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Wednesday, 29 May 2019 13:45

Three Pitches Three Chords in Inverary

Kim Allan loves music and baseball and she likes a good party as well.

She owns the Little Texas Roadhouse Bar and Grill on Days Road in Kingston. She lives in between Sydenham and Inverary with her husband and three children, and they all play ball at the Keeley Road Park and at Ken Garrett Park in Inverary.

“Ken Garrett Park desperately needs new washrooms and septic improvements. And I realised that only a fundraising campaign could raise the kind of money that is needed to make this happen, but the Inverary Youth Group who run the park are all volunteers, and no one has the time to raise that kind of money. I don’t either but I do love ball tournaments and outdoor festivals, so here we are,” Kim Allan said, in a phone interview early this week.

This weekend at Ken Garrett Park there will be a ball tournament on Saturday for pick up teams and another one on Sunday for league teams, like many other weekends during the summer. But unlike any other weekend, there will also be a music festival, at the other end of the park at the small diamond.

The event, which is called the Three Pitch, Three Chords Spring Fling is bringing together a host of bands who play at the Little Texas Grill for a two-day festival of country and rock music in the park.

The bands are all playing for free, and the sound system and staffing has been donated by Little Texas, so all of the $35 weekend pass revenue is going to the washroom renovation project.

Saturday is country day at the festival. Saturday performers include: Courtney Kane and June Nixion, A Night with Elvis, the White Brothers, Chelsea Road, Pickett Fences, Porch Pilots, Clem Chesterfield, Old Habits, Lane Duke, and Hicktown. The music runs from 11am -8pm on Saturday.

The Sunday concert, which also starts at 11am but ends at 5pm, features: Texas Tuxedo, Jordy Jackson Band, Ice Gods, Rudy & Saddle Up, Knuckel Hed, Hicktown, and Richard Cranium.

In addition to the music, the park is licensed for the weekend and beer will be available for purchase, there will be a kids zone, vendors, three food trucks and a portable ATM machine available as well.

“The volunteers have been working hard this week to make sure the grass is cut and the park is completely clean. It’s been a lot of running around and getting things organised, but the response so far has been excellent. We have sold a lot of tickets at the bar, and we hope people will come out and buy tickets at the gate. Most music festivals cost at least $35 for the day so the price is right and all the money is going to the cause,” she said.

For information or advanced tickets go to Ticketscene.ca and type in Inverary 3 Chords. Tickets will also be available at the gate.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

EORN (the Eastern Ontario Regional Network) has secured the last piece of funding it needs to set up its newest project. A $71 million commitment from the Province of Ontario, paired with a $10 million commitment from local municipalities, leaves only a federal government commitment of another $71 million still to come.

A request for proposal for private sector partners to invest the remaining $61 million for the $213 million project to get underway.

The Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) has designated both mobile (cell service) and fixed broadband (high speed internet) as a basic service for all Canadians.

The EORN project is designed to fill some specific service gaps in Eastern Ontario that would not be filled otherwise by the private sector because of what it calls “market failure”, not enough revenue for companies to justify large capital investments to serve too few customers in rural areas.

Currently 40% of the area does not have access to high definition internet services, 20% of the area does not have access to standard definition internet services, and 10% of the are has no voice call (cell) service at all.

This new project has, as its goal, 99% voice call cell service, 95% coverage for standard definition internet service, and 85% high speed internet service. In addition EORN intends to invest $34 million in increased capacity (5G) network enhancements in high density, high usage areas.

EORN is a not for profit corporation created by the Eastern Ontario Warden’s caucus to help improve internet service in 12 eastern Ontario counties and the City of Kawartha Lakes. To date it has been responsible for bringing more than $300 million in high speed infrastructure to the region.

Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith is one of 9 board members who oversee EORN operations.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 01 May 2019 11:25

New Playground for NAEC 

On Friday, April 26, 2019, students and staff at North Addington Education Centre gathered around for the unveiling of the new playground, donated and installed by The Township of North Frontenac. Principal Bonham-Carter as he gave a speech expressing NAEC's gratitude towards everyone that helped make it happen, especially the Parent Council and Mrs Salmond (the former principal), joined by Mayor Ron Higgins and Deputy Mayor Fred Perry. Once the ribbon to the playground was cut, students of all ages surrounded the structure with excitement. Caitlyn, a grade five student at NAEC exclaimed, "I love it! This is so awesome and I am really excited to play on it!"

Corey Klatt, Manager of Community Development at North Frontenac explained in an interview how the project all started. The Township was originally planning to install a new playground in Cloyne at the Ball Diamond and Tennis Court facility, but when the council heard that NAEC did not have one at the school for younger students, they arranged to install one there instead. "It was discussed that a playground would be well used at the school and well maintained," he said. As a closing remark when asked how he felt about the success of the project, Mr. Klatt said, "It felt excellent to see the students so excited about the playground today and we are pleased that everyone will be able to enjoy it for years to come."

The playground is a big hit among the students and staff of NAEC, and the generosity of The Township of North Frontenac is greatly appreciated by all.

