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A report by the consulting group KPMG, six months in the making, is being presented to a special meeting of Frontenac County Council this week, and all members of the four Frontenac townships have been invited to hear the presentation.

The KPMG study considered whether Frontenac County has lost out in provincial grants over the last few years, because unlike neighbouring municipalities, the county plays no role in road maintenance and construction. While the Frontenac municipalities are eligible for infrastructure grants, Frontenac County is not.

The report, which was posted on the county website last Friday (January 24) says that Frontenac County has been short-changed over the last three years as compared to its neighbouring counties (Lanark, Lennox and Addington, Leeds and Grenville, and Hastings).

“Since 2016, the Frontenac County and its townships have received significantly less grant funding when compared to their peers. In 2018, Frontenac County received an average of $3 million less in grant funding than their comparator group,” it says.

The second question the report looked at is what can be done to change this scenario.

KPMG was given two options to consider. Both call for the county to establish a kind of virtual roads department. Under the first option, the in-house option, KPMG was to look at a scenario whereby the county would hire its own engineering staff to support the roads network and prepare grant applications.

The second option, the out-sourcing option, was for the county to be only indirectly involved. It would see the county hire an “independent engineering firm on a retention basis to work in conjunction with township public works managers” when necessary.

Before the report was even commissioned, South Frontenac differed from the other townships. While the other three said that both the in-house out-sourcing options should be considered, South Frontenac supported only the out-sourcing option but they were out-voted

Under either option, the ultimate goal is to enable grant applications to be submitted to provincial and federal granting programs for large scale roadwork, under the county banner.

The KPMG report concluded that each option would result in significant costs. They both require $200,000 in start up costs, and would take some time to be fully operational. By 2024, the in-house option is projected to cost $625,000 annually, and the out-sourcing option is expected to cost $500,000.

While these costs might seem high, KPMG estimates that there are 480 kilometres of regionally significant roads in Frontenac County (including Road 38, Perth Road, roads 509/506, Road 95/96 on Wolfe Island and Road 22 on Howe Island) which will require a $32.5 million investment in maintenance over the next 5 years.

The KPMG report favoured the in-house option but said it should be explored further, a process that will cost an additional $26,000.

South Frontenac Council looked at the KPMG report at their own council meeting on Tuesday night, in order to provide direction to Mayor Ron Vandewal and Councillor Alan Revill, the townships representatives on Frontenac County Council.

CAO Neil Carbonne was quite specific in laying out South Frontenac’s own ideas about a regional roads system.

“The reason it’s on the agenda tonight is that there’s a meeting about it at County and South Frontenac is the only council that initially did not support the in-house option at all,” he said.

Carbonne said meetings with his counterparts and public works managers from the other townships suggest they’d all be on board with a system where there was a joint management board or an arrangement that would see South Frontenac taking the lead.

“We don’t want it to be in-house with the County,” he said.

“Do we need to spend $26,000 (for a KPMG study) to tell us it could be a board?” said Mayor Ron Vandewal. “I don’t want to see anything that would even remotely endorse County involvement.”

“I have some serious concerns,” said Councilor Alan Revill, “I suspect it will be an uphill fight to do in-house without the involvement of the County.”

“I’m not sure this isn’t a boondoggle we don’t want to be any part of,” said Coun. Ron Sleeth. “I can’t suggest we get in bed with the County and put the work in their hands.”

“What we’re looking at is an option that was never at the table, because the only in-house option KPMG was looking at was county based” said Carbonne.

“The way to do what we want to is to explore that different in-house option.”

South Frontenac council decided to endorse the KPMG recommended in-house option, with one change, that the new KPMG study “consider multiple governance structures and service delivery models.”

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY

One of new CAO Neil Carbone’s first acts at his first solo Council meeting was to overrule a suggestion that work for improvements to Point Court in Sydenham go to a suggested vendor.

Council had originally budgeted $8,000 for improvements

However, an anonymous donor to come forward with a $25,000 donation, as long as the township expands the scope of the work and puts in two Pickleball courts in addition to a tennis court.

The improvements are estimated to cost over $32,000.

The donor also suggested the Canada Court Company to complete the work at a cost of $32,377.

