Back to HomeFeature Article - October 22, 2009 Addington Highlands Council –Oct 19, 2009By Jule Koch Brison

This Saturday October 24, the Denbigh Recreation Committee will be holding an Open House and Trillium Grant Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at the Denbigh Hall at 1pm.

The township has been approved for Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RinC) funding to install a roof over the Flinton Outdoor Rink. Projected costs are $372,000 and the financial assistance available from RinC is $248,000. The Flinton Recreation Club is spearheading the project and is in the process of raising the funds for the municipality’s portion of the project. Council passed a bylaw at the meeting, authorizing the township’s signing officers for the project.

Reeve Henry Hogg gave council a heads-up that an agreement would soon be ratified to unionize the volunteer ambulance service in the north. Over a period of time the service will be changed to full and part-time service, the same as it is in the south end of the county. He said the change would add over $1 million to the cost of ambulance services for the north.

The KFL&A Health Unit has notified the township that it will no longer be performing inspections for septic approvals. The health unit receives a fee for the inspections, but does not have enough personnel to carry out the inspections plus do all the other tasks it is responsible for, such as overseeing the Safe Drinking Water Act. The decision will affect the requests for initiating septic re-inspection programs that the township has received from several lake associations. The township will ask the building inspector to perform the inspections.

From January to June 2009, 45 building permits were issued. New construction value was $762,900 and additions & renovations were $391,640, for a total construction value of $1,160,540. Permit fees were $12,064

A bylaw to declare the Line Fences Act no longer in effect in the municipality was discussed. Under the proposed amendment the township’s bylaw enforcement officer would be responsible for fences. Reeve Hogg said it had been a long time since the township had appointed fence viewers. The bylaw was deferred pending further consideration.

Deputy Reeve Helen Yanch and Councilor Louise Scott both reported receiving several phone calls about potholes on various roads. Roads Supervisor Royce Rosenblath said that road grading and maintenance is on a schedule but the rain has made it difficult to keep to the schedule.

Back to HomeFeature Article - September 24, 2009 Advanced Care Paramedics in Frontenac CountyBy Jeff Green

Not all ambulances run by Frontenac Paramedic Services have the same capacity to deliver emergency medical services.

There are two levels of paramedics working for the service, which serves Kingston and Frontenac County: Primary Care Paramedics (PCPs) – the provincial standard, and Advanced Care Paramedics (ACPs) – an optional higher level service.

Primary Care Paramedics can administer five different drugs, while Advanced Care Paramedics can deliver many more. ACPs can start intravenous drips and use more invasive techniques to remove objects that block airways, among a host of other treatment tools.

Currently five of the six 24-hour Kingston ambulances are staffed with one ACP and one PCP at all times, (pending staff availability) but the 24-hour ambulance that works out of the Parham base in Central Frontenac and the 12-hour ambulance that works out of Lavant Station in North Frontenac are each staffed with 2 PCPs.

In an interview with the News last week, Paul Charbonneau, the Director of Emergency and Transportation Services/Chief of Paramedic Services for the County, described how this discrepancy came about.

“In 1994 the Province of Ontario commenced a ten-year study on the value of Advanced Care Paramedics, It was called OPALS. At 18 sites in Ontario, the province paid the extra cost of establishing ACPs. One of those was at Hotel Dieu hospital, which at that time served the City of Kingston. The province covered 100% of the extra salary, drug and ancillary costs for ACPs.”

When paramedic services were downloaded in 2000 and Frontenac County won the contract to deliver service in the City of Kingston and Frontenac County, the new service took over from Hotel Dieu and the Parham ambulance. At the time, Hotel Dieu had ACPs, Parham didn't. The OPALS study was designed for services that were able to respond to calls within 8 minutes, which precluded rural ambulance services that cover large distances, and the potential advantages of ACPs to rural areas was not part of the study.

When the studied period ended in 2004, it was deemed a mixed success. For example, there was little or no improvement in outcomes for cardiac arrest patients, but there was considerable improvement for patients suffering respiratory distress.

When the study period ended, Frontenac County Paramedic Services was faced with increased costs of $180,000 each year to keep Advanced Care Paramedics working in Kingston, and it has done so.

“We have simply carried on as before once OPALS ended, with ACPs in Kingston but not in Parham. To change that would be a political decision,” Charbonneau said.

In some other jurisdictions in Eastern Ontario, however, ACPs have become the norm, even for rural service. While only two Eastern Ontario jurisdictions, Ottawa and Kingston, were part of the OPALS study, some other jurisdictions have since opted to fund ACPs on their own.

Hastings County has instituted a 1 ACP - 1 PCP system in all their ambulances, even at their rural Bancroft base. The same holds true in the Cornwall area.

Susan Brown is the Manager for Training, Quality Assurance and Program Development for Frontenac County Emergency Services. She is also a qualified Advanced Care Paramedic. She sees some definite advantages to having ACPs in all Frontenac ambulances. Aside from the obvious advantages of bring able to administer intravenous drugs on the spot there are other advantages. One she cited is treatment for diabetics.

Faced with a diabetic whose sugar level has dropped to the point where they are disoriented or even unconscious, a PCP can deliver a rather expensive drug which takes 20 minutes to take effect, while an ACP can administer a drug that costs 50 cents and takes effect almost instantly. “Aside from delivering a better immediate outcome for the patient, the likelihood of a hospital visit being necessary in these cases is diminished, leading to savings for the health care system in addition to better service for the public,” Susan Brown said.

