Annual Waste Site Review
Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth introduced Stephanie Reader of the engineering firm Cambium, who submitted the annual review of the Township’s waste disposal sites, both active and closed.

The five active sites (Portland, Loughborough, Bradshaw, Salem and Green Bay) are all operating well, although Portland, formerly struggling to comply with Ministry of Environment requirements, was the only one that did not have some recommendations for improvement. Five more former landfill sites are still being monitored, and all are considered in good condition.

At the current rate of fill, not counting Storrington’s waste which is trucked out of the Township, the combined site life of South Frontenac’s landfills is nineteen years, unchanged from last year

Assumption of Portion of Keir Road
Forbes Symon brought a recommendation that the Township assume a 76 metre length of Keir Road (close to the Applewood development) once the prospective owner constructs it to Township standards.

Councillor Sutherland objected, on the grounds that the Township still had no written policy to address requests to assume unmaintained roads. Segsworth, confirmed that there was an “unwritten agreement” that once a property had upgraded a road allowance to Township standards, the owner should bring the question of ongoing maintenance to Council. All other Council members agreed that this request should come to a Council meeting for approval.

2017 Assessment Update
Bev Disney, Account Manager for the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), an independent not-for-profit corporation funded by Ontario’s municipalities, reported to Council on her agency’s role in assessing the values of all properties in Ontario. Municipal governments then use these assessments to determine property taxes. Ontario  properties are reevaluated every four years: the most recent evaluation, done in 2016, will be used for the tax years 2017-2020.

Disney noted that any given property’s value is determined by comparing prices paid for comparable properties in the same district. Residential properties get their property assessment notices from MPAC between April and August; farm and business notices go out in October. These notices should be carefully reviewed for accuracy. They also have contact information for further help in interpreting the notice, and, if necessary, for filing a request for reconsideration.

The website aboutmyproperty.ca provides even more information about your local property values and market trends, gives details on how your property was assessed, and an interactive map allows you to view up to 100 other area properties considered to be of similar value.

Nice Try, but No Cigar…
Treasurer Fragnito’s yearly report on the financial status of the township showed that South Frontenac theoretically could borrow almost $60 million at the rate of 5% for 20 years.

Councillor Sleeth said, “Since our frugal mayor is away (in Alberta tonight), I’d like to propose we construct an Olympic swimming pool in South Frontenac.” After a few seconds of hopeful or horrified silence around the table, acting Deputy Mayor Roberts quickly said that he was just as frugal as the mayor, possibly more so, and the moment passed.

Morgan Cowdy (14) and Austin Barker (8) are the bus monitors on a Martin’s bus that takes them to Land O’Lakes Public School (LOLPS) each day. On Monday (March 27) the bus was running late because of icy roads. It was almost at the end of the route at 8:30 in the morning when it crossed over Hwy 7 from the Frontenac Road to go  a short way up the Bell Line Road to pick up the last of its students before turning back and heading to the school.

As the bus was heading up a hill it hit glare ice and began to slide sideways and it eventually came to a stop, blocking the entire road. The driver, Joe Borg, told the two monitors to make sure everyone stayed in their seats, as he got off the bus to put out flares on the road to warn oncoming traffic about the hazard.

“Then he fell pretty hard on the ice,” said Morgan Cowdy when interviewed the next day.

It was clear that Borg was injured, as he did not move right away after falling, and then was struggling to get back to the bus.

“Morgan said she was going to help him get back and asked me to watch the kids on the bus and make sure no one came to the front,” said Austin Barker.

So, even though bus monitors are told not to leave the bus, Morgan Cowdy got off the bus to see if the driver needed assistance.

“I didn’t go far, because we are not supposed to leave the bus but he was looking pretty shaky,” she said.

In the end Joe Borg made it back to the bus on his own.

“Joe sat in the driver’s seat at first and then he  sat down on the floor because he was dizzy. He told us to use the radio to call for help, and I asked Austin to make the call because I was so nervous,” said Morgan.

Austin called the bus company on the radio, and was trying to explain what was going on, when he noticed a Central Frontenac sand truck headed towards them from the other end of the road. Morgan called her father, who works for the township roads department as well, and her father called the sand truck operator on the Bell Line Road just as he was reaching the bus and he was the first one to arrive and offer assistance.