However, Carbone was concerned that the procedure contravened the Township’s Procurement Policy and was worried “it could set a precedent where donations were involved.”

Coun. Alan Revill asked if that could cause a delay, saying he’d heard concerns that that could jeopardize the donation.

Carbone replied that while a delay could affect the donation, he didn’t see it being a concern in this case.

“Any delay would be minimal,” Carbone said. “And once we get RFPs, we can award the contract straight away because it won’t have to come back to Council for approval.”

Desert Lake Road Culvert

Council approved the bid of Akman Construction Inc. for the Desert Lake Road culvert replacements in the amount of $555,910.15 including the non-rebatable portion of the HST.

Council also approve the expenditure of up to $100,000 from the 2019 Linear Asset Capital Contingency allocation to cover a shortfall in budgeting in order to move ahead with the project.

The contingency amount will cover $55,910.55 for the construction tender and an estimated $25,000 for consultant fees for contract administration and inspection of the project.

About $30,000 has been spent prior to 2019 for the design of the project.

The estimated total cost of the project including design, construction and inspection is about $630,000.

Rec Committee appointees

Council named its rec committee appointees for the period ending Sept. 30, 2020.

Coun. Doug Morey and Coun. Ross Sutherland will serve on the Community Programing and Events Committee.

Coun. Norm Roberts and Coun. Pat Barr will serve on the Recreation and Leisure Facilities Committee.

Assistant Fire Chief

Council passed a bylaw naming Alexander Bennett as Assistant Fire Chief of Fire Prevention and Training. In the absence of the Fire Chief, Bennett would carry out the duties of Fire Chief.

Development Charges bylaw passed

Without further debate, Council passed its new developmental charges bylaw.

“That comes into effect tomorrow,” said Mayor Ron Vandewal.

 

 

 

 

 

Quotes on Special Council meeting.

 

Claire Dodds, Director of Development Services said “this is just the beginning of the process. Staff is recommending that Council endorse the next steps and proposed timeline for undertaking the preparation of a new Official Plan (and) that Council direct the director of development services to release a Request for Proposal to engage a planning consultant to prepare a new Official Plan for South Frontenac.”

 

The Special Meeting Tuesday night was Phase 1 of 8 phases. Phase 7, which is adoption of the new Official Plan by South Frontenac Council, is scheduled for August of 2021. Phase 8, which is the approval of Frontenac County, is scheduled for October of 2021.

That prompted Mayor Ron Vandewal to observe: “As we can all see, this won’t be over tomorrow, it’s a two-year process.

“Does that mean everybody is going to get everything they want? Probably not.”

 

Coun. Ross Sutherland expressed concern that there may be confusion with the ongoing Strategic Plan preparations.

“Some people may think comments they’ve made regarding the Strategic Plan are enough and that they won’t have to repeat them for the Official Plan,” Sutherland said. “And there may be some overlapping.

“I want to make certain that comments on the Official Plan don’t get lost.”

 

Dodds said her department would take every measure possible to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 03 July 2019 15:21

CAO Orr’s last council meeting

By the time the next South Frontenac Council meeting rolls around (August 6), Wayne Orr will be retired and packing for a leisurely road trip west. In recognition of this, Mayor Vandewal presented Orr with his nameplate at the end of the meeting, just before Clerk Angela Maddocks brought out a cake.

Draft Development Charges By-law

Consultant Gary Scanlon of Watson Associates attended the mandatory public meeting to review the proposed Development Charges by-law and receive public input prior to Council’s final consideration of the new by-law on August 6. Development Charges are charges levied at the time of new construction to recover capital costs associated with both residential and non-residential growth within the municipality. The Province is currently in the process of separating “hard” services (roads, fire protection, police and engineering services) from “soft” services which include parks, recreation, and library services and community-based studies.

Mayor Vandewal noted that there have been no enquiries from either developers or the general public and only one person had attended the mid-June information open house. Likewise, no one from the public (other than the press) was in attendance at this meeting.

The report estimates that, over the next 15 years, 1311 new residential units will be built in the township and the population will increase by 2,767 people. The draft bylaw pegs the total development and community benefit fees per new single-family dwelling at $9,383, a 39% increase over the current fee of $6,758. This fee is paid in addition to building permit fees and any zoning amendment charges that may be necessary.

