At the Denbigh meeting of Addington Highlands Council on Monday night, Reeve Henry Hogg and Deputy Reeve Helen Yanch reported that Lennox and Addington County appears set to re-visit its commitment to maintaining a 12 hour a day ambulance service based in Denbigh and build a new base to house that service.

“The new CAO of the County [Brenda Orchard] has some ideas about replacing the ambulance with an emergency first response vehicle. That vehicle would not be able to cross county lines like an ambulance so there are implications for our neighbours, and there are big implications for our own residents as well because those vehicles can’t take patients to hospital,” said Reeve Hogg.

“Mark [Chief of Paramedic Services Mark Shjerning] has looked at it and does think it is viable, but I know that it is being pushed for sure,” said Yanch. “My thoughts are that the CAO of the county should sit down with our ambulance committee and talk to them.”
“When is this going to come up?” asked Councillor Bill Cox.
“November, I think,” said Hogg.
“Maybe Tony [Councillor Tony Fritsch] should approach the CAO, as chair of our ambulance committee, and ask if there is anything formal coming up about this, because we haven’t heard anything about it,” said Cox.

Reeve Hogg said “They are wearing us down with this. It comes up at least once a term, and it never seems to end.”
Hogg’s assertion. In 2012 the service was cut in half, from a 24 to a 12 hour service. In January 2016 a staff report at L&A County proposed cutting the service entirely. This was not acted upon by Council and in November, 2016 a search was initiated for a suitable piece of land to build a permanent base in Denbigh, but that base has not been built as of yet.

“They said at our county meeting last week that the new base was ‘not a priority for the former CAO’ [Larry Keech] which confirmed what I always thought was going on,” said Yanch.
“I’m sure County Council is tired of hearing from us and from Denbigh residents over and over about this,” said Fritsch.
“They are wearing us down,” said Hogg.
“Doesn’t the south already have what they want,” asked Bill Cox, referring to a new base that was built in 2016 in Loyalist Township.
“They are buying land right now in Stone Mills for a base,” said Hogg.

Currently there are two 24 hour ambulances based in Napanee, and 24 hour ambulances based in Odessa (Loyalist Township) and Northbrook (Addington Highlands) in addition to a 12 hour service based in a temporary station in Denbigh.
Those who have advocated for closing the Denbigh base talk about the lack of calls for service in the remote rural area, tying up personnel and equipment.

Those who advocate for keeping the service talk about distance and the role the Denbigh service plays in serving a large under-served area in neighbouring jurisdictions (Renfrew and Frontenac Counties) as well as Lennox and Addington.
The Denbigh service was initially set up by the Province of Ontario because of the communities location at the junction of two provincially significant arterial roads (Hwy.’s 41 and 28) in order to serve the vast, underpopulated region. Ever since ambulance service was downloaded and the Denbigh service has come under the budget of Lennox and Addington County, questions about its financial viability have been raised. Overtures to Frontenac and Renfrew Counties’ to help fund the service, beyond paying a fee for service for cross-border calls, have been rebuffed.

Other items from AH Council

Waste Disposal fees
A revised waste disposal fee schedule was presented to Council. It includes a fee of $15 for a truck or single axle trailer load, $30 for a dual axle load, and fees of $35 for a trailer/truck load of shingles, $100 for fiberglass boats, etc. Clear AH logo bags are required for all waste not covered in the schedule, and tires, e-waste and freon-free appliances can be disposed of for free. Large loads of construction waste, anything larger than a dual axle trailer, are no longer accepted at Addington Highlands Waste sites.
The new schedule will be presented to waste site attendants for comment, and will be back before Council for adoption, likely at the October 2 meeting at 1pm in Flinton.
Fees waived for NAEC
In response to a request from North Addington Education Centre staff, fees for use of the Flinton Hall for Christmas and Spring formals, and for use of the ball diamond rink for tournaments and other uses, will no longer be charged to the student council.
Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund Top up Component application.
AH has applied for a $877,500 to cover 90% of the costs to rehabilitate 2.8 kilometres of the Mattawatchan Road, which runs north from Buckshot Lake Road into Renfrew County. If approved the township will be required to find the other $97,500 in the $975,000 project.
Addressing concerns at Weslmkoon Lake – After an ambulance had great difficulty finding an island resident on Weslmkoon Lake, CAO Christine Reed said the township needs to look at re-doing the insufficient and inaccurate civic addressing system on the lake. The project will be slow and expensive as the lake has over 100 islands and 50 of them contain cottages, but Reed said it is something that the township needs to get started on, and council agreed.
Dog Strangling vine not accepted at waste sites
On the recommendation of Public Works Supervisor Brett Reavie, the township will not accept the invasive plant “Dog Strangling Vine” at waste sites. Residents are encourage to deal with the plant themselves.