“He asked Joe if he wanted to lay down, but he said he didn’t and he stayed there, leaning on my leg to keep his balance,” said Morgan

By now the school and emergency services had been notified, and Austin went over to help the rest of the kids on the bus, some of whom were visibly upset.

Emily Yanch, Principal of LOLPS, was the next on the scene,  followed by a backup driver.

“The kids had done a great job already and I did what I could. I don’t know how the bus even made it that far up that hill because it was glare ice. My car barely made it.

The ambulance arrived and made it to the scene. Joe Borg was taken to Perth hospital and was then transferred to Smiths Falls for a scan. He was released later but reportedly then returned to the hospital later on. There was no further word on his condition as of Tuesday afternoon.

“Two of the kids on the bus were crying because they were scared,” said Austin.

“We went to them and held them a bit, and they were ok after that,” said Morgan.

The students ended up staying on the bus, which did not turn around but traveled to the far end of Bell Line road where it meets Road 509, before taking 509 south and then Hwy 7 west from Sharbot Lake to Mountain Grove, not reaching the school until 10:10.

Morgan said she was feeling a bit “weird” for the rest of the day, and on the bus ride home. She said she was feeling better the next day, “but I am worried about how Joe is doing,” she said.

Austin also said he was worried about Joe.

“The kids came through, they did an amazing job yesterday. Some kids would not have the where with all to do what they did,” said Principal Yanch.

Cathy Borg, Joe’s wife, said that he is suffering from a severe concussion and deep bruising. She said that the children did very well on Monday to help him out, but that the accident should never have happened because the township should have ordered their road crews out before the buses were on the road.

“I hold the township responsible for this. Joe drives up and down the Frontenac Road and the Bell Line Road every day and we have asked many times this winter for crews to sand and salt and clear the roads before the bus goes out and they haven’t done it.”

She said that the road crew that came to help out after Joe fell should not have been sanding the road at 8:30, but should have been there a couple of hours earlier.

“It’s pretty basic to sand the roads before the school bus comes. We are lucky that none of the children were injured. I don’t know what Joe is going to do. He is pretty badly injured. Who knows when he will drive again,” she said. “It is time the township did something about this. The have been told about it again and again and now this happened. They are at fault.”

South Frontenac Council gave the approval to have drawings made up and call for tenders on the new Perth Road Firehall at its regular meeting Tuesday night in Sydenham.

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth told Council that the architect’s estimate to build the structure was $1.4 million but added: “I’ve talked to a couple of local contractors who say they can do it for less.

“My own feeling is that when it goes out to tender, it won’t be that much.”

As the design now sits, it includes three in-and-out bays, and a meeting room for 30 people. Segsworth said he’d like to see an accessible washroom added to the design because firehalls tend to get used for public meetings and gatherings.

There were those on Council, like Coun. Alan Revill, who advocated for sending the design back to committee to see what could be cut out.

“It’s far more cost-effective to look at cost cutting measures at this stage rather than after it goes to tender,” he said.

Coun. John McDougall also preferred taking another look.

“I think it’s unlikely local contractors would come in $.4 million less,” he said.

Some, like Coun. Ron Sleeth just wanted to get the price down.

“Are we setting a precedent here spending so much on a hall that doesn’t get as many calls as busier ones like Sydenham?” Sleeth said.

But much of Council was ready to put it out to tender and see what happens.

Mayor Ron Vandewal reminded Council that they had gone to look at firehalls that came in under $1 million.

“I’m not comfortable with anything over $1 million,” Vandewal said. “And I don’t think it will go over that.”

“There’s not a lot out there right now for local contractors to bid on,” said Dep. Mayor Norm Roberts. “And I don’t want to go over $1 million either.”

Flags ordered
After much debate, and the revelation that the Mayor isn’t crazy about the colour blue, Council opted to order 10 flags with the South Frontenac logo on a field of white.

The proposed alternative was the blue bars and cattails on a field of blue that was specifically assigned to the Township by Canada’s official herald.

Cost of the 10 flags is $893.93. They will be displayed at various open houses, luncheons, parades, festivals, fire halls and garages.

Road sealing - in house?
During the process of getting $70,000 approved for road sealing, the inevitable question of “why can’t we do this in-house?” came up.

Based on a price increase, Coun. Ross Sutherland said “words like collusion and gouging come to mind.

“I’m not saying that’s what’s happening but we can’t continue with these price increases and maintain our budget.”

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth said “it’s largely a matter of expertise and capacity.