When ACPs are required on a rural call in Frontenac County, the PCP ambulance takes the patient, and the nearest ACP-staffed ambulance heads towards the PCP vehicle. When they meet, the ACP jumps into the other ambulance, which continues on towards the hospital.

In Paul Charbonneau's view, Advanced Care Paramedics fit in with a model of health care wherein the ambulance is seen not as a “simple ride to the hospital” but more as “the hospital coming to the patient”, whether that is at their house or at an accident scene.

When the decision was made earlier this year to build a new ambulance base in South Frontenac to house a 24-hour ambulance, the ambulance service put forward a proposal to include an ACP on each shift, and that was accepted by Frontenac County Council.

But there are still no plans for the Parham and Lavant Station paramedic service to be upgraded.

“We have been focussing on the physical plant of the rural ambulance this year,” Charbonneau said, “and the cost of bringing ACP to the North is not something we have brought to the attention of county council thus far.”

There are some issues that would have to be overcome should ACPs be incorporated into the rural Frontenac service. ACPs need to use their skills in order to maintain their certification, and with lower call volumes in the rural areas, ACPs might be required to work some shifts in other locations in order to keep their status.

There is also a question of the cost of training. A PCP can train for ACP certification on a part-time basis, but they will likely have to sacrifice some shifts in order to do the training, and they must cover the cost of the training as well.

“Frontenac County has never paid for ACP training,” said Paul Charbonneau, “whenever a position has come up we have simply advertised for an ACP to cover it, and upgraded our staffing through hiring.”

In other jurisdictions, however, the employer has subsidized the training, and even more aggressive recruitment has been tried.

“When Hastings County upgraded to ACP, they did it by offering a $10,000 signing bonus for any ACP who would come to work for them,” Paul Charbonneau said.

“There are different ways that ACPs could be brought to the north end of the County. It could be done slowly, through attrition, by hiring ACPs when paramedics leave the service, or though more aggressive means.

“But everything costs money, and those kinds of decisions are up to the politicians” 

Back to HomeFeature Article - September 17, 2009North Frontenac Council – Sept. 10/09By Jeff Green RESIDENTS WANT MORE ROAD WORK: A series of letters came to council about roads into some of North Frontenac's larger lakes, including Mackie Lake, Shabomeka/Shawenegog, and Big Gull Lake.

In each case the situation is different, as are the requests.

In the case of Mackie Lake, 41 cottage residents are concerned about the boat launch to the lake, a hill on the access road, and the lack of secure access to the lake.

Susan Hemmerlich, a director of the Mackie Lake Association, has been in contact with Cory Klatt, who manages the township’s Crown Land Stewardship Program.

The township does not own the boat launch or the access road, which are both Ministry of Natural Resources property. They are contained in a land use permit with the township, however, but there is only $10,000 available to maintain 58 kilometres of road under the program, and the work cannot be done by township employees or equipment, only by contractors that are hired by the township.

Long-time seasonal Mackie Lake resident Bruce Henrick attended the North Frontenac Council meeting on September 10 and he managed to address Council. “The access road is needed,” he said. “This is not just a a Mackie Lake situation; this is a needed road.”

“Our hands are tied. If we do this, we will be inundated with demands we cannot afford,” replied Mayor Ron Maguire.

“The township had a road to Mackie Lake, and they closed it and forced us to use the Crown road. If you simply review bylaw 288 it should be clear,” Mr. Henrick said.

Mayor Maguire said the township would look into it.

SHABOMEKA ROAD – Letters were received from the Mazinaw Property Owners’ Association and the Shawenegog Lake Association asking the township to pave the final 3 kilometres of the Shabomeka Road, which is used to access properties on Shawenegog Lake.

Jeff Gardner, President of the Shawenegog Lake Association, said in his letter that, “The original promise to upgrade and surface the road was made 15 years ago. In a May of 2003 meeting of Council, the mayor reiterated the township's intention. The quote was 'your road is next'”.

Tar and chip paving has been done on the road for the past couple of years, but none has been done this year, although some other work has been done.

“There are only 3 kilometres left. I recommend we do it,” said Councilor Fred Perry.

“We should reply to the letters,” said Mayor Ron Maguire, “saying that we will look at what was budgeted this year and that we'll look at it for next year, but we do not need to address promises that were made in the past.”

GREER ROAD – There was also a letter from Beverley Burke of Greer Road near Big Gull Lake, complaining about rocks on the shoulder of the road, which she said caused an accident earlier this summer.

Township Clerk Brenda de Fosse informed Council that staff were “well aware” of the issue Ms. Burke was referring to, and that the grading on that road has been improved.

CLEAR BAGS CAUSE COMPLAINTS – A number of letters and emails came to Council's attention regarding the switch to clear garbage bags at township dumps. Of particular concern was the requirement that white “kitchen catcher” style bags be emptied into the clear bags, and that local stores ran short of clear bags at one point in August.

“It's always going to be hard for everyone to get their heads around the waste management bylaw, and extra hard when we have 35% seasonals, but hopefully over time it is going to become well known what visitors to North Frontenac have to do. In the meantime we are going to get complaints,” said Mayor Maguire.

The clear bag rule was put in place because, even with an incentive program that provided a free bag tag for every bag of recyclables residents bring to the dumps, recyclables were still being found in township landfills. Residents must remove any recyclables that the site attendants find in the clear bags.

