On Pine Meadow funding

Jeff Green | Nov 25, 2015

Two weeks ago, after years of fruitless requests, there was a chance that Frontenac County would approve a $105,750 grant, over 10 years, to support a capital project at Pine Meadow Nursing Home.

The home is not located in Frontenac County. It is owned by a not-for-profit corporation and run by a volunteer management committee. However it has a unique connection to Frontenac County.

A member of North Frontenac Council is appointed to the committee that oversees the home. Pine Meadow was built in the 1990s with the financial and volunteer support of groups and individuals from the former Kaladar Township in Lennox and Addington and Barrie Township in Frontenac County. That community support has remained constant ever since. Barrie Township (now ward 1- North Frontenac) makes up 45% of both the population and tax assessment of North Frontenac Township. Kennebec ward, which makes up 25% of the residents and tax assessment of Central Frontenac, also has a historic connection to Pine Meadow.

For those who live in the north-western corner of Frontenac County, Pine Meadow is an integral local institution, the largest employer and health care institution in the region, and the place where many Frontenac County residents spend the last year or two of their lives within reach of family and friends.

The proposal that came to Frontenac County Council last week was to spend, in a discretionary fashion, $100,000 on Pine Meadow over 10 years. During that time, that same council will requisition, by my estimate, $100 million from Frontenac County ratepayers.

Before the vote on the request was taken, Council received information from their staff that pointed out the risks associated with spending the money. They were told it might lead to the unions at Fairmount Home claiming the county had more money available for long term care than they had let on, and pouncing on that at the bargaining table. They were told that other not-for-profit homes with residents from Frontenac County might come looking for money. They were told this is not the kind of spending that fit with the long term financial planning that staff have meticulously constructed for the county.

These are all legitimate things for staff to say. They are doing their job.

I would point out, however, that when county staff were pushing County Council to approve a $2 million renovation to the Fairmount auditorium four years ago, another discretionary item, county staff did not make any of these points. County staff also did not oppose a request of $540,000 over 10 years to fund capital projects at Kingston General Hospital, another discretionary item.

In any event, the two councilors from Frontenac Islands voted against the grant to Pine Meadow. That is not surprising. They live closer to Syracuse, New York than they do to Northbrook.

But what really did the proposal in was the fact that North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins and Central Frontenac Councilor Tom Dewey both voted against it.

They did not do it lightly, but they pointed out that they felt it would be irresponsible to vote for the spending, given all the risks and the strict logic that they need to adhere to as County Council members.

I don't doubt their sincerity or their convictions; it's just that they were wrong. They were over-influenced, perhaps because they are new to County Council, by the bureaucratic and institutionally constricted logic that has been drummed into them since they arrived at their first county meeting less than one year ago.

Higgins and Dewey were elected by their constituents. Ultimately, no matter what anyone says, they represent their constituents to the county.

Yes, they need to consider the bigger picture, but they need to remember who sent them there and whose interests they are bound to represent. They need to pick their battles, to be sure. This was a little battle, and it was one that they could have won.

Frontenac County has virtually no footprint in its northwestern corner. Fairmount Home is a two-hour drive from Cloyne. The City of Ottawa is closer. Ambulance service comes from Lennox and Addington. The K&P Trail is located an hour's drive away.

All Frontenac County does for Ward 1 (North Frontenac) is requisition money through municipal taxes.

This was an opportunity, for very little money, to establish a small footprint for Frontenac County in one of its forgotten corners.

It was an opportunity squandered.

One more thing. Out of all this, some hard figures have come out. It costs $17,000 more in annual labour costs to pay for a bed at Fairmount Home than it does at Pine Meadow Nursing.

Frontenac ratepayers deserve to know why this is the case.