Scanlon briefly reviewed some of the highlights of his report, and there being no questions or comments from the public, Council agreed to move on to the next step, in August, of passing the by-law.

Community Safety and Well Being Plan (CSWB Plan)

In January 2019, The province legislated municipalities have two years to prepare and adopt a CSWB Plan which will identify risk factors in the municipality and “determine which risk factors the municipality will treat as a priority to reduce; strategies to reduce the risk factors, including providing new services, changing existing services, improving the integration of existing services or coordinating existing services in a different way; set out measurable outcomes that the strategies are intended to produce; plus any other issues/information that may be prescribed through Regulation.” A joint Frontenac Townships CSWB Advisory Committee will be created, and will include representatives from a large, specified group of social, health and education services. CAO Orr said that while the basic concept of such a group had the potential to lead to positive outcomes, “we’re the wrong group of people to set it up”.

Councillor Roberts suggested the proposed advisory committee was too large, but Orr said there was no choice: the group’s composition had been determined by the Province. Councillor Sutherland said he would prefer that as many as possible of the committee members be Frontenac residents.

The proposed committee will include Deputy Clerk Cindy Deachman, Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith (who is the incoming county warden and has a social services background) Sgt Sharron Brown, detachment commander Frontenac OPP, David Herrington from the South Frontenac Police Services Board, Chief Doreen Davis from the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, and one representative each from social services, addictions and mental health, health care, education, and children and youth.

Council adjourned to share the aforementioned cake in CAO Orr’s honour.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

Magenta Corporation is the proponent for a vacant land plan of Condominium that is slated to create 18 waterfront and back-lots on a 91-acre parcel of land called Johnston’s Point on Loughborough Lake south of Perth Road Village. Thanks to a decision of Frontenac County Council last Wednesday (June 19) they will have at least one more year to clear all the conditions and obtain final approval for the development.

The project has been the subject of much opposition from neighouring property owners on the lake and others who are concerned that the project will impact wildlife within an adjacent Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) and on some identified Species at Risk within the proposed development itself.

In 2016, it was approved by the Ontario Municipal Board, the final authority in Ontario for land use planning matters. That approval is good for three years, which runs out this month, hence the application for an extension.

Two delegations before Council on the morning of the decision urged them to reject the one-year extension, but Frontenac County Manager of Planning and Development Joe Gallivan said that the extension was warranted.

In his report to Council, Gallivan wrote: County planning staff along with the owner, project manager, [South Frontenac] township staff and commenting agencies completed a site visit of the subject property on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. At this site visit the commenting agencies and Township confirmed that the outstanding work required the extension to ensure that the required conditions are appropriately fulfilled and were supportive of the one-year extension. County Councillors also had the opportunity to attend the site.”

South Frontenac and Frontenac County Council member Alan Revill indicated he would not be supporting the extension, pointing to his concerns over species at risk within the proposed development lands.

The Planning department of South Frontenac also supported granting the extension, however South Frontenac Council rejected their own planning department decision, and voted down a staff motion at their June 4th meeting recommending the county grant the extension. Frontenac County is the approval authority for land use planning within its jurisdiction.

Joe Gallivan told County Council that he is not aware that an extension such as the one being requested in this case “has ever been rejected by a municipality in Ontario”.

In a recorded vote, the extension was approved, with Councillor Revill casting the only dissenting vote. Couth Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal, who had been one of only two South Frontenac Council member to support the extension at the June 4th South Frontenac Council meeting, supported it again at Frontenac County Council on June 19.

One-year extensions for two other projects in the same district of South Frontenac, Storrington, as Johnston’s Point, were approved without comment. They are the Cranberry Cove and Sands Road projects.

Also at the meeting Council adopted a strategic plan for the rest of this term of council. The plan includes 3 relatively broad priorities: 1. Get behind plans that build community vitality and resilience in times of growth and change 2. Explore new funding sources and invest wisely in critical long-term infrastructure, and 3. Champion and coordinate collaborative efforts with partners to resolve complex problems otherwise beyond the reach of individual mandates and jurisdictions.

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY

After flirting with the idea of constructing a new Frontenac County Administrative building, Frontenac County Council is being asked to look once again at renovating its current building.

