L&A looking for new location for Denbigh ambulance base

Reeve Henry Hogg told members of Addington Highland's Council that Lennox and Addington County will be initiating a search for a location for a new ambulance base in Denbigh.

“That's the best news we've heard about ambulance service in Denbigh from them,” said Councilor Kirby Thompson.

“Are they serious about this?” asked Councilor Tony Fritsch.

“The [L&A County] Council is supportive of this,” said Hogg.

A report from Lennox and Addington Chief of Emergency Services, Mark Schjerning, was presented to a working meeting of L&A County Council on October 12. The report talked about setting up a process to find suitable land for new ambulances bases in Stone Mills and Loyalist townships by hiring the same consulting firm that was used to purchase the property where the Northbrook ambulance was built in 2013.

When a member of L&A Council asked at the October 12 meeting about what was happening with the Denbigh base, which is in a rental space and requires an upgrade in order for continued service at that location to be viable, it resulted in an ad-hoc debate over the future of the Denbigh service.

A motion to close the Denbigh base and cut the 12-hour a day service was proposed, and defeated. A subsequent motion to add Denbigh to the list of communities listed in the Schjerning report was approved by L&A Council in a unanimous vote.

“I think we should take a role in this,” said Councilor Tony Fritsch.

“It needs to be a location on a provincial highway, because there needs to be 24-hour road clearing, so along Highway 41 or 28 is what we are looking for,” said Hogg.

Council passed a motion encouraging Denbigh residents to come forward with suitable properties. Council members will also be working the phones to find a location and forward it to the consultants.

“This is our best chance to secure ambulance service for Denbigh for the future,” said Hogg, “so we need to jump on it.”

More support for Abundant Solar FIT projects

Council provided support for four more ground mount solar projects that Abundant Solar is planning to submit to the Independent Electricity Service Operator (IESO) for consideration in the FIT5 procurement process.

The projects would all be located on leased private land. Two of them are located in Ward 2 (former township of Abinger) and two in Ward 1 (former township of Kaladar)

Changes coming at waste sites

A number of proposals for changes to the operating procedures and fees at township waste sites came out of an October 6 meeting of the Roads, Bridges and Waste Committee.

Among them was a proposal to control access to waste sites, which council approved and will take effect on March 31, 2017.

Another proposal was to limit the dumping of construction materials to a single yard (1' x 4' x 8'). All other construction materials will have to be dumped at commercial sites outside of the township.

Council also decided that the offer of one free clear bag of waste for every bin of recycling is too generous and will be changing the offer to one free clear bag for every two bins of recycling. Paper products, including cardboard and newsprint, will no longer be included in the exchange for free clear bags.

Finally, overall tipping fees are changing as well. In addition to limiting construction waste to one yard for a $15 fee, $30 will be charged for spring mattresses, sofas and chairs, appliances, and carpets.

HVAC issues at Northbrook Medical Centre

When the township took ownership of the medical center in Northbrook in order to establish a family health team, they also took on two oil furnaces, a propane furnace, and the requirement for space heaters in back offices on the east side of the building and in the pharmacy.

“The building has had numerous additions over the years, leading to a pretty inefficient and complicated heating and cooling system,” said Councilor Tony Fritsch.

Robert Bosley of Bosley Heating and Cooling met with Fritsch at the medical center to look at what was there and he sent a letter outlining three options for the township to consider.

Option 2, which Bosley described as the “proper way to correct the issues here and be done properly”, would be to remove everything that is there and install a fully engineered brand-new heating and cooling system with new ducts. The price for that is “in excess of $200,000.”

Option 1 is to put in smaller systems for the east side of the building and the pharmacy at a cost of $60,000.

Option 3 is to put in “ductless split heat pump units to the areas that need heat in winter and cooling in summer.” He said six of these units would be required at a price of $5,000 each.

“With this kind of expense, this will have to go to our 2017 budget deliberations,” said Councilor Bill Cox.

Tony Fristch said that the two worst locations, the pharmacy and the east corner, need to be addressed more quickly.

“I don't know how they work there,” said Fritsch. “I think we need to deal with those right away. I propose we buy two of these units, for $10,000 and see how they work, and look at the rest of it for the budget.

Council agreed and passed a motion allocating $10,000 from reserves.

