CFDC presents ideas and options to North Frontenac Council

Anne Prichard from the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation (FCFDC) made a presentation to North Frontenac Council at their meeting on Tuesday, April 7 explaining how the non-profit organization operates and how the services they provide can benefit the residents of North Frontenac.

She also pointed out that both Mayor Ron Higgins and Councilor John Inglis have served on the FCFDC board in the past.

The FCFDC offers many different tools to help the local business owner, from grants and low-interest loans, to workshops and mentoring. Prichard outlined a few of the key focus points of the FCFDC: encouraging local business growth, attracting small scale food and beverage businesses, and expanding the supply of tourism accommodations. She also explained that the organization aims to “stimulate the community and economic development throughout the Frontenacs” and has recently helped attract Back Forty, an artisanal cheese maker, to the area.

Back Forty is currently setting up their operation and will soon be making their award-winning cheeses in North Frontenac.

Mariclaro, a design company that makes high-end bags and fashion accessories out of recycled material in Snow Road, has also benefited from support from the FCFDC.

As of a few months ago, approximately 25% of FCFDC loans went to the tourism and accommodation industry, 23% to the retail industry, 14% to the service industry, and 14% to the food production industry. The food production sector is expected to grow and represent a larger portion in future.

Prichard encouraged the council members to point local business owners, or people looking to start their own businesses in North Frontenac, towards the FCFDC. For more information visit frontenaccfdc.com.

In Case Of Emergency

Lisa Harvey, a field officer from the Office of the Fire Marshall and Emergency Management (OFMEM), spoke about the province's emergency management plan and North Frontenac's emergency protocol. She explained the intricacies of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA), which states that every municipality and every ministry in Ontario must develop an emergency management program.

She assured the Council that North Frontenac has a “really good emergency management program...and a very good Community Emergency Management Coordinator (Fire Chief Steve Riddell).”

The EMCPA requires that the municipalities have a series of tools in place to assist them in a time of need. These include, among others: forming an emergency program committee; doing a hazard identification and risk assessment (HIRA); creating a report on critical infrastructure; designating an emergency operations centre (EOC); annual training; and public awareness. Certain aspects of the program, like the HIRA and the critical infrastructure report, influence how North Frontenac's emergency services would respond in the case of an actual emergency.

Harvey explained that when there is an emergency and 911 is called, some combination of first responders, be it fire, police, and/or ambulance, are dispatched.

In the case of severe emergencies, the EOC is alerted, and subsequently brings the mayor and other emergency and administrative personnel into the process. At this point, only the mayor can decide whether to declare a state of emergency to the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (POEC), a command centre that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, out of Toronto.

Harvey explained how the EMCPA can help facilitate and expedite decision-making by council and how the EMCPA allows the head of council (Mayor Higgins) to make executive decisions.

Language in the EMCPA defends council decisions, made during an emergency, as being the best they could make based on “the information that the group had at the time” she said.

The EMCPA also gives the municipality the power to circumvent their normal by-laws, as long as they're not in violation of the law. Harvey explained how this might expedite an emergency response. For instance, in a situation where “you don't have time to get three quotes to purchase a piece of equipment that might save a life”.

Mayor Higgins asked Harvey in what situation he should declare an emergency.

“If you're ever asking yourself, 'should we declare?', do it,” Harvey said.

Local quilter, Debbie Emery of Plevna, won the quilt design competition put on by Frontenac County in August last year in their effort to have a unique quilt designed and created to celebrate the County’s 150th Anniversary.

Emery, who moved to Plevna over six years ago, has been quilting for close to seven years. She found out about her win just before Christmas and said that since she does not feel she is “an artist”, she was a bit surprised. At the same time, though, she feels that she did her research well and knew, going into the competition, that she had some pretty good ideas for the project. She said it was her first time entering a competition and that she was thrilled to have her design chosen.

The competition was judged by well-known local quilters/fibre artists Bethany Garner and Beth Abbott. Emery describes her winning design as a “story quilt”, one that “reflects the unique culture and people of Frontenac County from the past, present and into the future.”

The quilt, which will measure 48 x 60 inches, will incorporate multiple quilting techniques including appliqué, embroidery and hand quilting. Emery chose different subject matters to represent the various regions of North, Central and South Frontenac and said that she focused on the unique histories and characteristics of each part of the county to show their diversity.