Published in NORTH FRONTENAC

“No septic re-inspection program for Central Frontenac,” was Mayor Frances Smith’s comment following the vote at Tuesday’s regular meeting in which a proposal to accept the septic re-inspection committee’s report and direct staff to begin work on a draft bylaw to begin mandatory inspections was defeated 5-3.
The Mayor, Councillor Bill MacDonald and committee chair Councillor Victor Heese voted in favour of the proposal. Deputy Mayor Brent Cameron, Councillors Phillip Smith, Jamie Riddell, Sherry Whan and Tom Dewey voted against. Cindy Kelsey was absent from the meeting.
Cameron, Riddell, Whan and Phillip Smith voted for an earlier proposal that would have resulted in a phased-in approach, whereby lakefront properties would have been subject to mandatory inspection with other properties being phased in after five years, but that amendment was defeated in a 4-4 vote (ties result in a defeated motion in municipal council meetings).

In fact, all members of Council expressed support for some measure of septic system attention but the devil being in the details, the committee’s report involved several deal breakers.
Cameron, arguably the most outspoken opponent to the proposal, reiterated his concerns that the plan was likely to create financial hardships for those least capable of dealing with them, and would likely leave the township holding the bag for costs in the end.

“My concern is financial,” Cameron said. “Look at the number of people who use the Food Bank and government assistance programs for things like Hydro.
“There are a lot of people for whom this would be an onerous burden and if they can’t fix it, the Township will step in and fix it for them.
“And the people doing the work won’t do it for free and then we’ll have to chase the money.”
“My concern is people walking away from their homes,” said Phillip Smith. “I also have concerns with numbers.”
“South Frontenac had information that this would take a full-time person to administer.”

Riddell was also concerned with administration wanting to see conservation authorities and/or the health unit involved to a much greater extent.
Dewey said “I think a lot of tweaking needs to happen to this (potential) bylaw.”
MacDonald though was fine with proposal.

“We’ve chewed on this rag a long time,” he said. “It’s time to act.
“I look at my septic system the same way I look at my furnace or my roof.
“It’s my responsibility to make sure it’s in good working order.”

Before the discussion, Sharbot Lake Property Owners Association webmaster Bill Wilson presented a petition to Council with 353 names in favour of the proposal. He said of that number, 274 can vote in Central Frontenac elections and “the vast number are lakefront owners.”

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

A lot of people who live in rural areas value their privacy. For those living on lakes, privacy is hard to come by. That view of the water brings a view of other people with it. There are next door neighbours, across the bay neighbours, and boaters and fishers buzzing along the lake whenever they want to.
The attitude of lakefront property owners, and this is played out in planning applications throughout Frontenac County all the time, is basically “last one in bar the door”.

This is not irrational, it is not wrongheaded of people. It is in fact clear-headed. The moment someone buys a piece of waterfront property, whatever they see and hear when they walk out their door on the first sunny morning, is exactly what they have purchased and what they expect to enjoy. Any change is not in their interest.

Now, being realists people know they can not oppose others from buying and selling property and building according to a set of rules that are reasonable for all. One new cottage on a legally constituted lot on a lake, built according to zoning bylaw standards, will not ruin a lake, but a hundred built in a poorly designed subdivision or land use condominium just might.

The role of local township officials is to work with developers in order to make sure that before any proposal that makes it to the stage where it will face public scrutiny it is in a state where a path forward for approving it is there. There may be further changes required, there may be further studies to be done, but everything should be clear, both to the developer and to the public. And there are lots of complicating factors when it comes to balancing out environmental interests for clean water and a robust, diverse watershed with development pressures.

A couple of weeks ago, proponents of a plan of condominium on Loughborough Lake in South Frontenac found out that their proposal, which has been in the works for at least a couple of years, has been put on hold. The reason is that the township planners took a boat ride near the shoreline where the new development was to be located and measured the depth of the water, finding that it is a shallow water body and different rules will have to apply.

Over in North Frontenac the impact of a spawning bed, as well as a shallow shoreline, will surely be felt by proponents of a plan of subdivision on Ardoch Lake. In the case of Ardoch Lake there is an organized opposition to the development, willing to fund their own studies.
The system for evaluating these proposals, is becoming, at least in theory, more consistent and transparent. Township and county planning staff need to work together in a co-ordincated way because township zoning and site plans as well as county planning approvals are always required in every case.

The decision to form a county planning committee, and to include each of the township Mayor’s on that committee, is already beginning to pay off because the committee has political authority. This is in our collective interest because although some of us are lukewarm at best to the idea of development, we cannot thrive as communities without growth. South Frontenac just lost their new manager of development services after 6 months, just when the impact of that position was starting to be felt, which is unfortunate but progress has been made and that should continue.

When it comes down to it, we are all NIMBY’s and why shouldn’t we be.

We all enjoy our properties the way they are. The political system is all about mediating between the NIMBY impulse and a need for growth and the need to be a fair jurisdiction for investment even if there are stringent rules to follow. We also must ensure that environmental regulations are in place both at the time when planning is taking place, and through enforcement later on.

It will never be simple or easy in rural areas and particular on the water but it can be a fair process, although it takes time for the process to be followed and provincial regulations need to be changed to reflect that.
There will always be winners and losers in any planning process on the water. There will be anger and controversy along the way. The trick is to allow for development and protect the lakes and the life that they support in their waters and on their shorelines.

Published in Editorials
With the participation of the Government of Canada