Meeting times to change

Reeve Hogg presented a Notice of Motion, to be dealt with on November 7, to change the meeting time for the second council meeting of the month, which is held in Denbigh, to 1 pm from the current time of 7 pm. This change would be in place from November until March, to cut down on long night drives during the winter months for staff who live away from the township.

The Township of Addington Highlands Council and AHEAD Committee (Addington Highlands Economic Advisors for Development) is pleased to announce that nominations are open for the annual Outstanding Volunteer award. As in 2015, an Outstanding Business will also be recognised. Both awards will be presented at the annual township Christmas party, to be held this year in Denbigh.

The Outstanding Volunteer Award is ‘to acknowledge any individual(s) who made a significant voluntary contribution to benefit our community in the areas of social or economic growth’.

The Outstanding Business Award is ‘to acknowledge an Addington Highlands business for continued business excellence while meeting the needs of residents and visitors.

Anyone can nominate a deserving volunteer and/or business; deadline is 4 pm, November 4, 2016. Nomination forms must be completed in writing.

Previous recipients for Outstanding Business include: Northbrook Foodland, Yourway Home Centre, Curtis Trailers and Hook’s Building Centre.

Previous recipients for Outstanding Volunteer include: Andy Anderson, Werner Lips, Carolyn Hasler, Margaret Axford, Roy Berndt, Gordon & Carolyn McCulloch, Gary & Ruby Malcolm, John Bolton and Ernie & Cathy Ballar. Nomination forms can be downloaded from www.addingtonhighlands.ca or obtained from the Township of Addington Highlands, 613-336-2286 email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In 2015, the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust (MMLT) was delighted to receive a donation of an additional 258 acres to its Rose Hill Nature Reserve north of Denbigh. On Saturday, August 6 there will be a dedication ceremony at 10:30am with the unveiling of a new plaque in honour of the families who donated this land. Following the ceremony, we will head out to explore the new Brodey Trail, which leads to a beautiful picnic spot at Fufflemucker Pond.

Rose Hill Nature Reserve lies within typical Canadian Shield country characterized by very hilly terrain of granite bedrock and frequent rock outcroppings. The reserve is densely forested except for one small area that was once the location of an old farm where you can still see remnants of an old stone foundation. On a rise beside the old farm stands a magnificent glacial erratic boulder. On the side of this boulder is a large bronze plaque commemorating two family members who died in a car accident after visiting the property back in 1979. The new plaque will also be mounted on the side of the great boulder in honour of the donors from the Armstrong, Brodey, Fincher, Hatton, and Nevers families.

Admission to the event is by $10 donation to the MMLT. Following the dedication ceremony, we’ll head over to the Brodey Trail, which is 458 meters one way and not difficult to traverse, but good walking shoes are advised. Visitors are invited to bring along a picnic lunch to enjoy at Fufflemucker Pond. After lunch there will be opportunities to explore other trails.

From Hwy 41, turn east onto Rose Hill Rd. for 3.4 km. Park at road side beside Rose Lake. Trail entrance is on west side of road, before parking area.

For more information about the Land Trust and this property, please visit mmlt.ca/protecting-nature/ourprotected-properties/rose-hill-nature-reserve/

The MMLT holds a deep conviction that nature offers numerous benefits that contribute to our physical, emotional and spiritual health. To that end, the Land Trust attempts, whenever possible, to allow public access to these properties so that the general public can enjoy their benefits.  

Letter from the Publisher

The summer season is a crucial part of the year for all the businesses that are the lifeblood of our communities. This week, I've been calling many of the business owners that we deal with on a regular basis to ask them for help.

There is a good possibility that this will be the last Frontenac News that readers will receive in their mailboxes for a while, as Canada Post and two of the bargaining units with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers are at an impasse in negotiating a contract.

As of this coming Saturday, July 2, the union will be in a legal strike position. What will result is anyone's guess. It could be a contract; the union may launch a strike; or Canada Post might lock them out.

We distribute 9214 copies of the Frontenac News through Canada Post each week, to the far corners of Frontenac County, Addington Highlands and western Lanark County. On some weeks, we distribute an extra 2920 papers to the Inverary and Perth Road regions. While this is an expensive way to distribute newspapers, in our experience it is the only way to reach all the hamlets and back roads properties in the region. For us to set up our own distribution system would be [prohibitively?] expensive and would also be difficult to monitor effectively.

So, as we face a shut down at Canada Post, we’ve been on the phone to ask for help.