For the north she will depict Bon Echo Provincial Park and the Dark Skies, the latter of which she says “brings the north into the future”. In Central Frontenac she is focusing on the history of the railroads and will create a steam engine as well as elements of the area’s farming and logging history. In the south she has chosen to depict the windmills of Wolfe Island and also a lighthouse to show the proximity of the southern most portions of the county to Lake Ontario.

In order to incorporate some of the more general aspects of the area as a whole, the quilt will feature some historic architecture including an old church, and school and a log cabin. Emery said that she also wanted to include the Aboriginal history of the area and she has included in her design an Aboriginal woman, a teepee and the wild rice of Ardoch Lake, the latter of which recalls the historic stand off between locals and the government in the 1970's.

Emery said that she is honored to have had her design chosen. “To know that it will be hanging in the County offices and people will be seeing it well into the future is quite exciting for me,” she said. Judging by the sample section that she had on display at the Frontenac Heritage Festival’s craft show at St. James Major Catholic Church hall on the weekend, her win is no doubt well deserved and she said it has definitely “got her creative juices flowing.”

Emery’s quilt will be unveiled at the official opening of the 150th ceremonies, which will take place in Harrowsmith from August 28 to 30. After its unveiling the quilt will be hung at the offices of Frontenac County near Battersea.

Emery also makes and sells various fashionable accessories from her home in Plevna. For more information, contact her at 613-479-8057.

Good news, not so good news, and a pending lawsuit – NF Council gets down to business.

Members of the new North Frontenac Council had already spent a fair bit of time together since New Year's before they met for their first business meeting of 2015. Last week, they spent two days looking at their strategic plan and strategic directions, topics that are well within the comfort zone of their new mayor, Ron Higgins, who is a consultant by trade.

At their regular meeting on Monday, January 12, a number of long-standing matters needed to be addressed.

The most pleasant task was to receive good news about the Ompah fire hall, which had been plagued by problems in the past. First there was an unsuccessful attempt to build a new fire hall in a newly purchased site across the road in conjunction with an ambulance base. This was followed at least two thwarted attempts to hire a contractor to fix up the existing fire hall, which is attached to a community and a local library.

Finally, a year ago council decided to trust in a community-run group to take a piece by piece approach to the job. The work was overseen by a community volunteer, Steve Sunderland, and at the time a cost of $300,000 was estimated for completion of all the small jobs, which when taken together would lead to a fully refurbished multi-use facility.

In a presentation that was delivered by Ompah resident Marily Seitz, it was reported that at this point the project is mostly complete and the estimated total cost upon completion will be $273,000 - 10% under budget. Seitz then presented a proposal to do some extra work to brighten up and modernize the inside of the community hall.

“We are delighted with the improvements to the exterior of the fire hall and community centre. The old hall was grimy, aged, and a bit ragged. Now it is a beautiful building on a clean, neat site. Inside, the community centre is in need of attention now and the committee has agreed on a number of improvements,” Marily Seitz said.

The proposals include the installation of new windows and skylights, replacing the ageing fluorescent lights with LED pot lights, constructing a closet and fixing up the front hallway.

In order to complete these improvements, which have been costed at about $22,000, the committee is asking that the township re-invest $10,000 of the savings that have been realized in the overall project towards the new work. The committee will provide about $4,000 in volunteer labour and will endeavour to fundraise for the rest, about $8,000.

Councilor John Inglis, who has long been a supporter of the project, said, “What happened here is a great success story. By all indications we got some real value out of this. I suggest we allocate $15,000 to the indoor improvements, and let the committee get on with finishing their work. That would leave us $10,000 to put towards some future project.”

Councilors Denis Bedard and Deputy Mayor Fred Perry expressed support for Inglis' proposal, but Councilor Wayne Good was reluctant. “With the increase in policing costs this year we know we are going to have to raise taxes. If we keep giving this money away we are going to have to raise taxes more,” he said, “maybe we can do the $10,000 but no more than that.”

“The request is $10,000; my recommendation is we stick to that,” agreed Mayor Ron Higgins.

Council did just that.