Addington Highlands is still tinkering with its waste disposal (tipping) fees but Council did instruct staff at its regular meeting Tuesday afternoon to bring back another draft schedule to a future meeting. Council did seemingly establish some parameters, for example eliminating the distinct between compact and full-size pick-up trucks as well as the number of axles on trailers, but actual charges are yet to be determined. “If you’ve got a small truck, you just pile it higher,” said Reeve Henry Hogg. There was general agreement that the charge to dispose of a single mattress should conceivably be less than that for a queen size but again the actual charge has yet to be determined. In fact, most fees are still under discussion.

“I don’t know anywhere you can dump a dual axle for 20 bucks,” said Coun. Bill Cox. “We charge $30 for a mattress whether it’s twin or queen,” said CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed. “Currently, we’re charging more for a mattress than a truck load.” “There are so many variations,” said Coun. Tony Fritsch. “Unless you’ve got a weigh scale and taking tonnage, it’s hard to determine,” said Hogg. “If we knew how to make it easy, we’d do it.” “Well, we’ve got to establish something,” said Cox. “We’ve only got two years left at the Kaladar site.” “Some of this may just be temporary,” said Hogg. “the province passed the Waste-Free Ontario Act which puts the onus on producers to dispose of their products.”

Post Office Closure - Following a presentation from Diane Mitchell, national coordinator for the Save Canada Post Campaign that featured 45 recommendations, Council voted to support the Campaign by signing and mailing a sample letter provided by Mitchell. Mitchell said the Post Office in Cloyne is on a list the Campaign is asking for a moratorium on closure for but the outlet in Flinton is not. Coun. Bill Cox pointed that the Flinton operation is an “outlet” as opposed to the Cloyne Post Office.

Salvage Yards - Council passed Bylaw 0504/2017 being a bylaw to regulate and govern any business carried on within the Township and for prohibiting or regulating and the use of any land and structures for storing used motor vehicles for the purpose of wrecking or dismantling them or for salvaging parts thereof for sale or other disposal. There was no discussion of the bylaw before passage. ■

A group of about 30 walkers, along with two support vans, will be passing through Addington Highlands and Central Frontenac this weekend on their way to Ottawa where they will be going to Parliament to demonstrate in favour of the adoption of Bill C262, a Private members bill that was drafted by MP Romeo Saganash, which is aimed at ensuring “that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declarationon the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” (UNDRIP).

The walk itself, which is co-sponsored by the Mennonite Church of Canada and Christian Peacemaker Teams: Indigenous Peoples Solidarity was inspired by the report of the Commission on Truth and Reconciliation, in particular number 48 in the Calls to Action that accompanied the report.

Number 48 calls upon churches to formally “adopt and comply with the principles, norms, and standards of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a framework for reconciliation.” It also calls on churches and church groups to engage in “ongoing public dialogue and actions to support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”

Chuck Wright of the Christian Peacemakers is one of the organisers of the trip. He said that by walking 600 kilometres over 21 days and stopping most nights in a host church along the way and holding a learning circle, participants in the trip are “attempting in their own way to honour Call to Action number 48”.