A little over a year ago, after considering its long-term office space needs for over two years, Frontenac County was approached by the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority about a shared accommodation solution. The idea of a brand new building was raised, and late last spring the idea gained more traction when South Frontenac Township expressed interest in a three-way partnership.

This led the county’s Administrative Building Design Task Force to look at the feasibility and cost estimates surrounding a new building for the three partners, located somewhere in South Frontenac, perhaps in Sydenham in order to save on water costs.

This process carried on through the fall of 2018, into the beginning of the new term of municipal council.

At a meeting in April, South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal informed both the county and the conservation authority that South Frontenac Council had rejected the idea of a new building at their own meeting in early April.

In response, the task force decided to look again at using either the current Cataraqui Conservation Authority near Hwy. 401 or the current Frontenac County/Fairmount home site in Glenburnie for a joint office space.

“The lowest cost option would be to use the existing county site as all infrastructure and servicing is already in place,” said a report to Council prepared by Clerk Janette Amini and Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Pender.

Accordingly, the report recommends spending $10,000, to be taken from a provincial grant earmarked for modernisation, to look at renovating the existing county offices for use by the two entities.

If approved this week, the money will go towards, architectural analysis of the current county building, preliminary plans to meet partner needs, options for potential configuration of common areas, implications for parking, water & similar services; and initial budget-level estimates for comparison with a stand-alone option.

Strategic Plan to be presented

At that same meeting, Council will consider a draft strategic plan that was developed in association with 80/20 Consulting.

The previous plan, prepared in 2014, has become known for identifying four “wildly important goals” for Frontenac County. This new plan, by contrast, talks about three strategic priorities for this term of council.

Although the plan was prepared before the provincial government’s recent budget, which is already having an impact on municipal budgets, it is written with a sense of caution and a focus on maintaining programs and services that are already in place.

Here are the strategic priorities: 1 - Get behind plans that build community resilience and vitality in times of growth and change, 2 - Explore new funding sources and invest in critical long-term infrastructure using sound judgement, and 3 - Champion and coordinate collaborative efforts with partners to resolve complex problems otherwise beyond the reach of individual mandates and jurisdictions.

Within these priorities is everything from enhancing broadband coverage, securing the future of Fairmount Home, promoting economic development and improving planning processes across the county.

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY

At their meeting in Sydenham on Tuesday Night (April 2) South Frontenac Council released the funds that were on hold in the 2019 budget for the Gilmour Point washroom/change house/shelter.

The cost estimate for the project by Hughes Downey Architects is $225,00 to $250,000 plus HST and includes mechanical/ electrical, ventilation, lighting, power and building.

The estimated does not include septic, well and pump system or electrical services but these costs will fall within the overall budget for the project, for which $450,000 has been budgeted all told

The 2017 and 2018 approved capital budgets included amounts of $20,000 and $150,000 respectively for the project. An additional amount of $280,000 was included in the 2019 capital budget submission.

“We had a meeting with the rec committee and they were quite pleased with the changes,” said Dep. Mayor Ron Sleeth.

Public Works Manager Marks Segsworth said the architect’s fees would be “in the neighbourhood of $20,000.”

Council rejects motion to oppose development service charge changes
A motion brought forth by Coun. Ross Sutherland opposing changes to development services charges was defeated at South Frontenac’s regular Council meeting Tuesday night in Sydenham.

Sutherland’s motion stemmed from a similar motion in Peel Region, which is concerned that provincial government changes to development charges legislation may eliminate the charges altogether. Peel is concerned that without development charges, water bills will rise to pay for water and wastewater to new houses.

The South Frontenac motion read in part: “Moved that the Township of South Frontenac believes that growth should pay for itself through development charges and that development services charges are critical to help South Frontenac pay for needed new infrastructure to accommodate growth, roads and fire halls and

“Further, that any changes to development fees that would move new development water servicing costs to water rates would have significant negative effect on water system users, particularly those on small water systems like in South Frontenac, and also adding a significant block to further development in our hamlets . . .”

The motion further requested that letters be sent to the Premier, Minister of Municipal Affairs, Leader of the Opposition, AMO and other Ontario municipalities.