Voluntary septic inspection program falls short again

Out of a planned 100 inspections of septic and grey water systems on waterfront properties, only 37 were completed in 2014. The reason for the shortfall, according to Eric Kohlsmith of the Mississippi-Rideau Septic System Office, is that for the last two years the program has been focussing on inspecting properties whose owners have ignored inspection requests in the past.

After receiving a very poor response to a mailout in June, well under 10%, the township agreed to expand the program to include properties whose owners had never been approached. Even though it was late in the summer before those property owners were approached, the response was still better.

Of the 37 systems that were inspected, just under 50% required some remediation, mostly at only a minor cost, and two systems needed to replaced. The good news for the property owners is that the two that need replacing are not full blown septic systems, which can cost $10,000 in some cases; they were grey water systems for shower or sink water and the replacement cost is not nearly as high.

Council decided to contract Mississippi-Rideau to run a voluntary program again in 2015, approaching mostly property owners who have never been approached, in anticipation of a mandatory inspection system to be implemented in 2016. The mandatory system would force the 350 property owners on some of the larger lakes who have ignored requests in the past to undergo inspections.

To that end, the township will invite Councilor Mark Burnham from Tay Valley Township to discuss the mandatory program for waterfront properties in that township.

Norcan Lake Property owners present ultimatum to Council

A group of property owners from a controversial property development on Norcan Lake, which borders Greater Madawaska Township to the northeast of Ompah, came to Council. For the last three years the property owners have been asking council to force the developer, David Hill, to live up to the requirements of the plan of subdivision that was approved for the development.

This time the presentation was made by Paul Martin, one of the property owners. Martin said he did not want to go over ground that has already been covered, but he briefly pointed to a number of facts that have brought the property owners to a point of extreme frustration, not only with the developer but with the township as well.

The crux of the matter is that a road that the developer had committed to completing to provide water access to the property owners as part of the agreement has not been completed. The township held back a deposit as part of the agreement, pending completion of all the terms of the agreement, but released most of those funds before the road had been completed and approved by their public works department.

Last fall the township attempted one more time to engage the developer in the hopes that an acceptable roadway could be completed, to no avail, and decided to enforce the subdivision agreement.

One of the issues that Paul Martin raised was that the law firm that represents the township, Cunningham Swan, also represents David Hill, a situation that should never have occurred and one that the property owners are raising with the Law Society of Upper Canada.

The property owners sent a letter to the township on December 15. The letter outlines their grievances over the situation, and provides two options for resolving their concerns.

The first option is for the township to “complete the subdivision requirements as per the subdivision agreement 100%, using whatever means they feel necessary to do so.”

The second option would accept a proposal by the township for an alternative route to the water, but since the roadway would be less than what the property owners originally agreed to, they demand that they be released from their obligations under the subdivision agreement: “We the landowners are to be removed from any liability for and obligations” with respect to the agreement.

One of the many peculiarities about this particular subdivision agreement is that at the end of the day the township was never planning to assume responsibility for the road, as is normally the case with plans of subdivision in Ontario.

The letter concludes by saying that if the township does not agree to either proposal by January 15, the property owners will be seeking a legal remedy.

After Paul Martin had completed his statement to Council, Mayor Higgins said that he “must caution members of Council not to respond to what has just been said.”

He then read in a motion that he had prepared before the meeting. Among other things the motion instructs the public works manager to proceed to complete the road using the alternate route, but says nothing about whether the township will then release the landowners from their responsibilities under the subdivision agreement.

Anticipating that this may lead to court action by the property owners, the motion also imposes a gag order on members of council on the matter.

When interviewed outside the meeting, the angry group of property owners said they are not prepared to leave this alone.

“They have let the developer dictate the terms to them for long enough,” said property owner David Milloy. “We are completely fed up, and everything - I mean everything - that we have found out over three years will likely come out in court.”

Participants on the North Frontenac Back Roads Studio Tour, which centred around the Plevna area, were no doubt pleased with the weather that brought many visitors to the first-time tour in the scenic township. The weather could not have been better and the drive was almost as pleasurable as my destination proved to be.

I visited Plevna's Good Stuff bakery where owners Jean Heinemann her husband Sean Sheeham had great, affordable home-made snacks and a delicious lunch for hungry tour goers in need of some tasty home cooked fare. Jean also offered up her walls and extra space to two artists, local graphic artist and photographer Brian Roche, who unfortunately was not present for the tour, and long-time area cottager Miriam Silburt, a glass artist who specializes in fused glass work.