“The contractors that do this work have the expensive equipment it takes and can order hotpatch in volumes we can’t.”

Segsworth said if the Township could order on the scale that “some of our upper tier neighbours do” then they could probably see better prices as well.

(Subsequent to the posting of the article beneath, Central Frontenac Council cut another $80,000 from the budget. The final budget levy to ratepayers is $7.45 million, an increase of 4.1% over 2016. Because total property assessment in the the township dropped by 0.8% last year, the tax rate itself is up by 4.3%. During their deliberations, Central Frontenac Council cut a total of $311,000 from the levy tahta was initalliy proposed to them by staff, through cost cutting and dipping into reserve funds)

Members of Central Frontenac Council huddled with Treasurer Michael McGovern after their regular council meeting late on Tuesday afternoon to go over the last few departmental budgets in search of some savings.

Before they started, McGovern presented them with an amended budget that included enough cuts to bring the total tax rate increase down from 6.2%, which is where it was a week ago, to 5.1%. The tax rate for township purposes, had dropped from an increase of 7.9% to 6.3%. (see note below)

In order to bring the rate down, McGovern was recommending cuts of $56,000 from budget lines in the  waste disposal budget, $15,000 from spending on the asset management program, $14,000 from grants for recreation, $25,000 from salaries, $10,000 from the culvert replacement program, and a number of smaller cuts. In total, the budget Council was looking at this week was over $230,000 lower than the one they were working from a week ago.

Mayor Frances Smith had set the target of a 4% increase after the previous meeting, a tall order considering all of the major departmental budgets have already been combed through, leaving only development services, cemeteries and the swim program for Council to go through this week.

Updated budget numbers as the result of Tuesday evening’s deliberation can be found at Frontenacnews.ca

(budget note – Central Frontenac collects taxes for their own spending and transfer obligations, but also collects money that goes to Frontenac County and the Ministry of Education. The township amount is the largest (70.5%) compared to Frontenac County (14.2%) and The Ministry of Education (15.3%)

This year, the amount being charged by Frontenac County to Central Frontenac is up by 5%, while the Ministry of Education rate remains as it was last year, a 0% increase. Because all these numbers are combined, the local increase of 6.3% results in an increase in the total tax collected of 5.1%)

Other items from Central Frontenac Council

New MVCA regulations to have little impact, planner says
Planner Reid Shepherd presented a report to Council on the implications of a proposal by the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) to begin regulating development near all designated wetlands in the Mississippi River watershed. The MVCA is one of three conservation authorities that have responsibility for parts of Central Frontenac. The other two, Quinte and Rideau Valley, already regulate wetlands. As well, as Shepherd pointed out, Central Frontenac already has its rules in its own official plan about setbacks from designated wetlands, so the impact of a new role for the MVCA “will likely be small” he said.

Shepherd added that development pressures on wetlands in the township are minimal.

“Most of the development in Central Frontenac is on the shores of lakes,” he said, pointing out that “for the six years encompassing 2011–2016, only 10 applications were submitted for development within 30 metres of wetlands throughout Central Frontenac, and only 2 applications were filed within the boundaries of the MVCA.”

A map that was included in Shepherd’s presentation, showed a large number of green shaded areas that could be included under new regulation, but he said more study on the ground will be needed to determine where wetlands are actually located.

For planning purposes, wetlands must be over 1 hectare in size and must be fed by and drain into another water body.
Councillor Bill Macdonald, who is the Central Frontenac representative on the MVCA Board, said that “other townships, including our neighbours in Tay Valley and North Frontenac, have passed resolutions opposing this, but really the MVCA is just doing what every other Conservation Authority already does, and the implications for Central Frontenac are very minimal if there are any at all.”

In the end the township received Shepherd’s report for information. No resolution opposing the change was passed, or even contemplated.

(Note – Mayor Frances Smith informed Council that Reid Shepherd will be leaving Frontenac County to take a job in Ottawa for a consulting firm. Shepherd has been working as community planner for Frontenac County and has been doing much of the work in Central Frontenac as part of a contract the township has with Frontenac County for planning services.)

Culvert replacement and sand stockpiles under pressure
Interim Public Works Manager Mike Richardson reported that the work on replacing a culvert on 4th Lake Road has been hampered by the weather and other complications. He is hopeful the plan for replacement will not need to be changed or that any delays will occur, and said he would know more by the end of the week.