The walkers will be staying in Flinton at Through the Roof Ministry on Saturday Night (May 6) as guests of the congregation. On Sunday morning a father and daughter who are participating in the walk will be speaking to the congregation during Sunday services. They will be guests of the Shabot Obaadjiwan on Sunday Night, May 7, near White Lake, and then travelling to the Maberly hallthe next day. The day after that (May 9) they travel to Perth where they will participate in an event at St. Paul’s United Church at 7pm. That event will feature speakers including MP Saganash — who for more than 30 years has played a key role in the development and drafting of UNDRIP — and Leah Gazan, a member of Wood Mountain Lakota Nation who teaches at the faculty of education at the University of Winnipeg.

In addition to the scheduled events, Wright said that people are more than welcome to join the walkers on the road as they cross through the region to walk and talk about why they are walking and the role they see church communities playing in the future relationship between settler and indigenous communities.

Their website describes the initiative in this way: We have named this walk a pilgrimage to signal: our dependence upon the Creator; our desire to hold the spiritual and the political together, and; our attempt to connect this fragile initiative to the rich history of sacred walks seeking reparative change (e.g., the Native American Longest Walk, Chavez’ Pilgrimage to Sacramento, the Civil Rights March on Selma, Gandhi’s Salt March, and so on).

“We also welcome everyone who is interested to join us on May 13 at 2pm for the Walk the Talk rally at Parliament Hill, our rally in support of implementation of Bill C262.

After a joint North Frontenac-Addington Highlands Council meeting last Friday at Barrie Hall in Cloyne, it appears that concerns about equipment reserves for the joint Kaladar Barrie Fire Department (KBFD) have been laid to rest.

The meeting was called at the request of North Frontenac (and Mayor Ron Higgins in particular) to address funding for the replacement of the Rescue 5 vehicle at an estimated cost of up to $315,000.

Both Councils agreed to approve budget submissions of $281,119 being added to the Vehicle/Equipment Reserve in 2017.

The Councils also approved an allocation of $110,000 ($55,000 per Township) for the next nine years (2018 to 2026), with the amount required to be reviewed on an annual basis when the KBFD Asset Management Plan Tangible Capital Asset Replacement Schedules are reviewed as part of the annual budget process.

The budget in general was also approved as presented in draft #2 permitting the KBFD to have all the equipment, personnel and training required to provide the core services as set by Councils in the establishing and regulating bylaw.

The Kaladar Barrie department is an anomaly in Ontario because it is managed by two different townships  in two different counties, but since the department pre-dates the municipal amalgamation process in 1998 and serves a single community on either side of Hwy. 41 it has persisted through successive councils for almost 20 years. Occasionally differences in the way North Frontenac and Addington Highlands run their townships has caused friction from time to time, however.

“North Frontenac has had concerns that the Joint Fire Committee (JFC) hasn’t put enough money away, but we’ve put in $281,000 to buy a rescue vehicle,” said Addington Highlands Reeve Henry Hogg.

“It’s something we have to do,” he said. “It means a tax increase but it has to be done.

“It’s as good as we can get. It’s always that way.”

“I think it went fairly smoothly,” said Addington Highlands Fire Chief Casey Cuddy of the meeting.

“Both Councils were brought up to speed.” Cuddy lives in North Frontenac but serves as Fire Chief for Addington Highlands and for the KBFD.

Higgins agreed.

“I feel good about how it’s gone,” Higgins said. “It’s comforting to me that Councils addressed errors in asset management.

“I just wanted assurance that Councils agreed.”

Councils also agreed to have the JFC review the agreements as required and to revisit the Tangible Assets Replacement Schedule in 2017 with respect to the options available.

Ontario suspends Large Renewable Procurement for renewable energy

In a startling about-face, the Ontario Ministry of Energy announced on Tuesday that the second round of the Large Renewable Energy Procurement (LRP) has been suspended.

In announcing that the LRP has been suspended, the Ministry of Energy said that Ontario has a secure supply of power to cover its needs for the next 10 years at least, and that the new projects, which were slated to bring 1,000 megawatts of power on stream, are not necessary.

On September 1, the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) released a study called the Ontario Planning Outlook, which analyses a variety of planning scenarios for Ontario's energy system.