Silburt creates her colorful work at her home studio in Ottawa. Originally a stained glass artist, she switched her focus to fused glass close to a decade ago since it allowed her to create work with more fluid lines. “Fused glass allows me to create images that are unbroken, images that are more fluid and that have no divisions within them, which is something you cannot get with stained glass work”. Silburt is a self-taught artist and has also taken many private classes with other glass artists in the province. Her work includes colorful functional pieces: vases and serving trays that are definite eye catchers for those who drawn to colour and patterns. To create her stacked glass trays she lays down, one on top of the other, different colored squares and rectangles that fuse together in the firing process. The results are reminiscent of 1960s and 1970s patterns and make great functional eye candy for the home.

Her more graphic pieces can be found in her jewelry. Many of her pendants involve using cut outs to create one of a kind wildlife and animal themed motifs that include trees, leaves, and various animals, birds and insects. Each is masterfully composed, very intricate with no two the same. Some of her more involved pieces include her “glass canvasses” - scenes she creates by applying a number of different techniques that come together to form wildlife scenes, many of which are inspired by the views from her lake front cottage and include vistas of birch groves and lakes. Silburt frames each completed scene in a shadow box and installs special LED lights that can be manipulated to change the over all colour and mood of the scene.

The Good Stuff bakery was just one stop on this new North Frontenac studio tour, which no doubt will attract many adventurous art and craft-loving explorers to the area.

An autumn drive up the Ardoch, Buckshot Lake, or Sunday Lake roads is an attraction of its own, but this weekend there is an even better reason to drive in North Frontenac. On Sat. & Sun. Sept. 27 & 28, the first North Frontenac Back Roads Studio Tour will take place.

Centred in Plevna, the studio tour features 16 artists in 13 studios located all across the east and central portion of the township. The hours are 10 am to 4pm each day.

Jim Craig, a jeweller who lives near Plevna, is the tour's founder. He said that he organised it because he realised that “there are a lot of unrecognised artists in the Plevna area. People might be interested in the incredible work that they do,” he said.

The tour includes painters working in a variety of media, as well as carving, jewelry, fused glass, multi-media, cement work, quilts, an alpaca farm and much more.

There are also three different food establishments participating in the tour – Good Stuff Bakery in Plevna, Johnston Lake Organic's off River Road, and the Out of the Box chip truck at the corner of Hwy. 41 and road 506.

A studio tour map is available at any of the tour locations, which will be easily identified by signs, at the eateries, and online at the tour website northfrontenacbackroadsstudiotour.com

The website also includes artist descriptions, photos, and other information.

The trees have changed colour this week, making the weekend prime for viewing colours, and along the route are some of the most spectacular roadside vistas in the region, from the Hill above Pine Lake on Ardoch Road, to Mississagagon on 506, and all of Buckshot Lake Road.

And the art is sure to be beautiful as well.

For information, call Jim at 613-479-2464

Over 60 members of the community filled the gym at Clarendon Central Public School in Plevna at a special meeting on September 15 that was called over a recent decision of the Limestone District School Board (LDSB).

Michelle Ross, co-chair of the parent council at CCPS, said the group called the meeting to voice their concerns about the LDSB’s decision to decrease the number of teachers at the school, effectively changing it from a three-classroom school to two classrooms.

Barb Fraser-Stiff and Andrie Labrie, both superintendents of education with the LDSB, were in attendance at the meeting and made efforts to explain the board’s decision.

Former principal at the school, Brenda Martin, began the meeting with a presentation citing her concerns that the decision will negatively impact the teachers’ ability to deliver the curriculum and said to the attendees, “You realize that this is the only school in North Frontenac Township, a school that has been here for 52 years and that your education dollars should remain in the township.” She argued for the viability of small local schools and commended the parents whose efforts kept Clarendon Central open after the LDSB’s Program and Accommodation Review Committee (PARC) proposed several years ago that the school be closed.

In a nut shell Martin requested that the primary teacher position be increased to full time to meet the needs of the students, and regarding the junior/intermediate students she said that their needs cannot be met by just one teacher alone. “For older students it is impossible for one teacher to cover the required topics in the curriculum even in a two-year cycle.”