“I won’t be supporting this,” said Mayor Ron Vandewal. “Development services said it would be handled through them.”

“If we’re going through a process of review, aren’t we putting the cart before the horse?” said Dep. Mayor Ron Sleeth.

“I do support this, we need to be proactive,” said Coun. Randy Ruttan.

$20 per diem
Council approved a $20 per diem for public committee of adjustment members to attend site visits outside of their district.

Generally, both public and Council committee members visit sites within their district and are compensated at $50 per meeting and $0.55 per kilometer to attend site visits and meetings.

The out of district site visits would be done at the request of the director of development services (Claire Dodds).

“I think this is getting to a slippery slope,” said Mayor Ron Vandewal, but if it’s done at the request of the planner, I can support it.”

Hazardous waste
Council has directed staff to develop an arrangement whereby Central Frontenac residents will be able to make use of the South Frontenac Hazardous Waste site on Keeley Road, provided that all costs incurred by extending use of the site will be 100% recovered.

Central Frontenac staff approached South Frontenac to see if it is possible, and the contractor who handles the waste, Brendar, said there is extra capacity to handle more volume.

Details regarding how billing will be handled has been left to staff to work out.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 29 November 2017 12:05

Request from Inverary Lake Association

South Frontenac Council took time out at their Saturday budget session earlier this month to discuss the Inverary Lake Association’s request for $15,000 to help them develop a lake assessment/management plan.

Although Council has never granted individual lake associations money to do lake studies, several of the larger lake associations have managed, through a combination of fundraising and grants, to complete their own studies. Given the large number of lakes in the Township (who even knows how many? when’s a pond a lake, or vice versa?) awarding one grant could blow the dam, so to speak, leading to a flood of similar requests.

However, there was general consensus that although it was too late for the 2018 budget, Council should consider the possibility of setting up a limited fund similar to the private lane enhancement program, which might encourage lake associations to develop plans for their lakes.

As Councillor Barbeau commented, “We need to line up our ducks first.”

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 08 November 2017 17:21

“It Used to be Called Mud Lake”

Jeff Peters was one of six members of the Inverary Lake Residents Association who spoke passionately of the need to protect a small shallow lake just south of the Round Lake Road, near Inverary. Their concern is focussed on an application by a Mr Beech, acting on behalf of a numbered company, to divide a 52.8 acre lot which runs from Round Lake Road to Inverary Lake. The severance would create a new 15 acre lot with house fronting on the road, and retain the vacant 37.8 acre parcel, which has 1,424 feet of shoreline, and a private access lane called Sweetfern Lane. Because of the steep nature of the land on the north side of the lake, there is s special requirement that any structure have a minimum 40 metre setback from the shoreline.

The Lake Association members’ concern is that this severance would open the way for any future property owner to apply for three to five shoreline severances. Their argument is that the lake is already heavily loaded with phosphates and is borderline eutrophic (having an excess of nutrients with resultant heavy plant and algal growth leading to oxygen depletion). Or, as Peters put it, “It’s beautiful in the spring, but pea soup by midsummer.” Like the rest of the speakers, Peters referred to the Township’s Official Plan, which speaks of preserving the environmental quality and enhancing the rural nature of the Township.

They listed several studies which address the extreme fragility of Inverary Lake, which is part of the Collins creek watershed area. Later in the meeting, when the question of approving Beech’s application was called, Councillor Revill said that although he could see the residents’ concerns, “Unfortunately we have an obligation to follow through.” (ie, nothing of the current application to sever off the top portion of the property is in any direct way threatening the lake or adding more than the potential for one additional residence.) Councillor Sutherland brought a motion to defer a decision so that the planner could address the residents’ questions and concerns. A recorded vote passed the motion to defer. (Barr, McDougal, Revill and Vandewal were opposed.) Appointment of Deputy Clerk Confirmed Applause followed Council’s appointment of Angela Maddocks to the position of Deputy Clerk. CAO Orr, in recommending the appointment, noted that Maddocks has been with the Township for many years, and is well qualified to expand her role and range of responsibilities.