“The IESO has advised that Ontario will benefit from a robust supply of electricity over the coming decade to meet projected demand,” the ministry said in a release on Tuesday announcing the suspension of the LRP.

“Consultations and engagements will begin this fall with consumers, businesses, energy stakeholders and Indigenous partners regarding the development of a new Long-Term Energy Plan, which is scheduled to be released in 2017. As part of this plan, Ontario remains committed to an affordable, clean and reliable electricity system, including renewables,” the release continued.

The announcement effects large solar, wind, hydro, bio and waste-generated energy projects.

“My biggest focus and fight is over,” said North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins in an email after the announcement.

Higgins has been an outspoken opponent of the LRP program. He has spent the last year working with his own council positioning itself to resist the possibility of a wind turbine project within its borders.

As well he has been organizing other municipalities in Ontario, mostly rural ones, to press for more municipal input into the site selection process for such projects.

He is scheduled to be a keynote speaker at a conference in Picton on October 24, where municipalities who oppose the projects in their jurisdictions were to meet and talk strategy.

He said on Tuesday that there is an opportunity for municipalities to engage in the new provincial process for developing a new long-term provincial energy program and the focus could be altered to that purpose.

However, the fight to block companies such as NextEra and RES Canada from building projects in North Frontenac and Addington Highlands is over, Higgins said.

“I'm really happy about that. I feel I can get back to the program that I set out when I was first elected two years ago, to promote Economic Development in North Frontenac,” he said.

Although he did not see Tuesday's announcement coming, Higgins has noticed a change in tone from the Ministry of Energy in recent weeks, and he commented on that change at a meeting of North Frontenac Council on Sept. 23.

“Over the past couple of weeks, even going back to late August, I have seen a shift in tone from the Ministry of Energy,” he said on Tuesday. “Until then they did not engage with me and all the correspondence I was sending to them resulted in form letters coming back. I have seen an openness to reassess, to listen to municipalities. I think, however, that losing a by-election in Mississauga two weeks ago was a wake-up call for the Wynne government and that's the immediate cause of this.”

Still, Higgins does not downplay the role that municipalities played over the last 15 months.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the resolution we passed in North Frontenac last year, which was endorsed by 115 municipalities, put a lot of pressure on the Wynne government,” he said.

For their part BEARAT (Bon Echo Area Residents Against Turbines) were quick to applaud the decision and to heap praise on Higgins.

"I want to sincerely thank Mayor Higgins and the North Frontenac Council for their leadership on this issue and encouraging more than 115 municipalities to pass motions calling for projects not to proceed in communities where local support does not exist," said Dan Carruthers, Co-Chair of BEARAT. "We see this cancellation as the first step toward the government recognizing the role local democracy should play in future energy decisions." 

Opponents are breathing sigh of relief, and the township of Addington Highlands is no longer in line for $10 million infusion of money over 20 years. All  three wind proposals in Addington Highlands and North Frontenac failed to secure contracts under the Large Renewable Procurement (LRP) for Renewable Energy Projects, the Independent Electricity Systems Operator announced this morning. As well, all of the solar proposals in South Frontenac failed as well. Two wind projects in Eastern Ontario did succeed, however, including a 32 MW project in the Muinicipality of The NAtion near Ottawa, and a 100 mw project in North Stormont. Al arge Solar farm in Stone Mills, 54 mw, also made the cut. We are seeking commetn from the proponents in the region to see if they are planning to bid in round 2 of the LRP

Here is a link to the list of projects that received contracts.

http://www.ieso.ca/Documents/generation-procurement/lrp/lrp-1-final/LRP-I-RFP-Selected-Proponents-List.pdf

For the past 4 years Northbrook ambulance service received back up assistance during its day shift from the Denbigh ambulance service. Denbigh ambulance was moved to Northbrook base when Northbrook was on a call. That is, Northbrook was receiving ambulance service from 2 ambulances.