Thankfully, all the businesses we approached have been understanding, and below is a list of locations that have been lined up as of early this week. We will expand our distribution further as we contact more businesses but you can count on the ones listed here to have the Frontenac News available for free every Thursday until Canada Post is back up and running.

DISTRIBUTION POINTS:

• KINGSTON FRONTENAC PUBLIC LIBRARY branches during open hours – Sydenham, Hartington, Sharbot Lake, Parham, Arden, Mountain Grove, Plevna, and Cloyne.

• TOWNSHIP OFFICES for Addington Highlands (Flinton Recreation Centre – basement), North Frontenac (Road 506 between Ardoch and Plevna), Central Frontenac (Sharbot Lake), and South Frontenac (Sydenham)

• RETAIL OUTLETS -

• Denbigh – Glaeser's General Store

• Cloyne/Northbrook – Nowell Motors, Grand's Store, Bishop Lake Outdoor Centre, Hook's, Yourway, Northbrook Gas and Variety, Northbrook Foodland, Addison's Restaurant

• Kaladar – Kaladar Shell

• Plevna – North of 7

• Ompah – Palmerston Lake Marina

• Arden – Arden Batik?

• Sharbot Lake – Petrocan, Ram's Esso, Mike Dean's Superstore, Pharmasave, St. Lawrence College Employment Centre, Cardinal Cafe, Maples?, Sharbot Lake Country Inn, and our own office at 1095 Garrett St., rear building.

• Parham – Parham General Store

• Godfrey – Godfrey General Store

• Verona – Asselstine Hardware, Verona Hardware, Food Less Traveled, Nicole's Gifts, Verona Foodland

• Hartington - Leonard Fuels

• Harrowsmith – Gilmour's on 38, The Pizza Place

• Sydenham – Sydenham One Stop, Trousdale's Foodland ?

We are also constructing some special temporary boxes, which will be located at roadside postal locations, such as the Snow Road Community Centre, the Mountain Grove Library (outside), the Arden Post Office, etc.

Also, readers can always read the articles online at frontenacnews.ca and at that site can also access a flash version of our paper that is a .pdf copy of the newsprint version that comes to your door each week under normal circumstances.

If there is a strike, this distribution system will remain in place for at least the July 7 and 14 editions. If there is a stoppage that extends beyond mid-July, we will take stock of the success of our system and may consider changes.

We thank our readers in advance for their patience, and hope that those who enjoy the Frontenac News each week will be able to continue to do so next week.

Two six-week series of free self-management workshops on Living Well with Chronic Disease and Chronic Pain are coming up in our area. The workshops will help you gain information and new skills to better manage Chronic Pain, keep active and live healthier. You will learn how to deal with emotional, physical and social aspects of living with chronic pain. This workshop helps people who have a wide range of chronic pain conditions such as musculoskeletal pain, fibromyalgia, repetitive strain injury, post stroke, neuropathic pain and other chronic conditions.

These workshops are open to anyone living with chronic pain, their family members and caregivers. You will receive a free copy of the book “Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions and Chronic Pain”.

DENBIGH, Mondays, April 18 - May 23: Land O’ Lakes Community Services is holding “Living well with Chronic Pain” workshops from April 18 to May 23, 1:30-4pm at the Denbigh Hall, 222 Highway 28 Denbigh Ontario. For more information and to register, call Pam @ 613-336-8934 ext 229; 1-877-679-6636, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Registration is limited.

VERONA, Wednesdays April 20 - May 25: Workshops will be held at the Verona Medical Clinic, 1:30-4pm, to provide help for those living with arthritis, heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, depression, lung disease, diabetes, and other diseases. To register please call Meredith Prikker 613-376-3327 at the Sydenham Clinic or Annie Campbell 613-374-3311 at the Verona Clinic.

Lennox and Addington County Council is preparing to debate closing its 12-hour ambulance service in Denbigh and transferring it to a base in Loyalist Township. In a last ditch attempt to save the base, L&A wrote a letter to Frontenac, Renfrew, and Hastings counties, asking each of them if they are “prepared to assume a greater financial responsibility for the ambulance service located at Denbigh in order to maintain the service for your citizens”. In a report to Frontenac County Council, CAO Kelly Pender recommended against Frontenac County providing supplementary funding to L&A to keep the base open.

