Vandewal, Higgins, and Smith are all running again, Hogg, Doyle, are mulling retirement

Maybe they are gluttons for punishment, or maybe it is the awesome power of the office, or maybe it takes two kicks at the can before fatigue sets in, but all three one term Mayors in Frontenac County have decided, barring anything unforeseen, that they will run again when the municipal election rolls around in October.

North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins, announced a year ago, half way though his mandate, that he intended to seek a second term, and he confirmed that decision this week.

South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal made his decision over Christmas, with a little help from his wife Nancy.

“I had been saying I’m 50-50 on it for a while, and then over Christmas Nancy said, ‘why don’t you make up your mind one way or another’ and so I thought about it and I’m ready to stand for a second term,” he said, when contacted early this week.

Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith said she will be running again for a second term.

In Frontenac Islands, two time Mayor Dennis Doyle is undecided.

“I felt it was important that I run last time because it was clear there would be some new Mayors and new members of Frontenac County Council coming in and I felt it was important for continuity, but this time there might not be as much turnover with the other three Mayor’s all running again. But I will wait and see what happens before deciding,” he said early this week.

Meanwhile, over in Addington Highlands, Reeve Henry Hogg said he has also not yet decided whether he will run again or not. Four years ago he said this would be his last term, but now that the election year is getting underway he said he has not made a final decision.

“I am waiting to see who comes forward,” he said, noting that the election rules have changed. “I don’t think nominations even open until May 1st this time,” he said.,

There have been numerous changes to the election rules since 2014.

Not only has the opening day for nominations been pushed back from January 1st until May 1st, the nomination period is tighter on the other end as well.

Nominations will close on July 27th, instead of September 10th and in order to be nominated candidates will need 25 signatures from eligible voters this time, a requirement that was not in place in 2014.

The 25 signature requirement applies to candidates for Mayor (Reeve) and to candidates for Council and school board trustee

One thing that has not changed is the ability of candidates to change the position they are seeking up until the close of nominations.

Until the 27th, candidates can change the position they are seeking, either from Council to Mayor or vice versa, and candidates for council can also change the ward they are seeking to represent. The 25 signatures do not need to be changed if the candidate changes the position they are contesting.

All things being equal, Ron Higgins is planning to run for re-election as Mayor of North Frontenac in 2018.

In an email early this week, Higgins said “When I took office as Mayor I said I would give myself 2 years to decide if I will run again or not." He added that he believes he has made a difference and with the support of his wfe Wendy is planning to seek a second and final term before retiring in earnest. He informed council of his intentions last Friday.

AH Council rejects “unwilling host” motion

In the end, Tony Fritsch was able to buy time, but he did not win the vote that counted the most.

In front of a crowd of over 100 loud supporters in the normally quiet confines of Addington Highlands Council, Fritsch read out both a motion and a postion paper supporting it.

The upshot was a proposal that would have pre-empted the debate over whether to consider requests for support from from NextEra or RES-Canada for wind turbine projects in Addington Highlands.

“Now therefore be it resolved that the Council of The Corporation of the Township of Addington Highlands will not provide a Municipal Support Resolution for any Industrial Wind Turbine Project; and that Council declares the Township of Addington Highlands as ‘Not a Willing Host’ for Industrial Wind Turbine projects,” read the operative clause in the motion.

Councillor Kirby Thompson seconded the motion, and then said that “he has thought long and hard about the matter” and has come to the conclusion that the position taken by opponents to the proposals “is convincing and I feel that wind projects are not appropriate for our township.

Deputy Reeve Helen Yanch said that she has been accused by people who oppose turbines in the township of having a conflict of interest and should not vote on the matter. She co-owns, with her husband, a gravel pit in the township, and since wind projects lead to road construction which will require gravel, she has a conflict of interest.

“All I can say is that this is ridiculous, and I will not recuse myself from this vote,” she said. The township has sought legal advice on the matter as well, the News has learned, which concluded that there is no “pecuniary interest” in Yanch owning a gravel pit and voting on the turbine issue.

In a recorded vote. Councillor Bill Cox, Deputy Reeve Yanch and Reeve Hogg voted against the motion, Councillor's Fritsch and Thompson in favour, and the motion was declared defeated by Clerk Christine Reed.

What followed was a chorus of boos and shouts, leading to a five minute recess being called. Three OPP officers, who had been at the back of the hall, took positions at the front. It took about ten minutes for the meeting to re-start.