The clear bag initiative is included in an integrated waste management plan that the township will finalize later this year, the first such plan in Frontenac County.

AMBULANCE ISSUE UNRESOLVED – The location of a new ambulance base will likely be the next flashpoint in the ongoing dispute between the township and Frontenac County. Paul Charbonneau, Director of Emergency Services for Frontenac County, addressed North Frontenac Council in August. He is scheduled to make his final recommendation to county council this week regarding the location of a new ambulance base to serve the eastern and central portions of North Frontenac.

Township Clerk/Planning Coordinator Brenda DeFosse reported that she had contacted Paul Charbonneau and he informed her that he had “nothing further to bring to North Frontenac Council” before delivering that report.

In mulling over what the township’s next move should be amid fears the new ambulance base would be located outside the township at the junction of Ardoch Road and Highway 509, Deputy Mayor Jim Beam said “We have not received a response to our resolution to the county concerning the consultant’s report in the first place. Our resolution was short and sweet. The report was flawed. We should remind the county of that.”

The township also received a letter from primary care paramedic Ryan Conboy, who works out of the North Frontenac ambulance base. The letter outlines the current system, and the amount of time the North Frontenac ambulance spends on stand-by in Parham.

“To be perfectly honest, if we spend five hours a day within North Frontenac Township, that is a good day for coverage in the North,” Conboy's letter states at one point.

“I read the letter carefully. I think the best option is just to stop the standby service,” said Mayor Maguire.

“The letter is written from a centrist perspective,” said Councilor Bob Olmstead. “I feel Mr. Charbonneau had a lot to do with it.”

Maguire on leave, Beam to take his place – Mayor Maguire will be away from the region during the months of October and November, and Deputy Mayor Beam will replace him as head of council. Beam will also be the township representative to Frontenac County during that time. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - August 20, 2009 North Frontenac Council - Aug 13/09By Jeff Green

Ambulance base location for North Frontenac – numbers pointing south

An ambulance base located in the Ardoch Road/Road 509 vicinity would be located closer to the bulk of ambulance demand than the current location at the township garage near Ompah, Frontenac County Ambulance Manager Paul Charbonneau told North Frontenac Council last week.

Charbonneau presented an update to North Frontenac Council after a consultant’s report called for two options. The first is “a relocation of the Ompah ambulance to a location in the vicinity of the intersection of Ardoch Road and Road 509” because it would have better access to major roads, such as Highway 7, and would be able to respond more rapidly to calls in the eastern portion of North Frontenac and the northern portion of Central Frontenac.

The second alternative put forward by the IBI group, the consultants who did the report, would be to reconstruct the current location so the ambulance could be located indoors.

North Frontenac Township has rejected the IBI report, saying it did not take into account specific realities in North Frontenac, particularly the seasonal fluctuations in population. They also pointed out that the junction of Road 509 and Ardoch Road is located in Central Frontenac, which would leave North Frontenac with no ambulance within its borders.

“The report said ‘in the vicinity’ of those two roads, not necessarily at the corner,” Charbonneau told council, raising the possibility that the base could be located a bit to the north or east of the corner, within North Frontenac’s boundaries.

Charbonneau continued by outlining the work his staff has done since the IBI report was delivered in the late spring. “We use three criteria to evaluate ambulance locations” he said, “drive time and distance mapping, maximum capture of emergency call volume, and past and future growth development. At this point we have information about the first two criteria.”

What the information shows, using 2007 and 2008 data, is that an ambulance located at Ardoch Road/Road 509 would have been within a 30-minute drive (a standard for rural ambulance response that was established in 2000) of 347 calls per year. The current station was within 30 minutes of 101 calls, and a proposed location at a township-owned property in Ompah itself would have been within a 30-minute drive of 99 calls.

“But all of the information is not in,” said Charbonneau, “I am working with your township staff to get information about past and future growth. Until that information is in, we won’t come to any conclusions. When we did the same thing in South Frontenac, we ended up changing the location of the base, from Road 38 to the Sydenham area.”

“A lot of people around here don’t bother with the ambulance; they just drive to the hospital,” said Councilor Lonnie Watkins.

“I don’t dispute that,” said Charbonneau. “I used to work in northern Ontario and I’m familiar with rural independence. But we have no way of counting non-calls. What we want people to know is that ambulance service is not just a drive to the hospital. Paramedics are health professionals; they bring drugs and oxygen with them.”

“One of the other considerations, is that we have a fantastic EFR (Emergency First Response) team within our fire department. They arrive within 18 minutes,” said Deputy Mayor Jim Beam.

Councilor Fred Perry asked if there has been a decision about the future of the Denbigh and Northbrook bases, which are located in Lennox and Addington but provide service to the western part of North Frontenac.

“We are basing all of our decisions on the assumption that Denbigh will stay in place,” Charbonneau said.

A final decision on the location of an ambulance base to serve the northern part of the township is due this fall. “We hope to have funds for a new base construction in the budget for 2010,” Charbonneau said. 

Canonto Lodge on Norcan Lake – Part of a subdivision proposal for Norcan Lake was approved, allowing for the creation of five new lots, but the second part of the application, which includes 13 additional non-waterfront lots, was deferred until the township is able to receive assurance that agreements with the Township of Greater Madawaska to provide fire and emergency and waste management services can be extended to the new lots.

Norcan Lake is not accessible by road to the rest of North Frontenac Township, and municipal services are provided by agreement with Greater Madawaska Township in Renfrew County.