The sand stockpiles have been depleted due to the amount of freezing of rain that has occurred, culminating in a large freezing rain event on February 7 and 8. Richardson said the next three weeks will tell if more sand needs to be sourced.
Waste amnesty dates approved

Richardson recommended and council approved that the waste amnesty (1 trailer load per household per year) should take place within the regular waste hours throughout the summer, rather than during a small waste amnesty window. The waste amnesty program this year will extend from May 13 to September 10.

Strategic plan
After an eight month process, Council approved the first Strategic Plan for Central Frontenac. The plan includes 6 focus areas: asset management; environmental services; good governance & effective administration; health, recreation, culture & lifestyle; infrastructure; and the protection and health of the natural environment. 

Cemetery benches in Mountain Grove
John Purdon, appearing on behalf of Judy Gray, asked for township to approve spending of up to $9,000 for 3 granite benches, one for each of the cemeteries in Mountain Grove. The money for the benches has been raised in Mountain Grove during annual cemetery services in the summer.

As Purdon pointed out, “this is a budget matter but it does not involve tax dollars as we have raised all the money, and we have almost $10,000 put aside.”

Council approved the plan as presented.

Central Frontenac Council held a short in camera session at the end of their regular meeting on Tuesday afternoon (January 24) and then emerged to pass a motion to enter into a contract with Bradley Thake.  After the motion passed Mayor Frances Smith announced that Brad Thake will begin work in the township on March 13. In a release accompanying the hiring, Smith said: “Mr. Thake has many years of supervisory experience in municipal/highway road maintenance. With his extensive road maintenance, contract management and public relations experience in both the private and municipal settings, he will be an asset to Central Frontenac. We look forward to welcoming Brad as an integral part of our administration.”

Mr. Thake is originally from the Westport area where the Thake family name is very well known.

Central Frontenac has been looking for a full time public works manager since early last summer. In the interim former Public Works Manager Mike Richardson has been working at the township on an part time basis. When Thake comes on Richardson will retire from the township for the third time. He helped out when his first replacement did not work out.

Road to close for emergency construction
Mike Richardson appeared before Council to present a report on plans to replace a large culvert. The culvert is located on Fourth Lake Road in the southwest portion of the township, in the vicinity of Wagarville, 5th Lake and Echo Lake roads. In order to do the work the road will need to be closed for 3 weeks, between February 6 and 27.

Richardson said that closure signs will go up this week in advance of the road closing so people who use the road regularly will have advance notice.

Oso dump to close in two years – closure plan coming into effect
With the Oso dump, which is located off Crow Lake Road, set to close in as little as two years, Richardson was contacted by the ministry to begin the work of putting together a closure plan.
A Ministry of the Environment and Climate change official met Richardson at the site on November 3 and requested that a written plan be submitted. Richardson said he communicated with the offical this week and it turns out the township has some time to complete a plan. The consulting company Golder will work in 2017 to put a closure plan in place.

Central Recreation committee resurrected.
Lesley Merrigan, chair of the District 3 (Oso) Recreation Committee submitted a grant application to the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation on behalf of Central Frontenac Recreation to purchase portable sporting equipment for residents of the township. Before submitting the grant she asked for input from the three other committees in order to come up with a preliminary list and used pricing from a Toronto based online sporting goods retailer The grant came through for $25,000, and in order to decide exactly what to buy, where to locate it and how to make it available to township residents, Council decided to resurrect a committee that has existed in name only for almost a decade. The Central Recreation Committee was set up in 2003 with a view towards establishing township wide recreation, but it was never effective and had not met for years as each of the 4 district committees have  carried on with their own activities. Council appointed Councillors Victor Heese and Bill MacDonald to the committee. Also invited to attend will be the four district committee chairs; Merrigan (Oso), Cory Thompson (Olden), Bob Teal (Hinchinbrooke), and Wanda Harrison (Kennebec). Mayor Smith will sit as an ex-officio member. The committee will meet to deal with the grant.

“Good luck to you” Councillor Riddell said to the two members of council who were named to the committee, in reference to the committees’ underwhelming history.

“This has been a difficult group to get together,” said Frances Smith, “but it is time.”

Fire department to deploy Narcan – Councillor Riddell announced that the Fire department will be adding Narcan to its tool kit for emergency first response. Narcan is the drug that is used for poeole suffering from overdoses of opioids, particularly Fentanyl and Carfentanil, which can be deadly even in minuscule doses.