This will no longer happen if recommendations presented to L & A County Council on January 11, 2016 by L & A Chief of Emergency Services, Mark Schjerning, are put into operation (L&A County staff call for closure of Denbigh ambulance service, Jan 14/16). The 12/7 daytime service at Denbigh will no longer exist. The Denbigh ambulance will be transferred to Loyalist service to make Loyalist a 24/7 full time service.

This means that Northbrook service will have one ambulance 24/7 with no back up. It also means that Northbrook ambulance service will need to do an additional 190 daytime calls that the previous Denbigh service did each year. That involves 1/2 hour to get to Denbigh, plus 1/2 hour to return to Northbrook, plus the time required to complete each call by going to a hospital in Renfrew, Bancroft or sometimes Napanee. A call where the patient is taken to Renfrew would likely involve the Northbrook ambulance being away from Northbrook for 3 - 4 hours.

Under this proposed arrangement the closest ambulance service in L & A County to Northbrook service will be Napanee ambulance service. A second call for ambulance service in Northbrook's service area would need to be done by Napanee ambulance service. For the patient involved that means 35 - 45 minutes wait for the ambulance to come from Napanee to Northbrook and another 35 - 45 minutes to return to Napanee hospital. A call from areas beyond Northbrook would increase the response time and combined return time to Napanee hospital by 2 minutes for every mile beyond Northbrook.

Calls from or beyond Vennachar Junction on #41 highway would in all probability require that the patient be taken to Renfrew hospital or Bancroft hospital if the patient's condition or injuries were life threatening. Ambulance dispatchers are required by regulations to have the patient delivered to the closest hospital in life-threatening situations. For an ambulance from Napanee to deliver a patient to Renfrew and return to Napanee would require 4 - 5 hours.

This information is presented to show some of the ramifications of Chief Schjerning's recommendations. Our L&A County Council needs your input by whatever form best suits your situation. Addington Highlands' Reeve Henry Hogg and Deputy Reeve Helen Yanch need your support to help them resolve this issue.

It started as a conversation about how to deliver services to Norcan Lake, a waterfront sub-division located in North Frontenac that is accessible only from the Township of Greater Madawaska. It has morphed into a new organisation called the Rural Mayors' Forum of Eastern Ontario.

North Frontenac mayor, Ron Higgins, and Municipality of Greater Madawaska mayor, Glenda McKay, talked in the spring about the Norcan Lake issues, which they were not able to resolve, but while they were talking they quickly saw that the two municipalities had other issues in common. They then talked in general about shared services. The two met at the Eastern Ontario Municipal Conference, and their conversations led to an informal meeting of politicians from a number of small municipalities located north of Highway 7 one evening at the conference.

“We realised that we had issues that were different from the larger, less isolated municipalities and decided it was an idea to hold a meeting,” said Higgins.

A meeting in October in Madawaska Highlands was followed by one in North Frontenac in November and a third meeting this past Sunday in Maynooth, Hastings County.

At this time, the group has decided there are enough common issues to be dealt with that it makes sense for them to establish the Rural Mayors' Forum of Eastern Ontario (RMFEO), which they have done this week.

A press release was released by Ron Higgins on behalf of RMFEO. It says that the 13 member municipalities “have crafted a mission, vision and objectives. Its specific mission is to identify opportunities for collaboration to improve operational effectiveness and long-term sustainability, with a vision to work closely with stakeholders to coordinate common goals. Over the coming months a strategy will be put in place to communicate and work with other organizations and government bodies.”

The first issue that will be addressed by the group is the billing model for policing services that are provided by the Ontario Provincial Police.

“We have found some flaws in the model and will be doing some more research into the model for our next meeting,” said Higgins.

Three of the mayors, all from municipalities in Renfrew County, will be working over the Christmas holidays to complete that research. Once a report is considered at the next RMFEO meeting, a decision will be made as to how to use the report to try and effect a change in the model so that it is less of a burden on municipalities that do not contain a larger population centre.

Other issues that are being looked at include broadband service in isolated locations and the approval process under the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund.

“One of our members was refused funding under that program on the grounds that they had a very robust asset management plan in place and could finance the project using loans. We all were told to put good asset management plans in order to be eligible for grants. We are going to look into the possibility that smaller municipalities are losing out in the way these grants are handed out,” said Higgins.