In the vote to approve the subdivision agreement, there were two dissenting votes, by Councilors Wayne Good and Fred Perry from Barrie ward.

Letter to Municipal Affairs almost ready – A draft letter to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, which outlines the township’s grievances against Frontenac County, has been prepared. When it is finalized, the township will be sending it to the Minister of Municipal Affairs as well as MPP Randy Hillier. It will also likely be released to the public.

Trash Compactor – CAO Cheryl Robson reported that Public Works Manager John Ibey is exploring an option that may be cheaper than the compactor that council has approved for purchase. One way or another, she said, a compactor will be in place shortly, at a cost within the approved budget.

Application for community space – township staff has been assured that municipalities can apply to a federal stimulus fund for community spaces. The grant program, which has a minimum value of $750,000 and a maximum of $15 million, could help the township fund the public space portion of a proposed multi-use township office, community center and library complex that is being contemplated for a piece of land on Buckshot Lake Road near Plevna, which was formerly the site of a Ministry of Natural Resources office. Township staff has been working on the application with Jewell Engineering.

Council approved sending in the application.

MNR and AAFNA – CAO Robson reported that the Ministry of Natural Resources had no information about the land clearing that has been done recently by the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation at the Pine Lake boat launch site. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - July 2, 2009 North Frontenac CouncilBy Jeff Green

Ompah fire hall still on the radar, department assured

Members of the Ompah fire crew had an opportunity to meet with North Frontenac Council on June 25 to talk about the township’s on-again off-again plans to build a new fire hall in Ompah.

It's been almost three years since Mayor Maguire was re-elected, and during the election campaign Maguire, along with all the other candidates, promised to build a new hall in Ompah during the current term of office.

A piece of land in Ompah has been purchased, and money has been put aside to build a hall in recent budget years, but with the township facing shortfalls, only $25,000 was put in the 2009 budget.

Mayor Ron Maguire outlined for the fire crew members how other infrastructure needs in Ompah are slowing down the project.

A report on ambulance needs in rural Frontenac County was recently presented to Frontenac County Council. One recommendation in particular concerns Maguire, that the base located near Ompah be replaced with a base at Hwy. 509 and Ardoch Road in Central Frontenac.

“As a council we rejected the ambulance report,” said Maguire. “We didn't want to see the North Frontenac station go anywhere. We then came up with the possibility of combining a new fire hall with a new ambulance base, and there could be money available to help build. The ambulance report said it costs $750,000 to build a base. That amount of money would go far if combined with building a fire hall.”

Maguire said that the ambulance situation, and others, “led us to believe we can't make a decision this year, which is why we cut some of the contribution towards the fire hall from our budget. But it remains a priority.”

The only dissenting voice on council came from Councillor Wayne Good, who said, “A new fire hall in Ompah is not a priority for me, I look at all the fire halls since we are one township. I look at the halls in Plevna and Snow Road as much as Ompah. If they can do the job so be it.”

The site of the current fire hall, which has been slowly sinking, also houses a community hall and the Ompah library, and the future of those municipal services will need to be considered as well.

While the chances of having a new hall in place before the next municipal election in 16 months are not great, the fire crews came out of the meeting feeling that council is indeed committed to moving forward.

“Our first question was, 'Is the hall still a priority?” said Deputy Fire Chief Steve Dunham, “and you've answered yes to that.”

Dunham also pointed out that the Ompah crew raises over $20,000 each year for equipment, and that they have been looking at plans for fire halls for a few years and have found some relatively cheap alternatives.

“We've done about everything we can do,” he said.

One of the crew members suggested moving forward by developing plans for a building that includes space for a self-contained ambulance base with separate kitchen and shower facilities and a separate entrance.

“If the ambulance falls through, we stick to the fire hall,” he said.

Council and the crew agreed to keep working on the fire hall, and to keep working together through Fire Chief Steve Riddell. 

North Frontenac to write to Municipal Affairs about County

The dispute between North Frontenac Council and Frontenac County took another turn last week, when North Frontenac Council decided to write a letter to the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) outlining their grievances.

MMAH is the ministry that oversees municipalities in Ontario.

The issue that has galvanized North Frontenac into action is the makeup of county council, but as Mayor Maguire pointed out last week at a meeting of North Frontenac Council, “The list is long and goes back several years.”

Two weeks ago North Frontenac Deputy Mayor Jim Beam resigned from the County Trails committee over his perception that the committee was being bypassed by county staff in the preparation of a county trails master plan. Then representatives from Central Frontenac and Frontenac Islands also resigned.

Beam told council that he “did have a call from the warden, discussing the issues. I told her the wedge that's been driven is almost beyond repair. She said she would put a resolution on the table on county governance, recommending a council composition of eight, with a weighted vote for South Frontenac, at the county meeting on July 22. I'd like to hold off until then.”

Mayor Maguire did not express much optimism that county governance would be resolved on July 22. “I suppose there is always hope,” he said “but I don’t see the warden getting support from the other two mayors, and she always votes with them anyway. If this thing comes forward in July and it fizzles, it’s pretty well dead.”

For Maguire, the governance debacle is the latest in a string of disappointments with the county. “We’ve seen this over long-term care, over the transportation issue, and we may well see it again before the ambulance issue is resolved. When you add governance and the fact that the trails committee has become a fiasco, it’s time we took some action,” he said.