Pigs on the beach
Council approved a proposal to bring the popular Victoria Day weekend Day of the Pig event to the Sharbot Lake beach this year. The event has until now been presented by Seed to Sausage at their facility on Road 38 near the Oconto cemetery, but the site is small and is adjacent to a major road. Mike McKenzie of Seed to Sausage will work with the Oso Rec Committee to co-ordinate the event at the new site and they will deal with logistical problems that may arise. It is not guaranteed that all the bureaucratic hurdles will be cleared to bring the event to a public space, but Council support was necessary to move it forward. The Day of the Pig draws food enthusiasts from as far away as Toronto and Ottawa and provides an opportunity for local specialty food producers to show off and sell their products.

“I say bring it on,” said Councillor Bill Macdonald. “This will be good for everyone.”

New chair of Arena Board
Deputy Mayor Brent Cameron announced that he has been replaced as the chair of the Frontenac Arena Board by Councillor Sherry Whan. Cameron remains on the board along with two members of South Frontenac Council.

It turns out the idea of combining the chief administrator and public works manager’s roles in Central Frontenac came from the individual who ended up filling both roles.

Both positions were advertised at the same time. Jim Zimmerman, who was at loose ends after losing his management position at the City of Belleville just after the new council had been sworn in, saw the ads and responded by sending a resume and a covering letter to Central Frontenac.

“I suggested to them that there might be some savings for them if the two positions were combined, and that it might make them more competitive as well,” said Zimmerman, from his new office in the Central Frontenac administrative building in Sharbot Lake. Since he has both Public Works, Public Administration, and private sector management backgrounds, Zimmerman's suggestion also created an opportunity for himself, although he said, “I understand there were a number of qualified candidates for the position when it came time to interview for the job.”

After selling his shares in his company, Integrated Central Solutions, a company that worked on retrofits and system management in buildings that were used by high tech firms in Ottawa, he took a job with the new City of Ottawa dealing with wastewater.

He then moved into senior municipal management, taking the public works manager job in Marathon. During his two years there he also filled in as CAO on occasion. A senior public works job in Innisville, south of Barrie, followed. He then worked as a consultant with AECOM engineering for a time, before deciding to come back into the municipal world with Belleville last May.

“In a lot of ways Central Frontenac is a similar township to Marathon. It's a similar size and has similar infrastructure. But there is a lot of opportunity here because Central Frontenac is not that far from a number of population centres. It can be promoted as an attractive place to set up home-based businesses,” he said.

He does not plan any immediate changes to the way the township operates. However, he said he will be looking at all the job descriptions to find out if they need updating and will also be developing standard operating procedures for the public works department.

“I don't know how everything here works yet, so the first thing to do is find out, and find out what needs improving and work with our staff to make those improvements.”

Central Frontenac Township is not a unionized environment and Zimmerman said there are considerable advantages to it staying that way.

“We need to make sure that staff are comfortable and that they clearly understand what management expects from them. At the end of the day you want people to be enthusiastic and committed to their work and you want to ensure they have a healthy work-life balance as well,” he said.

He is also enthusiastic about the growing collaboration between the Frontenac townships, and said he looks forward to continuing those efforts.

In terms of roads and road maintenance, which he realises is a major concern of ratepayers, he might be bringing in something that he has done elsewhere, the use of reclaimed asphalt to create what he calls “poor man's paving” for gravel roads.

“You can apply the material on the roads, and when it is compacted it bonds with the material in the road. It is then covered with a slurry. I've had success with that in the past. The best part is the materials are cheap, even free,” he said.

Annual Report: Sydenham Water Plant

Kevin Riley, water treatment plant manager, presented the 2013 annual report to Council. All of the contaminants tested for were below the maximum acceptable levels set by the Ministry of Health. The full report, which describes the water treatment process in detail, is available on the Township website. In reply to a query from Councillor York, Riley said that the plant would be able to operate more efficiently if all households in the village area were hooked up and using the water.

Cemetery Report

Louise Fragnito, Treasurer presented a year-end summary of amalgamated cemetery operations. On January 1, 2013, new rates were set for lot sales and interment charges; April 1st, centralized administration and sales were contracted out, and May 1st, new contracts began for grass cutting and maintenance. Considerably fewer lots were sold than anticipated, but there were more burials, especially cremations. The overall result was an operating deficit of $17,598. CAO Orr said that by the end of 2014, Council will be able to include cemetery costs in their budget discussions, based on a full year of amalgamation.

