $100, if a health practitioner even agrees to conduct them, and are not covered under OHIP. The change could effect costs in both Public Works and Fire Departments. Council passed a motion requesting staff to ask the Lakelands Family Health Team if they are willing to conduct the exams. If they aren’t, travel costs to far flung medical service providers could make the new regulation even more costly to the township.

No more dump diving
It is not permissible to remove items from waste sites in Addington Highlands. There are concerns over liability. Instead, Public Works Manager Brent Reavie will be reporting to Council about how other municipalities, such as some in Lanark County, offer re-use options at their sites. Reavie will also be arranging for the sale of scrap metal that has accumulated at the sites.

Intellivote engaged again for 2018
The township has contracted with Intellivote to conduct the 2018 municipal election. Ballots will be cast either by phone or Internet over a one week period and the results will be announced within minutes of the close of polls on election day. The price of the service will be less than it was in 2014.
The township does not put money aside for elections each year, so the cost of next year’s election will be born entirely by the 2018 budget.
It was suggested that the money realised through the sale of scrap be devoted to covering the cost of the election.
Public Works Manager Reavie said that it would be fine by him. “Sounds good. It’s kind of fitting, actually,” he said.

Remembrance Day Ceremonies
With the closure of the Northbrook Legion, the Arden Legion will be stepping in to conduct Remembrance Day Ceremonies in both Flinton and Denbigh. Because the Legion also holds ceremonies in Arden and Mountain Grove on November 11, the AH ceremonies will be held sometime on the weekend before Remembrance Day. The exact dates will be announced soon.

Addington Highlands is still tinkering with waste disposal fees but made some changes at its regular meeting Monday afternoon in Flinton.
Many of the changes came from suggestions from supervisor Brett Reavie, who gave a report based on feedback from waste site attendents.
First up was tires with rims attached.

“You can drop the rubber and you can drop the steel, but you can’t drop them together,” said Coun. Bill Cox.
Reeve Henry Hogg suggested the company that takes the tires might take tires with rims attached but would likely charge a few for that.
“That would be the simplest thing to do,” he said.

Reavie also said they are starting to get more fibreglass paddleboats and canoes.
“The Vennachar dump gets quite a few at times,” he said.
Council adopted a $35 fee for canoes or paddleboats.
But perhaps the biggest debate was what to do with shingles.
“There was a time when we didn’t accept shingles at all,” said Hogg. “I don’t know what happened to them then.”
“Are you trying to divert shingles or keep the countryside clear?” said Reavie.
Council agreed it was a bit of both.

“You can’t charge so much that it won’t be worth it for people to bring them in,” said Hogg.
Council decided that if shingles were brought in a pickup truck or single axle trailer, the few would be $35. If brought in a double axle trailer, the few would be $70.
Council also decided the fee for a regular load brought on a double axle trailer would be $35.
They also decided there would be no additional fees for small pieces of carpet if part of a larger load or refuse.
“We can’t finalize this until we hear back on the tires and rims,” said Coun. Tony Fritsch.
“We’ll look at it one more time,” said Hogg.

Council moved a step closer to completing its Civic Addressing Bylaw with a review of the draft.
“We’re having rules for naming the roads, but what about the lakes,” said Reeve Henry Hogg.
Several councilors related lakes that seem to have changed names (often more than once) over the years.

After noting that Lake Weslemkoon was hard to pronounce and spell, Hogg made no suggestion that it should be changed but pointed out the numbering system on lanes around the lake left something to be desired.
“It will have to be changed,” he said. “The cottage associations did the numbering some 20 years ago and a lot of it doesn’t make sense.”
Dep. Reeve Helen Yanch said while she was OK with roads already named after people, she’d like to see the practice abolished in the future.
Council also agreed that the posts and blades for new roadside numbering shouldn’t cost residents, they wanted to see some costs before proceeding.

Council decided to go ahead with Remembrance Day ceremonies despite the Northbrook Legion closing.
Coun. Bill Cox, a Legion member himself, said he’d received a letter about the branch closing and the fact that the membership has applied to join another branch.
“I think it’s sad,” said Dep. Reeve Helen Yanch. “But I think we need something at our two cenataphs even if it’s only for this year.”
Cox said he’d contact Legion Central Command to get their thoughts on the matter.

Council is still concerned about its ambulance base situation.
“The County made a motion that we’d get an ambulance station,” said Coun. Bill Cox.
“It was made Oct. 12 last year and it’s never been rescinded,” said Reeve Henry Hogg.

A memorandum of understanding between the Township and Metis Nation was moved to closed session for Council discussion.

Council approved its joint fire agreement with North Frontenac Township.