Council passed the following motion: “Be it resolved the Council of the Township of North Frontenac instructs the Mayor and CAO to lodge a formal complaint with the Minister / Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing by a formal letter of complaint with respect to Council’s ongoing frustration with major issues with the County of Frontenac that directly affect the Township of North Frontenac”.

“This way we can get our grievances on file with MMAH as a first step,” said Deputy Mayor Beam. “In the meantime we can proceed with the County in July before taking any further action.”

Kaladar-Barrie agreement – Plans to re-do the Kaladar–Barrie fire agreement hit a snag when Addington Highlands, North Frontenac’s partner for the fire service, revealed they had not put the necessary funds, $3,000, in their 2009 budget.

North Frontenac wants to get it done, and decided to fund the entire cost by dipping into a reserve fund. They will be asking Addington Highlands to reimburse them for the cost in 2010.

Trillium application – The township will apply to the Trillium Foundation for new boards for the Clar-Mill hockey rink.

River Road water – On the advice of their solicitor, the township will erect a metal sign cautioning the public that the water at the spring at the side of River Road, north of the Ardoch Road, has not been treated. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - June 25, 2009 Central and North Frontenac Emergency planning group starting up, in a hurryBy Jeff Green

Members of the Emergency Planning Committee

As fears that a swine flu pandemic could become a major social issue as soon as this fall, an emergency planning group has sprung up in Central and North Frontenac.

Under the leadership of Gail Hawley-Knowles, the program co-ordinator for the newly minted Family Health Team in Sharbot Lake, and Adrienne Hansen-Taugher, the emergency planning co-ordinator with KFL&A Public Health out of Kingston, a preliminary meeting took place on June 16. The meeting included representatives from the fire service and ambulance service, North Frontenac Community Services, Community Living, Northern Connections, and the Family Health Team itself.

The meeting focussed on how the existing informal mechanisms in the two townships came through during the last major emergency event, the ice storm of 1998, and then moved on to consider how to put more formal structures in place to deal with vulnerable people and others in the case of a flu pandemic or other large-scale disaster.

Looking forward, representatives from the schools, churches, the OPP (who had been invited but could not attend on this occasion) and others will be invited to a meeting in the coming weeks.

According to Gail Hawley-Knowles, the people and agencies involved need to develop their own internal plans, including facing the possibility of high absenteeism, as well as working with a network to ensure public safety can be maintained in the case of many possible emergency situations.

Dave Gemmill, a manager with the Frontenac County Ambulance Service, who was the owner of the Parham Ambulance service back in 1998 when the ice storm hit, said “one of the first things that came to light in that case was that dialysis patients were at risk so we had to find them and get generators to them.”

There are a number of challenges that the committee will be facing as the possible implications of an emergency are considered and it tries to ramp up a network over the summer.

“I see this as positive,” said Adrienne Hansen-Taugher after the meeting.

Hansen-Taugher said she would like to expand this committee to cover South Frontenac as well, but it seems more viable to set up a parallel process in South Frontenac at some point. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - June 11, 2009 North Frontenac Council, June 11/09By Jeff Green

North Frontenac Council looks to the future, and doesn't really like what it sees

At the start of their council meeting on June 11 at the Harlowe Hall, Mayor Ron Maguire drew council's attention to a report that was included with the agenda package.

Entitled The Federal Role in Rural Development, the report from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities outlines some of the difficulties facing rural communities throughout the country.

The report says, “Rural Canada is in a crisis. It is a quiet crisis but one that, if left unattended, will leave rural Canada increasingly weakened and unable to play its essential role in Canada's economy and national life.”

Although the report acknowledges that, “Some believe that rural Canada is a drag on the national economy and on the urban areas”, it argues against this position.

It points out that resources drawn from rural Canada (energy, agricultural products, lumber and minerals) make up 50% of Canada's exports but do not generate wealth for the communities where they are extracted.

The report argues that, “As long as natural resources remain critical to our national economy, a chronically weak and underperforming rural Canada is not good for those who live there, or for the national economy, or for urban Canada. Balance is needed in economic development, which calls for public policies that can accommodate both rural and urban areas.”

It marks a difference between rural areas that are close to urban centres, which have seen population increases and comparative wealth in recent years, as opposed to more remote regions, which are suffering.

In the end, it makes three major recommendations: that rural Canada needs a champion at the federal cabinet table; that rural communities need a “long term plan” from the federal government; and that “a one size fits all approach to rural policy making will not work. Solutions must be tailored for and responsive to the diversity of rural Canada.”

In taking about the report and its conclusions, Mayor Maguire said, “I think that we can't passively sit by and just let the status quo continue; this arguing for a federal role in rural Canada is fine, but that will take years. I think this report is the backdrop for moves we should be making as a council.”

Funding for Northbrook Medical Centre’s 25th anniversary – In response to a request to support the 25th anniversary celebrations at the Northbrook Medical Centre, council agreed to pay 1/3 of the projected $2,500 cost of the event.

Later in the meeting, Councilor Fred Perry updated council on some of the changes proposed for the medical centre, which is in the midst of adjusting its care model to bring it in line with the requirements for establishing a multi-disciplinary Family Health Team.

“I was talking to Doctor Tobia today,” Perry said, “and he would like to set up a satellite clinic in North Frontenac, probably in or near Plevna. He wants about a 1200 square foot building, to house a nurse practitioner and staff. He already has a small satellite clinic in Denbigh.”

The four tenders – They might not sing like angels, but the following four companies submitted the winning bids for township tenders.