Winter Control Reserve

Fragnito reported on the winter control (ie; snow clearance, etc) reserve over the past five years. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, the Township contributed to the reserve, but in 2013 and 2014, they drew from it. The reserve continues to have sufficient funds to stabilize annual fluctuations, as it is based on a rolling five-year average of actual winter expenses.

Petworth Road Quarry

CAO Orr included copies of correspondence received from residents concerned about the proposed expansion of a stone quarry near their homes in the Petworth Road area. Councillor Stowe said that he felt it was important that the footprint, or ‘area of influence’ of the quarry be reduced, so that it would not prevent local landowners from developing their road-front properties.

Councillor McDougall brought a notice of motion that Council reiterate their opinion that the present area of influence is unfair, and needs to be adjusted.

Once the Ministry of Municipal Affairs has commented on the zone change application (from Rural to special Quarry “A”), the matter will return to Council for a final decision. (Orr reminded Council that in addition to the zoning change, an application has been made to the Ministry of Natural Resources for a licence to expand the quarry area under the Aggregate Resources Act.)

Question of Renaming Roads

In response to ongoing requests from Bedford resident Fred Bresee to rename two roads, Council directed CAO Orr not to open the issue. “Once you open the door, you may be flooded with similar requests,” said Bedford Councillor Stowe. Mayor Davison agreed, saying a name change would require all residents on the road to change their addresses on all personal documentation.

Welcome and Long Overdue Announcement! Councillor McDougall reported that County Council has declared: “The word ‘sustainability’ is used too much.”

Public Meeting re Portland Zone Changes

There were no public comments relating to an application to add additional commercial uses to the property in Harrowsmith where Gilmour’s Meats is located. This change would permit a prospective client to open a wood stove sales business in the plaza. Council approved the change later in the meeting.

Six neighbours expressed concerns about the expansion of a stone quarry that has been in operation on a property on the Petworth Road since the early 1970’s. This quarry is used to obtain naturally weathered limestone, and does not involve drilling, blasting or processing. All agreed that they have no complaints about the present operation, but asked, “What if the quarry were sold, and the new owner wanted to work the quarry more aggressively?” Some were not aware that the existing quarry was already approved for 20,000 tonnes, a much higher amount of rock than is actually extracted, but the basic amount permitted by the Ministry of Mines. There were concerns about noise, dust, lowered property values and increased traffic with resultant damage to roads.

Rachel Smith-Tryon, speaking on behalf of herself and her father, Don Smith, said that when she built her house she had to prove it would be outside the 150 metre ‘area of influence’ of the quarry before she could obtain a building permit. “Why,” she asked, “is it now ok for the area of influence of the extended quarry to include my home?” Planner Mills said that the rule worked only in one direction, and did not apply to a quarry extending close to private properties.

Council received the Planning Department report and its attachments, and will forward them, along with the residents’ letters and discussion from the public meeting to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for their review.

Letter re Needed Support for Seniors Housing

Following Councillor McDougall’s notice of motion, Council agreed to send a letter to Minister Jason Kenney, expressing the need for the federal government to work with the provinces and municipalities to fund long term social and affordable housing.

Sydenham Water Rates

Council passed a by-law to set the new water rates for Sydenham: as of June 1, the flat monthly rate for residences will be $45.23; industrial, commercial and institutional will go up to $65.01, and unexempted non-users will be charged $65.23. This will be increased January of each year.

Public Works Tenders

Council accepted the bid of Leonard Fuels Ltd ($542,323.) for the supply and delivery of the township’s diesel fuel and gasoline. This includes dealing with emergency situations, such as cleaning up spills, transfer from one location to another, and responding within a suitable timeframe.

Council approved, but not unanimously, the purchase of a municipal tractor with snowblower, power angling sweeper, and bloom flail for $146,247. Mayor Davison questioned whether the roads department had sufficient staff to provide someone to operate the machine to its full potential year round.

Exemption to Trailer By-law

Chief Building Official Brian Gass asked for an exemption to the trailer by-law which would permit a time-limited rental of two trailers to house a burned-out family of six until their home could be rebuilt. This had been requested by the owners' insurance company, so the family could continue to live in their children's school district. Council agreed: the insurance company will post the required $5,000 surety that the trailers will be removed once the house is completed.