Barbara Fraser-Stiff assured her that it is manageable for a single teacher to integrate the math and English curriculum, but Martin replied that her biggest concern is the science curriculum. “Yes you can integrate language and math but when it comes to science, it is impossible for one teacher to cover all of the necessary components required,” she said.

Parents had a chance to raise their many concerns, which included the added stress and challenges to teachers who will have to teach more curriculum with less classroom support to a wider age group. They said that there will be less one on one instruction time and more interruptions for all students. Many said they fear that their children will not receive a satisfactory education that will prepare them properly for high school. They also cited less time for support staff to do the regular supervising that is needed for such a wide age group.

Fraser-Stiff said that she understands that it sounds impossible but that the new changes can be done. “It's been done before.” Both she and Labrie gave as examples two schools in the LDSB, one on Wolfe Island and the other on Amherst Island that have two classrooms serving JK–grade eight students. The Amherst Island school has been operating for over a decade and Fraser-Stiff said that its graduates are thriving.

When questioned about the lack of discussion that came with the recent announcement, Labrie was apologetic but explained that the decisions typically happen in September once the finalized numbers of students are known. He said that similar changes have taken place at one third of the schools in the LDSB.

One concerned parent quoted the Spring 2014 Technical Paper put out every year by the Ministry of Education outlining the Supported Schools Allocation, which provides additional funding for teaching and ECE staff to improve the viability of supported schools. She said that by definition Clarendon Central is one such school and she wondered why staff are being cut when in the paper, it states that combined schools with 50 or more elementary students generate funding for a minimum of 7.5 elementary teachers. “Surely if you do the math, with 39 students here we should be able to support four teachers.”

North Frontenac Councilor Lonnie Watkins asked why the $1.6 million in education taxes collected in North Frontenac could not keep three teachers at the school. He also wondered why the $350,000 allocated to special rural schools could not afford to keep the current number of staff in place.

Labrie replied that 80% of the money pays the salaries for staff and the rest goes towards maintenance of the building, and busing. “You can see when you break it down how those funds can get used up pretty quickly.”

When pressed further, Labrie said he would check with other members of staff who know more about the particular financial numbers being questioned. Another parent wondered why local students in the area should be allowed to be bused to other schools if decreasing enrollment is the reason for the cuts in the first place.

Steve Magee, who is running as a candidate for school trustee in North and Central Frontenac and in Addington Highlands, suggested waiting one year to make the changes, thereby giving both parents staff and students time to adjust to the new situation.

By the end of the meeting, though Fraser-Stiff and Labrie could not make any concrete promises to parents and staff, they did promise to raise all of their concerns to their senior team and said they would get back to the group as soon as possible with any updates or changes. “We recognize that this community here is asking for some help and support in this matter and we will bring everything that we heard here today back to our staff.”

One parent said that the announcement of the changes has caused stress to staff, parents and students alike, with many parents feeling their children have already lost out during their first month back at school.

Parents and staff are obviously hoping that the situation is resolved quickly.

CCPS Principal Emily Yanch said she “appreciated the parent community organizing the meeting, and hearing their concerns being addressed by members of the board.”

In an effort to encourage waterfront property owners to help keep their area lakes and shorelines healthy, the Malcolm Ardoch Lakes Stewardship Committee hosted a special presentation at the Clar-Mill hall in Plevna on September 14. Landowners from seven lakes in and around Plevna attended the event.

Barbara King, executive director of the Centre for Sustainable Watersheds (CSW), headed up the presentation and spoke about two programs that property owners can participate in that focus on creating healthy shorelines. Ross highlighted the importance of property owners taking the initiative to keep their lakes healthy. “While there are a lot of changes happening to Ontario lakes, there are not a lot of regulations, nor government agencies putting money into monitoring the changes. These days it is up to property owners themselves to take the necessary steps to protect their lakes now and into the future.”

The first program she spoke about was the Love Your Lake program, a shoreline evaluation and stewardship program developed by the CSW and the Canadian Wildlife Federation, who work together with lake associations to deliver the program. Participating lakes are assessed on a property-by-property basis and the evaluations are carried out by CSW staff so that landowners are not inconvenienced. All the information is confidential and once the assessments are complete, each landowner receives a report on their particular shoreline with recommendations for improvements. The lake association also receives a customized report regarding the overall state of the shoreline, which can be used as a guide for future community stewardship programs to be put in place by the association.