Over the coming months, RMFEO will be publicizing its strategy and seeking out other partners throughout Ontario to initiate collaborative discussions aimed at ensuring that small rural communities in Eastern Ontario and elsewhere have favourable and equitable representation.

The member municipalities of RMFEO include: Addington Highlands, Bruedenell, Lyndoch and Raglan, Central Frontenac, Greater Madawaska, Hastings Highlands, Horton, Lanark Highlands, Madawaska Valley, McNab/Braeside, Mississippi Mills, and North Frontenac.

The companies that have proposed wind projects in Addington Highlands and North Frontenac, and solar projects in South Frontenac will have to wait until early spring to find out if the Independent Electricity Service Operator (IESO) has accepted their bids under the Large Renewable Procurement (LRP) process for renewable energy projects.

A statement on the IESO website says that the delay has come about because of the unprecedented response to the LRP.

“Based on the high volume of proposals received in response to the LRP I RFP (103) and complexity of the evaluation process, the target date for the completion of the evaluation of proposals described in the Timetable has been extended to March 2016,” is the message that was posted on the site on November 20.

The original timetable for the announcement of the winning bids was set for November or December.

The wind projects have been controversial, sparking the establishment of a group called BEARAT (Bon Echo Area Ratepayers Against Turbines), and at least one of the solar projects, Collins Lake, which is located on Perth Road just south of Inverary, is also controversial.

South Frontenac Township Council has come out against the Collins Lake solar project, but they have supported other projects in the township. North Frontenac Township Council is also opposing the NorthPoint 1 wind turbine project, being developed by NextEra within their boundaries.

Addington Highlands Council has come out in favour of the NorthPoint 2 wind project of NextEra and the Denbigh wind project, which has been developed by Renewable Energy Systems of Canada.

In the last few weeks, there have been several stories centered around the wind energy proposal our company, NextEra Energy Canada submitted into Ontario’s Request for Proposal for Large Renewable Energy Projects (RFP | LRP). While we certainly understand that the proposal of a large, new project in a community will foster debate, it is important that this debate be undertaken using facts.

BEARAT and their public relations consultant John Laforet have continuously shown a pattern of ignoring several important facts. The first is a complaint issued to the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the community vibrancy fund agreement we entered into with the Township of Addington Highlands. This, and all other similar agreements we have entered into with other municipalities, have been thoroughly reviewed and approved by each municipality’s respective legal counsel as well as ours. In short, these are perfectly legal documents that are compliant with U.S. and Canadian laws.

Mr. Laforet later states that we ran afoul of the Independent Electricity System Operator’s (IESO) prohibited communications rules when negotiating, or attempting to negotiate, a community vibrancy agreement with municipal governments and that such agreements are new to the Province. Neither statement could be further from the truth. The IESO encourages proponents to meet and discuss proposed projects with local municipalities. In fact, the IESO prioritized projects that had entered into agreements with municipalities. Mr. Laforet’s assertion that these agreements are “not legal” in Ontario is simply not accurate.

While we have not been provided with a copy of either of their complaints to the IESO or the Department of Justice, we are confident that our actions are entirely within the bounds of law and the rules of the IESO’s procurement and will stand up to any scrutiny. To imply otherwise is disingenuous.

In last Thursday’s (Oct 1) article, Mr. Laforet makes a variety of inaccurate assertions. He suggests that our original Northpoint II Wind proposal spanned two townships and identified two grid connection points, and that our ultimate submission to the IESO was smaller. While it is true that our proposed project boundary shrunk from our initial proposal, Mr. Laforet is incorrect in noting that this is somehow in contravention of the IESO’s rules. Quite the contrary, the IESO’s rules specifically allow for proponents to reduce the size and scope of the project during the pre-bid process.

We understand that a community will discuss and debate projects like our proposed Northpoint I and Northpoint II wind projects, but it’s important that these discussions are fact based.

Ben Greenhouse

Executive Director, NextEra Energy Canada