Francis Truck Centre, $119,523 for a new tandem cab and chassis

Gemmill Sand and Gravel, $42,940 gravel crushing

Greenwood Paving, $259,031 for a variety of paving jobs

Jason Lemke, $31,500 for winter sand.

Ambulance base proposal – Councilor Fred Perry suggested that the township offer Frontenac County three possible locations for an ambulance base.

“We need to give them some options, because if not they will move the base to 509 and Ardoch Road in Central Frontenac,” said Perry.

Council thought it was premature to make any offer, since the ambulance report has not been debated thus far. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - June 11, 2009 LFL&A benefits from the recessionBy Jeff Green

MP Scott Ried presents a check for $1,000,000 in Federal/Provincial Funding to Central Frontenac. L to r: Bob Harvey, Scott Reid, Janet Gutowski, Philip Smith and John Duchene. Below Reid is Joined By MPP John Gerretson in presenting a $2.3M  check to South Frontenac, L to r: John Fillion, Reid, Ron VanDewal, Gary Davison, Larry York, Bill Robinson, Gerretson, and David Hahn.

MP Scott Reid is not exactly an advocate of the infrastructure spending program that his government, under threat from the opposition parties, has developed.

“I'm not sure I agree with the logic behind government spending in a recession on the hope that the economy will handle the payback,” he said at a hastily convened $1 million cheque presentation in Sharbot Lake last Saturday.

That did not stop Reid, as a government MP and Deputy Government House Leader, from working behind the scenes to bring a generous share of stimulus infrastructure funding to his own riding. This work included coordination with his provincial counterparts from the McGuinty Liberal government benches in neighbouring ridings to ensure matching grants were in place

Last Wednesday, June 10, a series of releases came out announcing funding for projects in virtually every jurisdiction in the Lanark Frontenac Lennox and Addington riding.

In Frontenac County, this amounted to $2.67 million from the federal government and an equal amount from the Ontario government, to be spent by March of 2011. The catch is that local municipalities will have to match the federal and provincial contributions.

Projects that have received funding include: in North Frontenac - road reconstruction on the Ardoch Road; in Central Frontenac - Oso beach playground equipment, a salt storage dome for the Olden works yard, township office expansion, and road reconstruction on Long Lake Road and some of its side roads; in South Frontenac - Loughborough Lake Bridge; for Frontenac County - an ambulance station in South Frontenac.

In Addington Highlands, funding was approved for the reconstruction of Matawatchan Road, and an addition to the township garage in Denbigh.

“I'm really happy that every municipality in my riding answered the call for applications with good proposals and will be receiving funding from the Build Canada Fund and the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund,” said Scott Reid.

South Frontenac Mayor Gary Davison, noting that his municipality received a large grant for its water plant just weeks ago from another federal-provincial granting program, said he thinks Scott Reid's office has been helpful in securing these grants.

“We were getting calls from them to explain the projects and they said we should always copy them with grant applications so they know what is going on when they are asked. All I really know is that after being ignored for years we seem to be getting more help now.”

That help may be coming to an end, however.

Scott Reid said that with the federal deficit projected at $50 billion this year, restraint would be the order of the day.

One grant application that was not successful in securing funding was the library-office expansion project in Sydenham that was put forward by Frontenac County.

The ambulance base in South Frontenac, for which Frontenac County was successful, demonstrates the frantic nature of the process.

Although a new base was one of the recommendations of a consultant’s report on rural ambulance service in the county, the report was only received by the county two months ago and has not yet been discussed by county politicians.

With the deadline for applications looming, a council meeting was convened at the end of a public meeting on county governance on Wolfe Island on April 30 and it was proposed that the South Frontenac base be brought forward before the report itself is considered for implementation. Although North Frontenac Mayor Ron Maguire, whose council has rejected the ambulance report, reportedly spoke against the proposal, it was approved in a 3 - 1 vote.

When the consultant’s report, prepared by the IBI group, was presented to the county, Emergency Services Co-ordinator Paul Charbonneau said the report “was just the beginning of the process. The real work starts now.”

That real work will now include finding a central location for a base in South Frontenac, and the annual funding for a 24-hour ambulance and team of paramedics to run out of that station. 

Back to HomeLetters - April 9, 2009Letters: April 9

Ambulance Review an Opportunity for NF, Leo Ladouceur

Re: Kudos to John Simcock, Nicki Gowdy

April Fooled, Cory Mann & Eric Nyrhila

Re: Unusual Sightings, Rem & Kees Westland

Ambulance review - An opportunity for North Frontenac

After reading the Frontenac News report on rural ambulance service in Frontenac County, Frontenac News March 26/09, I feel I should speak out as a citizen of North Frontenac Township. Jeff Green’s article said that future service in the north is a big question. That big question arises from two very debatable conclusions, which cause me to doubt the validity and credibility of the IBI Ambulance Review.

First of all, anyone who can read a map knows that moving the 12 hour per day ambulance service to Ardoch makes no sense and has many disadvantages. Considering the types of roads and the distances involved between the towns and hamlets, such a move would increase response times for most of the township. The very reason this rural ambulance service was put into place was to improve response times in the north. We appreciate this service and know that a move to Ardoch would result in a serious deterioration in response times.

Secondly, I have to ask the question “Why would a new building to house this ambulance service cost $750,000?” This is a 12-hour per day service – no sleeping quarters are required and only one vehicle needs to be housed. A reasonable facility would be a one-bay heated garage with one or two attached rooms to accommodate paramedics during the day. Those who wrote this review must think the people in the north have very expensive tastes and money to waste.