Shorelines are the focus of the program since they reduce erosion, filter pollutants, reduce the impacts of flooding and provide habitat for fish and wildlife.

The second program King spoke about was the Shoreline Naturalization Program, which is offered through the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) and the CSW. This program is aimed at individual shoreline property owners and offers free visits to landowners within the Mississippi Valley watershed by CSW staff, who advise landowners on how to create and maintain a healthy natural shoreline. Following the visit, staff prepare a customized planting plan with the assistance of the landowner, taking into consideration the wants and needs of the landowner. Staff will advise the landowner as to what kinds of species to plant and where to plant them. Once the plan is approved by the landowner, staff will coordinate the ordering, delivering and do the actual planting and will also provide all of the necessary tools, materials and labour, with the understanding that the landowner contributes 25% of the total cost.

King said that the goal is for staff to work closely with the landowner so that together they can create a plan that meets the needs and wishes of the landowner, improves the health of shoreline, and is also financially feasible. Ross mentioned that sometimes an individual may highly value the water quality of the lake but their actions (often unknowingly) may not support those good intentions. “That is where these programs can really help,” she said.

Alyson Symons of the MVCA was also present at the event to promote the lake stewardship planning that her organization has been involved with on various lakes, including Malcolm/Ardoch, Canonto, Mississippi and Kashwakamak. Symons wanted to put the word out that lake associations looking to develop a lake plan can contact the MVCA, who can offer partnership and assist by providing various resources and information regarding water quality, along with other environmental information. The MVCA can help associations through the process of creating lake plans and will connect groups with available partners. For more information visit www.watersheds.ca or call 613-264-1244.

(Attention readers. After the following article was published on Thursday and posted online , the date of the public meeting was changed . The meeting about changes in staffing at Clarendon Central Public School will now take place on Monday Night, September 15^th, at 7:00 pm at Clarendon Central. The meeting date change was done at the behest of the Limestone District School Board in order to have representatives in attendance. This version of the article includes the altereed information)

Parents of children attending Clarendon Central School in Plevna have called a meeting on Monday Night (Septemebr 15) at the school to talk about staffing changes.

The meeting, which is set for 7 pm, is a reaction to finding out that as of next Monday the teaching complement at the school will be reduced by one.

There are four teachers at the school currently. Three of them teach multi-grade classes, and the fourth is what is called a head teacher. The school has a part-time principal, Emily Yanch, who is also the principal of the larger Land O' Lakes Public School in Mountain Grove, which commands much of her attention. She is on site in Plevna one half day each week.

According to a parent who contacted the News, a rumour that the change was coming circulated among the community, and was confirmed by Ms. Yanch.

We were unable to contact Principal Yanch at Land O' Lakes school on Tuesday, and the supervising principal for Clarendon Central, Barbara Fraser-Stiff, was not available at the Limestone Board office.

However written notification of the changes was sent home to parents on Tuesday.

Currently, there are three classes in the school: a Junior Kindergarten to grade 2 class, a grade 3 to grade 5 class and a grade 6 to grade 8 class. As of next Monday, the school will be split into two classes, a Junior Kindergarten to grade 3 class, and a grade 4 to grade 8 class. The position of head teacher will remain, and that person is responsible for discipline, acts as a resource teacher for children in need of one-to-one instruction from time to time, and covers for the other teachers during their planning time.

Further complicating the new scenario is the fact that the JK-3 teacher in the school is only a 3/4 time position, and the head teacher will have to cover that class each afternoon.

There are currently two educational assistants (EA) at Clarendon Central, one full-time and one half-time position, and as of next week the half-time EA will become full time, to help cover the extra work-load. However, according to parents and staff, there are some significant special needs in the school.

In the letter to parents the board said that the changes have come about because of an enrolment decrease at Clarendon Central, and the letter also pointed out that these kinds of changes happen in schools throughout the board each September.

The concern expressed by parents who contacted the News is that cutting one teacher from such a small complement of teachers represents a decrease of almost 27% in the teaching complement, which is a greater impact than would be felt in a school with a complement of 20 teachers. There, losing one teacher would only represent a 5% decrease in teachers.