Pender said that providing funding to subsidize the operation of a service in another township runs contrary to the established practice of only paying neighbouring districts for actual cross-border ambulance calls.

“The request from the County of Lennox and Addington [is] to assume a larger share of the cost of operating the Denbigh base. This request is contrary to the general intent of a seamless service delivery model and represents a shift from the generally accepted “incremental” cost recovery system. It is not a model that can be supported by staff,” wrote Pender.

He then wrote that there “may be opportunities to investigate alternative management models that would allow L&A to enhance their service delivery while achieving a measure of cost containment,” although the report contains no details about those models. The closest base to Denbigh that is located in Frontenac County is the one at Robertsville, close to an hour's drive away.

Renfrew and Hastings counties will be considering the request from L&A at their respective meetings later this month.

The Denbigh base responds to 133 calls per year, on average. Of those 34, about 25% are located in Frontenac County.

The L&A proposal is for Frontenac County to pay 25% of the $750,000 annual cost of maintaining the service, phased in over three years. That would translate into $62,500 this year; $125,000 in 2017; and $187,500 in 2018 and annually thereafter. 

“We always said that county staff wanted to close the Denbigh base, and now we have proof,” said Addington Highlands Reeve Henry Hogg at a meeting of AH council on Monday night, January 11.

His comments referred to a report that he received last Thursday from Lennox and Addington County staff in preparation for a working meeting of Lennox and Addington Council this week.

Hogg, along with Deputy Reeve Helen Yanch, sit on L&A Council along with two members each from Loyalist and Stone Mills townships and the City of Napanee.

The proposal in the report to L&A Council from Chief of Emergency Services Mark Schjerning calls for the transfer of the remaining 12-hour day shift at the Denbigh base to a new 12-hour night shift at a base in Loyalist Township. It also calls for the establishment of a new service based in Centreville, in Stone Mills Township, noting that average response times in Stone Mills are higher than anywhere else in the township. The report also notes that average response times were up by 12 seconds county-wide in 2014 as compared to 2013.

One of the arguments against the continuing existence of the Denbigh base is the calculation of the price per service call. Since staffing costs per shift are the same no matter how many times the ambulance is called out, the busiest station, in Napanee, has a cost of $743 per call, while the Denbigh base, with only 190 calls per year, has a cost of almost $4,200 per call.

To make the finances even worse, a high percentage of Denbigh calls, 44% (84) are cross-border calls, mostly to Renfrew and Frontenac County, and the compensation paid by neighbouring municipalities for cross-border calls is low, only $350 per call. Ultimately the result is that 44% of the calls to the Denbigh Ambulance generate only 3.5% of the $800,000 cost of operating the base, of which the provincial government provides just under half of the money. L&A ratepayers pay the rest.

“The problem with the way ambulance service is delivered is that dispatch is done on a seamless basis, but there are boundaries where funding is concerned,” said Councilor Tony Fritsch, who added that he has contacted local community activists in Denbigh to let them know that the closing of the Denbigh base is back in front of L&A Council.

When the fate of the Denbigh base hung in the balance in 2012, politicians from Addington Highland were joined by their compatriots from Renfrew County in an attempt to find a regional solution, because the removal of the Denbigh service would create a geographical gap. It presently fills the gap between the Renfrew base to the north-east, the Bancroft base to the west, and the Northbrook base to the south. Nothing came of those efforts, and the base was downgraded from a 24-hour a day operation to a 12-hour a day operation at that time.

“County staff wanted to close the Denbigh base in 2012, and it was all we could do to convince them to keep the base open at all. So it does not surprise me that they are trying again, not at all. They pointed to a study by the IBI group back in 2012,and said they were only following the study's recommendations. There has been no new study so we know that this is something that the staff want,” said Reeve Henry Hogg.

In the report, staff list four options for enhancement to ambulance service in the county. The options are listed in order of priority. Number 1 is to increase the Loyalist coverage to a 24/7 service; number 2 is to establish a 12/7 daytime service in Stone Mills; number 3 is to increase coverage in Napanee by adding a second night shift; and the 4th option is to increase Stone Mills' coverage to 24 hours a day.

The report says, “Staff believes that these enhancements are a higher priority than maintaining coverage at the Denbigh base.”

It also says that staff are not seeking “a final determination of a plan for the ambulance service” but rather a “direction regarding the allocation of funding” for the 2016 budget.