There is a simple, reasonable and inexpensive solution to Jeff’s big question about ambulance service in the north. That is a combined fire hall and ambulance base such as the one just down the road in the town of Enterprise. North Frontenac Township Council has been promising a new fire hall for Ompah since it was elected. The site has been selected and the land purchased. Why not combine the fire hall and the ambulance service in the same new building? Fire and ambulance services are a natural combination to be housed together. Ompah is the central township location. A six bay fire hall, actually three bays back to back, complete with offices could be built for under $400,000. One bay and necessary facilities for the ambulance service could be made available in that building. Shared construction and on-going operating costs would be greatly reduced since all utilities would be provided continuously in the fire hall.

Maybe some of those millions being spent to kick start “ready to go projects” could be squeezed out of the Federal and Provincial money bag if the county and township would put together a reasonable proposal. If these two levels of government could stop their constant bickering, they might negotiate an amicable agreement that would see those in the north get something to appreciate for their tax money. Improved ambulance and emergency services would be a good place to start.

Leo L Ladouceur

Re: Kudos to John Simcock

I am writing in response to the submission of the letter “Kudos to John Simcock!”, April 2/09,  I am extremely glad that someone thinks that John is doing a great job! There are not many people that feel this way, myself included! I am also very glad that there is positive change on the roads that can account for the over budgeting John has done since coming to our township. Also I am glad that the area of the township that the 5-Year Road Plan is catering to will see more money spent on it. For those folks who do not realize it, the 5-Year Road Plan proposed by John Simcock basically ignores District 4 yet again! Little money will be spent in this area. As you probably have concluded, I live in the "historically ignored" end of the township. Since amalgamation, District 4 has been pushed aside in many aspects of township time and money. Our councillors may be upset and not have a positive outlook because the area and people that they represent have truly been pushed aside, except at tax bill time. Maybe we could all be more positive if the budget truly showed no favouritism or was spread evenly over the township as a whole, but until then I am truly glad for people like Bill Snyder and Phillip Smith who have no problem in standing up for the people of the south. In closing I would like to say that maybe John is doing a great job in the north but the south has truly been forgotten - yet again. Yes, many do like change, but fair change would be much more appreciated!

- Nicki Gowdy

April Fooled

We are Snow Road cottagers and when we are not there, we read the online edition religiously each week to keep that North Frontenac momentum going.

Your April Fool edition was wonderful this year - you got me twice! Once with the info about the Twilight movie New Moon and again about the name Plevna (if you had been here you would have heard me yell, loudly too, what?!?) 

I only wish that the sad news about Ine Platenius had also been an April Fool. Condolences to her family and to the community she loved so well.

Sincerely, Cory Mann & Eric Nyrhila

Kudos to John Simcock

The "Unusual Sightings" article in the 2 April paper was a relief for me and my son.  Perhaps we were not crazy after all.

About two years ago, just after dusk, we looked up our lane because we heard a curious - very fast - beating of light feet on the road surface.  Heading towards us at an impressive clip was what looked like a very large rabbit.  I estimated its height at about four feet, with large floppy ears streaming behind its head. As observed in the article, the front arms were short, the legs long, the creature bounded on its hind legs, and there was certainly no tail.

We could confirm no tail - at least not a large one - because just as it came close to us (about 10 meters away) the light-sensitive floodlamps of the garage came on and the creature veered off to the right and into the bush...and disappeared without a sound.

My son was about 16 at the time, not yet of drinking age, and I was certainly sober.  We compared notes right away, and have been doing so from time to time every since.

My own conclusion (hope?) was that perhaps we heard the beatings of the wings of a low-flying large bird, such as a grouse or pheasant.  Perhaps the bird's wings looked like long ears.  Perhaps the bird winged off from the road and made no further sound precisely because it was flying, not running.  That, at least, would line our experience up with our known universe. 

The possibility of our having seen something prehistoric (giant hare) or exotic (kangaroo) seemed too far fetched...but your article has restored our confidence in our observations at the time: the truth is we saw a four-foot hare, with very long ears, that ran like the wind. 

Rem and Kees Westland

Back to HomeFeature Article - April 16, 2009

Notes on Municipal Budgets

Central Frontenac BudgetNorth Frontenac Budget

North Frontenac CouncilBy Jeff Green

Compactor expands NF budget

A last-minute decision to purchase a trash compactor in 2009 at the final North Frontenac budget meeting added $60,000 to the Township of North Frontenac’s budget, bringing the increase in township taxation to $265,000, or 7.7%.

After the final day-long budget session eight days earlier, council had tentatively adopted a budget with a $205,000 (6%) increase to the levy, and asked Treasurer Cheryl Robson to prepare two additional scenarios, one including an extra $50,000 in contributions to reserve funds, and another including $100,000 more to be put to reserves.

The next day, at a regular council meeting, the advantages of purchasing a heavy compactor, to be financed over three years (which will swell the 2009 budget by $60,000) was touted by the township’s waste management consultants, Aecom Engineering.

So, a third scenario was prepared, which does not include any additional contributions to reserves, but does include an extra $60,000 for the compactor. Ultimately, that final scenario was adopted, but not everyone on council was happy with the decision.

Councilor Wayne Good made reference to the report that was delivered by Guy Laporte of Aecom as he argued in favour of the expenditure. “Guy Laporte said we will add five years to the capacity of each site in the first year of compaction. This is in the long-term interest of the township”.