Addington Highlands neighbour, North Frontenac, which was approached by NextEra, one of the companies that is making a proposal in Addington Highlands, declared itself an “unwilling host” for wind projects last month. North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins, as well as Councillor Vernon Hermer, were in the audience at the meeting.

They, along with most of the audience, left during the recess.

After the recess, a motion to provide “support in principle” for the two wind turbine projects that re before Addington Highlands Council was read into the record. NextEra is proposing a 77 turbine |(up to 200 megawatt) project in the township, and RES-Canada has a 40-60 turbine (up to 170 megawatt) project in the works.

Before the motion could be debated, Tony Fritsch moved that it be deferred. Kirby Thompson said that he “was a bit too overwhelmed right now with all that has happened to concentrate on this”, and supported the idea of a deferral. The other three members of Council agreed and it was decided that a special meeting to consider the “support in prinicpal” motion be held on July 20th at 9:00 am, in Flinton at the Recreation Centre.

If approved on the 20th, support 'in principle' would give the township and each of the companies 6 weeks to complete negotiations and finalize “Community Vibrancy Agreements”, so that a final motion of support can be passed before the companies submit their bids to Ontario's IESO (Independent Electrical Service Operator)

Bids that include a motion of support from the local municipality will receive added points when the IESO opens the bids.

After a set of public negotiations last month, Res and NextEra have both offered over $10 million in direct compensation to the township over the 20 year life of the projects if they win the bid and end up building in the township.

Interestingly enough, the member of Council whose intervention can be most credited with doubling the offers from what was initially on the table from both companies, is Councillor Tony Fritsch. It was on his recommendation that the council asked each of the companies to for twice as much as they had initially offered. And they each complied with the request.

However, if Addington Highlands does support one or both of the projects, they will be turning their backs on another economic development offer. This one was proposed by a relatively new township resident, Scott Annan, at the start of Monday's meeting.

Annan is an Ottawa-based IT entrepreneur who founded Mercury Grove, a software company and startup incubator, guides.co, a website for lifestyle guides, and an active leader in the Ottawa technology sector, who has been a seasonal resident on Ashby Lake since 2013.

Saying that the township should not be trapped into looking at an either-or scenario, with one side being preservation of the environment and the other one being economic development via wind-turbines. He proposed a third option. Through a special tax levy, whereby residents will pay between $40 and $100 extra on their tax bills over a 5 year period, he said the township can raise its own “community vibrancy fund”. This fund, coupled with $5 million in investment dollars from Ottawa based entrepreneurs that Annan said has already been committed, and more to come, the township will be in a position to foster its own economic development.

He proposed that the initiative be anchored by a $40 million lodge and conference centre to kick start a 4 season tourism sector. Further initiatives “could include micro-breweries, artists, agri-food, tech & research “field offices”, accommodation & tourism-based businesses,” he said in a Power Point Presentation.

A preliminary meeting regarding this initiative was held two weeks ago at Hunter's Creek golf course, which was attended by MPP Randy Hillier and North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins as well as community members. Invitations to the meeting were sent by email to the Reeve and Council members from Addington Highlands, but at the last minute, for which Annan apologized to Council.

Although it was not stated in Annan's presentation, he confirmed to the News, via email, that at least as far as his participation in the initiative is concerned, support by the township for the current wind turbines projects is not compatible.

“Unlike some other proponents for economic development, neither I or other members of interest want to dictate terms - we want to work collaboratively with town council and all stakeholders,” he wrote in reference to the two companies. “Having said that, if they refuse to collaborate and sign agreements that result in over 100 industrial wind turbines to the area against the communities wishes, it doesn't make sense to continue the plan or to invest time and money in the region,” he added.

Other delegates before Council included Dan Carruthers and Charles Birchall. Carruthers is also an Ashby Lake resident who has been active in both BEARAT (Bon Echo Area Resients Against Turbines) and the economic development initiative that was outlined by Annan. He spoke briefly about the pitfalls of the projects and then introduced Birchall, who is the lawyer that BEARAT has retained to fight the projects.

Birchall outlined the steps that the projects would have to undergo if they win the IESO bid. These include a number of environmental assessments, and potential avenues.

“Wind projects tend to lead to litigation” said Birchall, referring to the case that he is closely identifies with, the Ostrander Point project near Picton that recently had its environmental approval revoked over impacts that a service road would have on a local population of Blanding's turtles, which are on the “Species at Risk” list in Ontario.