Clarendon Central is a designated rural remote school, which means the Limestone Board receives extra funding beyond the normal per student funding formula to cover for some of the extra costs associated with providing programming in a rural-remote environment. It is the most remote school in the Limestone Board.

During the planning process that led to the construction of Granite Ridge Education Centre, an initial proposal to close Clarendon Central was quickly rebuffed, both by the community members on the planning committee and by the parents and community members in the Plevna area, who packed the school when a public meeting was held to talk about proposals for the new school.

The public is invited to attend the meeting at Clarendon CEntral on Monday Night.. Board and school administrative officials will be in attendance.

North Frontenac Mayor and Frontenac County Warden, Bud Clayton, died on Labour Day Monday.

Clayton took ill while attending a conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario in London, Ontario on August 17. Kelly Pender, Chief Administrative Officer of Frontenac County, was attending the meeting with Clayton. He stayed with him in hospital as it became clear that the illness was serious, and Jackie Clayton, Bud's wife, rushed to London.

After ruling out a heart attack or stroke, the doctors at the London Health Centre began treatment for viral meningitis. However, his condition did not improve and he remained in intensive care in London until he died.

North Frontenac Township had a meeting scheduled for Tuesday morning at the Snow Road Hall.

Deputy Mayor Fred Perry, who was a fellow councilor with Clayton between 2004 and 2006, has been deputy mayor under him for the past four years, and he read out a short prepared statement.

He described Bud Clayton as “an extraordinary man” and said that Council and staff struggled with whether or not to go ahead with the meeting, but, “We all know Bud would say 'take care of business'”.

(The statement is reprinted in full at the end of this article)

During Bud Clayton’s tenure as mayor, North Frontenac has focused on long-term planning, one of his major concerns. He often talked with concern about prospects for the future given the size of the township's population and the demands being made on municipal governments.

He also had a gently ironic viewpoint about the relationship between township councils and staff. He would say that it is staff who make all the decisions and they let Council express their opinion once in a while, just to humour the politicians.

During his tenure as North Frontenac mayor he developed a close working relationship with CAO Cheryl Robson, Clerk Jenny Duhamel and the rest of the senior staff, and this was in evidence at the Tuesday morning meeting, as Duhamel had difficulty starting the business of Council and getting the meeting underway after Fred Perry read his statement.

Clayton took on the warden’s role at Frontenac County last December, after the controversial two-year term of Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski. He was involved in the hiring process of current County CAO Pender.

While never short of opinions, he had considerable political skills, and exerted a calming influence on both his own council and Frontenac County Council, managing to ride just slightly above the rifts between different members of Council.

This was particularly noticeable at Frontenac County Council over the past nine months.

Bud Clayton was also instrumental in the redevelopment plans for Pine Meadow Nursing Home, which are now over 50% complete, and he remained in the role of chair of the management board for the home until his death.

He was registered to run for a second term as mayor in the upcoming municipal election, and his death leaves Claudio Valentini as the only candidate in the race with just over a week remaining until the close of registration on September 12, although that will likely change.

Bud was a member of North Frontenac Council from 2001 until 2006, and ran for mayor in 2006, as the incumbent, Ron Maguire, had indicated he was not running again. On the day of the deadline, Maguire reversed course and put his name in. He won the election with a 400-vote advantage over Clayton. Betty Hunter, also a sitting member of Council, finished third.

After that, Clayton turned his back on municipal politics and threw himself into the Pine Meadow rebuilding project. That is, until September of 2010.

With only days remaining before the registration deadline for that year's election, Jim Beam was the only declared candidate for mayor. That's when Bud Clayton decided to try for a political comeback by throwing his hat into the ring.

When interviewed during the 2010 campaign, he explained why he was seeking office again.

“Leadership roles are ones that I've taken my whole life. All of my jobs have been in leadership or leadership training roles so I am comfortable seeking this position. I also felt that acclamation is not the way to go for a position where someone has to lead Council and represent the township to other levels of government, and I was in a position to step up to the plate.”

During that campaign, he said that mending fences with Frontenac County would be one of his priorities if elected, along with promoting long-term planning in North Frontenac. It's fair to say both of those goals have been advanced considerably over the last four years, and the opening of the Robertsville ambulance base in early August of this year is a fitting symbol of an improved relationship between the township and the county.