“The big thing that sticks in my mind is the cleanliness of the sites,” said Public Works Manager John Ibey. “By compacting through the winter we will not have debris everywhere in the spring”.

The township had originally planned to spend $10,000 in 2009 renting a compactor and using it in one or two sites, as a sort of pilot project.

“When we talked to Tackaberry, [a company that rents out compaction equipment], they said it would take a lot of work to do compaction here because it has never been done before,” said John Ibey.

Deputy Mayor Jim Beam had trouble reconciling the desire for a compactor with the budget increase that will be faced by ratepayers this year.

“We shouldn’t be saying more and more and more. I can’t even accept that it is going to cost this much more to run the township in 2009 than it did in 2008. I have a problem with the 6%. I cannot tolerate any increase to the 6% and I think that it is out of line to do so. We said it would cost $10,000 to see how it worked and we should stick with that”.

“I have to agree with Jim,” said Councilor Bob Olmstead.

“If I go fishing, I’d sooner fish from shore than go buy a big boat and get deep into the lake right away,” said Councilor Lonnie Watkins in explaining his opposition to buying the compactor.

“I think it’s a no-brainer,” said Mayor Ron Maguire. “Seven years ago we were informed that we have to put $750,000 away each year towards dump closures and through recycling we have turned that around. With this compactor we are going to solve the waste management problem in our township for our lifetime. I think $10,000 would be $10,000 thrown away if we are going to do this on an experimental basis”.

Members of the public who were in attendance at the public budget session had differing views on the compactor issue.

At the end of the public meeting, Mayor Maguire asked for a straw vote among members of council to see who supported the version of the budget that included the compactor and a $265,000 increase in the levy to ratepayers.

Councilors Olmstead and Watkins and Deputy Mayor Beam said they were opposed, while Councilors Good, Perry and, after some hesitation, Gunsinger said they supported it.

“There is a tie so I cast the deciding vote,” said Mayor Maguire. “I support the compactor.”

Treasurer Cheryl Robson had earlier outlined other spending changes that are also included in the budget.

There are some capital expenditures for the fire department in the budget, including a half-ton truck for the Barrie station, a new fire pumper, a four-wheel drive SUV and a wildfire half-ton for the Ompah station, and increases in the training and equipment replacement budgets.

A new helipad will be built on Hwy. 506.

In terms of road work, 10 kilometres on Roads 506/509 will receive single surface paving in line with an annual maintenance program. As well, the budget includes money for 3 km of single surface paving on Kashwakamak Lake Road, 1km double surface paving on Robertsville Road, paving and shouldering on Harlowe Road, rehabilitation and 2km single surface paving on Mountain Road, 2.7 km construction on Boundary Road, and ditching and gravelling on River, Head, Smith, and South Roads

On the waste management front, three hazardous waste depots will be set up this year, and an e-waste collection will be held this summer.

The township has also set money aside to turn a donated portable classroom into a temporary Plevna branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library at the old MNR building on Buckshot Lake Road. 

North Frontenac roundly rejects ambulance study

The latest chapter in North Frontenac Council’s ongoing enmity towards Frontenac County is being played out over ambulance service.

North Frontenac Council passed a harshly worded resolution last week (April 9). The resolution described the consultation process that preceded the report as “terribly flawed” in regards to residents of North Frontenac Township.

Currently ambulance service in North Frontenac is provided between 7:30 am and 7:30 pm from an ambulance station that is located at the township garage at Lavant Road and Road 509 (between Snow Road and Ompah). The ambulance is located out of doors, and must be kept running all day during the winter-time because of the equipment it contains.

The ambulance review of the Frontenac County Rural service, by the IBI consulting group from Toronto, recommended that the current North Frontenac base be closed and a new base be built at Ardoch Road and Road 509, which is close to Sharbot Lake and is at the northern edge of Central Frontenac Township. It also says that alternatively a heated garage could be built at the current location at Lavant Road.

The report also recommends that a new station be built in South Frontenac to house a 24-hour a day ambulance. It recommends maintaining the 24-hour station at Parham in its current location.

The North Frontenac Council resolution said that the report’s flaws include its exclusion of “the influx of seasonal residents and tourists to the northern end of the county from May to October.” It also says that a reduction in ambulance service would run counter to economic development plans in the township, and points out that most northern residents live at least one hour from a hospital, making the maintenance of existing service levels “gravely imperative”.

The North Frontenac resolution resolves by “respectfully requesting that the ambulance service be maintained and continue to be housed in its present location, with enhancements to the existing Lavant Station ambulance location to accommodate housing the ambulance inside year round and enhancing the present service to 24/7 coverage; or in the alternative that the County of Frontenac and the Township of North Frontenac enter into discussions to change the Lavant Station ambulance location to a combined ambulance fire/station in the village of Ompah”.

It also asks that the County of Frontenac not make any decisions about northern service until the ambulance service issue is resolved in neighboring Lennox and Addington County, which provides service to North Frontenac residents in the west and north-west regions of the township.

It also says that the province should “resume responsibility for the delivery of land ambulance services” because counties are inappropriate jurisdictions for ambulance service.

The IBI report was presented to a meeting of Frontenac County Council in March and was referred to the emergency services department for a staff report to be presented back to council at a later date.

“The report is only the beginning of the process” said Emergency Services Manager Paul Charbonneau at the time.