(adendum - The staff report was tabled at a meeting of Lennox and Addington County Council on Wednesday, January 13. After a lengthy discussion, the Warden and Chief Administrative Officer were tasked with contacting their counterparts in Frontenac, Renfrew and Hastings Counties to seek regional funding support to keep the Denbugh base up and running.

"The politicains on County Council do not want to close the Denbigh base, at least as far as I can tell, but the other counties's did not come through the last time they were asked, so I don't hold out that much hope they will now," said Addington Highlands Reeve Henry Hogg in a telephone interview with The Frontenac News on January 14th.)

Members of the Northbrook Legion headed up the Remembrance Day service in Denbigh with a service and wreath laying ceremony honouring those who fought and died for the country. The service, which took place on November 1 at the Denbigh cenotaph located at St. Luke's United Church, was the first of many Remembrance Day services that are bring held in North, Central and South Frontenac. The service was led by Northbrook Legion Padre, Harry Andringa, who will also be heading up the upcoming Remembrance Day services in Flinton and Plevna.

One of the area's oldest veterans, Gordon Wood was present at the Denbigh service. Wood who is a WW2 veteran, landed in Normandy on D-Day on June 6, 1944 and fought until liberation took place in Holland on May 5, 1945. Andringa, who is originally from Holland and retired to Flinton, said he met Wood after moving to Flinton. Andringa said both he and Wood experienced the war first hand in Holland, Wood as a Canadian soldier and Andringa as a teenage civilian. The service included prayers and the laying of 13 wreaths by numerous dignitaries, Legion members and members of the community at large.

A crowd was gathered outside the Denbigh Hall at 7pm on Monday night as a regular meeting of Addington Highlands Council was getting underway. They had been in the hall earlier for the performance of a new song by the Pickled Chicken String Band about the Wind Turbine Protest.

“We came here to show the council that we are not going away,” said Alice Madigan, a member of BEARAT (Bon Echo Area Residents Against Turbines)

The protesters remained outside the building as the meeting got underway. The turbine issue was not on the agenda.

Weslemkoon building project faces roadblocks

Valerie Peverly came to Council to see if a building permit she took out in 2007 could be reinstated. She explained that she and her husband obtained the permit with the intention of having a cottage built on a water access lot they own on the lake. They have an existing cottage on an adjacent lot and intended to build a new one. The project stalled, however, because the sawmill that her husband, Robert Peverly, operates in Peterborough, burned down that summer. As they focused on getting a new sawmill built, Robert also suffered knee problems, and required several operations over five years, culminating in knee replacements.

“I only tell you this to explain that we did not intend to delay this building project, but the circumstances did not allow us to do so until now,” she said to Council.

“We hear what you are saying and we sympathize,” said Reeve Hogg, “but the regulations have changed since 2006 and the permit is no longer valid.”

The circumstances are complicated by the fact that a minor variance that was granted at the time because of the location of the proposed building has also expired.

Valerie Peverly said that she has already submitted an application for a new septic permit and officials from Kingston Frontenac Public Health have been out to the property and are satisfied that they can issue one.

Doubt was then cast on the Peverlys' chances of obtaining a minor variance and subsequently a building permit when David Munday, a lawyer from Cunningham Swan representing a neighbouring property owner, also appeared before Council as a delegate. He said that when it comes to minimum setbacks from a water body, the key issue in the pending minor variance application is not only setback from the lake but also setback from a lowland/swamp on the Peverly property.

“The township's Official Plan talks about a 30-metre setback from any water body. Not to make too fine a point, we expect the township to follow its Official Plan in this case,” Munday said.

He also said that Weslemkoon Lake has been designated by the Province of Ontario as a Trout Sensitive Lake, pushing the setback for construction up to 100 metres.

Council received the Peverly and Munday presentations for information.

Trail or road, Council stays out of it

Mark Mieske, from the north shore of Ashby Lake, came to talk about a trail/road on his property that he has blocked off with rocks. At the previous meeting of council on September 7, a delegation came to Council complaining about the blocked road, which they said was a road that has been used for 40 years to access the lake and hunting opportunities.

Council did not take any action on Sept. 7.

Mieske brought pictures of the road, which he said was built in 1972 and had not had more than $500 worth of gravel applied since then.

“There is legal access to the lake through the public road, and this road, which is not a road but a path that can only be crossed by ATVs, is located entirely on my land,” said Mieske.