The statement that Deputy Mayor Fred Perry read out at the Sept. 2 council meeting follows:

In Loving Memory of Mayor/Warden Bud Clayton

We are very saddened to hear of our recent loss of our friend and colleague Mayor/Warden, Bud Clayton, and we would like to express our sincere condolences to his family.

Bud was an extraordinary man.

He loved people and was a committed husband and father.

He was dedicated, realistic, community-orientated and he touched so many hearts.

Bud was a forward thinker and for the betterment of our community, he initiated North Frontenac Council's first documented Strategic Directions.

He valued our beautiful area and he loved to fish and hunt.

While we struggled with whether or not to go ahead with this meeting, we all know Bud would say "Take care of business".

He made people smile and brought laughter to their lives.

He was always there to give a helping hand to anyone and he had such a positive attitude.

He made sure everyone knew they were special and how much they were appreciated.

Could everyone please stand and join me in a moment of silence in loving memory of Bud.

Words cannot express how sorry we all are.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Jackie and their family during this difficult time.

He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and his community.

Thanks, Bud, for everything - you were our great Leader!!!

Dark Skies and Helipad in conflict -

The Dark Skies initiative, a cornerstone of the economic development plans of North Frontenac Township, is facing a new hurdle. At the most recent Dark Skies event in early August, participants arriving at the North Frontenac Star Gazing Pad on Road 506 saw lights that they were not expecting. A series of green lights were beaming up into the night sky, laid out around the rim of the air ambulance helipad that is located next to the viewing site.

ORNG, the embattled Ontario air ambulance corporation, has decided that all the helipads it uses across Ontario must be lit up at night.

On that August night, volunteers covered the lights with bags, but it was not a long term solution to the issue of light at the dark skies site.

The site is used for star parties put on by the township every few months, and also by star gazers from around the region on any given night.

“I have been contacted by a number of people, from Ottawa and beyond, who say they have heard about the site and have visited it. I have been surprised by how much use it is getting, since it is only its first year,” said Cory Klatt, Manager of Economic Development for the township.

Klatt also said that when the site was being contemplated for the Star Gazing pad, ORNG was approached about whether they had an issue with it being located near the helipad.

“At the time they said they did not intend to put the lights on,” Klatt said. “They had an accident and changed their mind, but there was no problem before that. It is the best site the township has for the Dark Skies initiative.”

A motion, proposed by Councilor Betty Hunter, asked Council to approach ORNG about considering whether night landings could be eliminated at the site on a temporary basis while the possibility of radio controlled lights at the site is explored. The motion also said that keeping the lights on might threaten the township's hard-earned dark skies designation from the Royal Astronomical Society.

Hunter pointed out that the Ompah helipad is not that far away and the 506 pad was only used once in the past year, and that was during the daytime.

“Most of the time the air ambulance goes directly to the location where the call comes from anyway, instead of to the Helipad,” she said.

Others on Council were not convinced.

“Ompah is only a few minutes but a few minutes is a long time in an emergency” said Councilor Gerry Martin.

“The whole thing comes back to not doing enough research in the first place. We run into things without doing research and it ends up costing us money. Nobody should turn off some lights just because someone wants to look at some stars, in my opinion,” said Councilor Wayne Good.

In a 3-2 vote, Hunter's motion was defeated. Lonnie Watkins was the only councilor to support her motion. Councilor John Inglis was not at the meeting.

Township to promote Hydro One program

On the urging of its Energy Task Force, North Frontenac will be publicizing a Hydro One program for low-income homeowners. The Home Energy Program provides a free energy audit as well as new insulation, window caulking and other measures, even providing energy efficient appliances to replace older models.

According to John Kittle, of the task force, the means test that Hydro applies is an annual family income of $39,000 or less for a family of 2, and more for larger households. Information will be posted on the township's website, or go to Hydroone.com and search Home Assistance for details.

Invasive Species – Zebra Mussels don't like NF lakes

Councilor Gerry Martin, the township representative to the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA), has been looking into invasive species in North Frontenac lakes. He reported back that the spiny flea is a problem, but one species that is less of a concern is the zebra mussel.

“They don't make it to maturity in the Canadian Shield lakes apparently,” said Martin.

The MVCA has put up invasive species signs and information about how to clean boats at township boat launches.