Of the seven incumbents running for re-election in Central Frontenac this time around, only two won.

In the mayor's race, Frances Smith made the switch from Oso (ward 3) councilor to mayor in a convincing victory over two-time incumbent Janet Gutowski, by 1996 votes to 1083. That was just the start of the changes.

Tom Dewey won re-election in Kennebec (ward 1) receiving 388 votes, good enough for first place, but just behind him was first-time candidate Cindy Kelsey at 375 votes, 20 votes ahead of Jeff Matson (355), who was went down to defeat after two terms on Council. Logan Murray finished in 4^th place with 237 votes.

The tight race in Kennebec was nothing new. Eight years ago Matson won his first term on Council by defeating then incumbent Logan Murray by only four votes.

In Olden, one-term incumbent Norm Guntensperger did not seek re-election, but two term councilor John Purdon finished in fourth place with only 224 votes. Jamie Riddell was elected, leading with 309 votes, and Victor Heese was close behind with 291 to win the second council seat. Cory Thompson finished 3^rd with 227 votes and Justin Gray received 112 votes. In this race Riddell, Heese and Thompson were very active in campaigning, going door to door throughout the campaign, and it seems to have paid off at the e-ballot box.

In Oso (ward 3) incumbent Wayne Millar finished third with 323 votes. Bill MacDonald, former mayor and former provincial Liberal party candidate, made a successful return to township politics after eight years with 508 votes. The second council seat went to a complete newcomer to township politics, Sherry Whan, with 388 votes. Dennis Scott and Bob Olmstead rounded out the field with 190 and 182 votes respectively.

Finally, in Hinchinbrooke (ward 4), one seat has been a given throughout the township's history as long as Bill Snyder was alive, and the other has been held by a different person after every election since the founding of the township in 1998.

This time around incumbent Heather Fox went down to defeat, while Phillip Smith, who lost the election in 2010 but was appointed to council when Bill Snyder died at the beginning of the year, topped all candidates with 349 votes. Newcomer Brent Cameron won the second seat with 334 votes. Heather Fox was 14 votes behind with 320, and Sharon Shepherd right behind at 313. Jim Lowery received 204 votes.

When contacted the day after the election, Frances Smith was happy about winning, but the reality of the responsibility that comes with being mayor was kicking in.

“We are going to have to get very busy,” she said, “we have to hire a Chief Administrative Officer [CAO] and a Public Works Manager as soon as possible. I talked to our CAO Larry Donaldson and arranged to meet him tomorrow for a briefing but he is leaving the next day. We are lucky to have Steve Silver coming in as an interim CAO but he won't want to stay very long. And we need a public works manager as soon as possible,” she said.

The other issue on the top of the agenda will be policing costs, but in that case Smith said it is a matter of dealing with it in terms of its impact on the budget.

“There are a lot of people in our township who don't have a lot of money available, who are on fixed incomes, on social assistance. I work in social services; I know there is a lot of poverty out there. A 5% increase in taxes to those people is huge. This has to be part of our thinking when we start budgeting. We need to give staff clear direction before they start putting their department budgets together,” she said.

With a council dominated by first-time councilors, and some major gaps in senior staffing, Smith said that she will be in no hurry to complete the 2016 budget.

“We need to do a lot of work, some training of council, some sessions on our budget process and what the numbers really mean, before we can get to that first budget. I know staff always wants the budget done early, but if there are projects that need to be approved before the budget is complete we can do that by resolution. I will not ask council to rush the budget process right after they take office in a month,” she said.

In response to her defeat, out-going mayor, Janet Gutowski, was upbeat.

“I'll admit that I was a little surprised with the results of the vote for mayor, but the reality is that things change. When I look back and think that I came to this community and immediately served one term as a councilor and two as mayor, I can't say I'm dissatisfied with how everything went over all,” she said.

She said she hopes the township continues its support for two initiatives that she instigated, the Frontenac Heritage Festival and the Economic Development Committee of Council.

The Heritage Festival, which receives administrative and logistical support from the township but only minimal dollars, is in the early preparation stages for next February, and Gutowski said she is committed to staying on as chair of the Heritage Festival Committee, at least for this year.

“I think the economic development committee has made progress, and seeing that some of the newly elected councilors seem to support those kinds of initiatives, I hope that it will survive,” she said. “I'm also excited to see some younger people getting elected to Council. That will be good for the township.”

For a table of results, go to Centralfrontenac.com