“There is nothing for us to do about this. As far as I can see, it is a civil matter,” said Councilor Bill Cox.

ATV bylaw

In response to requests from Mark Freeburn and the Napanee and District ATV club, the township will prepare a bylaw for the next meeting to permit 2 seater ATVs access to township roads.

“This will not effect Hwy. 41, which is controlled by the MTO, or County Road 29, just Addington Highland's roads,” said Reeve Hogg.

Former fire hall not available for storage

In response to a request from Andy Anderson to store materials for the Flinton Jamboree in the now abandoned Northbrook fire hall building, Councilor Cox said, “Aren't we trying to get rid of that building? This would be going backward, I think.”

Council voted to deny the request.

There has been persistent opposition from a number of Denbigh residents as well as the group BEARAT (Bon Echo Area Residents Against Turbines) before and after Addington Highlands Council decided to support the bids by RES Canada and NextEra for wind generation contracts.

Reeve Henry Hogg, who has expressed his support for the projects ever since they first surfaced in early March of this year, has been the target of much criticism from the opposition groups, including Paul Isaacs, a Denbigh resident who has launched a public call for the Denbigh ward to secede from Addington Highlands entirely.

In the end, with Council deadlocked at two, it was Hogg who settled all three votes on the matter, each time by supporting wind power in Addington Highlands. Through it all, Reeve Hogg has said little about his own reasons for supporting the project.

“I was in a position of presiding over a process,” he said early this week in a telephone interview, “and not in a position to express my opinion except when I ended up having to vote on the motions that came forward”.

At the first presentation to Council in March by NextEra, Hogg was inclined to support the proposal on the spot, which is something he now says “may have been premature.”

For one thing, delaying acceptance resulted in a significant increase in the “community vibrancy fund” that the township will receive if either company succeeds in the bidding process and ends up putting up turbines in the township.

As well, the township ended up doing research on turbines, talking to other municipalities where both NextEra and RES have constructed and are running projects, attended presentations by the companies, and heard from the public.

“None of that has changed my view about the turbines,” said Hogg. “I felt they were good for the township from the start and I still feel that way.”

Hogg said that he has not only served as reeve of Addington Highlands for many years, but has lived and worked in Ward 1 of the township for 40 years. "I was the only member of council from Ward 1 who has made his living and raised our family in Ward 1".

One of the critiques of the decision to support the turbine companies was that the Ward 2 politicians out-voted the local Ward 1 politicians who opposed them, but Hogg takes exception to that argument, because with him the majority of Council comes from Ward 1, which is slightly less populated than Ward 2.

“When you look at Highway 41 north of Bon Echo and see the number of businesses that are boarded up, restaurants that are closed, it tells you that the local economy could not sustain them,” he said. “Even if there are only a few jobs created by this, a few is better than none.”

He related that what the research township staff has done and the information he received from other municipalities indicate that turbines don't cause either adverse health effects or a drop in property values and have been of net benefit to the local economies wherever they are located.

“We looked at these things; we had our staff do research and this is what they found,” he said. “Some of the people who are against it are saying it will harm our tourism base and the pristine wilderness. We don't have a tourism base; we never have. We do have cottages, of course, and they are crucial to us keeping anything going at all, but that isn't tourism. We also don't have pristine wilderness; everything was logged in what is now Addington Highlands 200 years ago.”

He said that most of the opposition is based on people not wanting to see turbines, even at a distance, from their property or their township.

“To me, people come up with arguments against them mainly because they don't want to see them. We had the same reaction when we wanted to bring an eco-lodge to Skootamatta Lake a number of years ago. But in this case, they can go ahead even without our approval, and if they do go ahead, I want to be on the inside instead of on the outside looking in.”

And far as the process that council went through before passing a motion of support, he said that he never talked to any of the council members before the vote about what they were planning.

“I didn't think that was appropriate, but I kind of knew the way four of the five of us were going to vote.”

He does admit, however, that the opposition to turbines caught him by surprise.

“When RES first came here in 2008, nobody said a word against it, and when we put it in our Official Plan, nobody said anything, so I was not ready for what has happened, but then again there are 4,600 permanent and seasonal residents in the township and we have only heard from 50 to 100 people against this. When I look down the road at the long-term needs of Addington Highlands, I see this as a potential benefit if it goes ahead. Nothing I have heard has made me think any differently about it.”