Lindsay Mills will continue in his existing role as Planner and Deputy Clerk for planning matters, and the job of Executive Assistant will remain vacant during the transition and will be assessed at a later time. Snow Removal Council approved Mark Segsworth’s recommendations for awarding snow removal contracts, except for Burridge and Bradshaw firehalls, which came in at much higher rates. They, along with the cemeteries, which have no budget allocation for 2018, will be cleared by Township staff, with the cemeteries being treated as a non-priority.

Frontenac Arena

It’s anticipated that the 41 year old Frontenac Arena floor will soon need replacement; probably by 2021, at an anticipated cost of between $700,000 and 1,000,000. South Frontenac is responsible for 59% of the arena Board’s levy: CAO Orr outlined several options Council could follow to prepare for the expense. These will be discussed on budget planning day. For now, Council passed a motion to commit to funding its share of the cost for the Arena floor when the time comes. In Brief: Percy Snider’s application to revise his site plan to include a further equipment shed on his Lambert Road property was approved. Allan & Partners LLP were appointed as Township auditors for the years 2018-2022. funds were reallocated from roadside maintenance, hardtop maintenance and signage to cover an overage of $99,637 for loose top maintenance. A five-year contract for provision of legal services was awarded to Cunningham Swan who have served the Township since 1998, and who continue to offer the least expensive services.

Wayne Orr reported that the current building official has returned to Kingston, and Shawn Merriman of Central Frontenac was appointed to provide interim services. Appointments to the newly-formed Heritage Committee were announced. Brad Barbeau will be the Council representative, and community members are: Pat Barr, Linda Caird, Michael Gemmill, David Jeffries, Wilma Kenny and Mark Millar.

Budget Day is Coming!

Council has set aside Saturday November 18, beginning at 8:00 am (!) to chew its way through planning the 2018 budget. The meeting is open to the public, a unique way to spend your Saturday.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 18 October 2017 16:59

Short and pretty sweet at SF Council

Coming in at a whole 16 minutes, Tuesday’s regular South Frontenac Council meeting in Sydenham wasn’t the shortest on record (14 minutes) but it was close.
Still, after acknowledging that the meeting was being held on Coun. Ron Sleeth’s 74th birthday, Council did cross a few T’s and dot a few I’s.

For one thing, the Harrowsmith Beautification Committee was recognized as a committee of Council. Based on the model of the successful Verona Community Association, the committee has been busy with a beautification project for Harrowsmith that includes flags, flowers and benches.
When asked by Mayor Ron Vandewal if they “are they as organized as Verona?” Councilor Brad Barbeau replied: “there’s a lot of enthusiasm.”
Still with Harrowsmith, Council authorized a $1,000 donation to Harrowsmith Public School for new playground equipment. Councillor Mark Schjerning commented that he was speaking in favour of the motion but also observed: “given what we did for Loughborough and the fact that we have six public schools in the Township, we can probably expect four more similar requests.”

And CAO Wayne Orr gave Council a rundown on new signage at the Township offices in Sydenham.
“We’ve had people with accessibility issues come up the ramp only to be told that building and planning are downstairs,” Orr said. “And we need to make office hours and the entrance to Council Chambers more accessible from the street.”
Council also approved the purchase of 50 new self-contained breathing apparatus units and 150 spare air bottles for the fire department. The price tag of $572,991 plus taxes will be paid this year from reserves to take advantage of a group discount with Kingston but will be listed on the 2018 fire budget.
And finally, Orr gave a brief report on six small-scale (five acres or less) approved in the Township. None of these projects were brought to Council for approval.

Vandewal speculated that the reason none of them came to Council is that they had First Nations endorsement meaning that they didn’t need the points that township approval would have given them.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

Although the official approval will have to wait until next week’s Council meeting, South Frontenac Council approved the purchase of 50 new Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) units and 150 spare air bottles at its Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday nigh in Sydenham.
Fire Chief Rick Chesebrough said an opportunity came along to buy the state-of-the-art SCBA because the City of Kingston Fire Department bought units earlier this year and the company is allowing South Frontenac to piggy-back in on the deal.
Chesebrough said Frontenac Islands, Napanee and Loyalist municipalities are also considering taking similar offers and cost savings could be even higher.
South Frontenac had put $680,000 in its 2018 budget (yet to be finalized) for new SCBA but with the special offer the cost would be $572,991, Chesebrough said.
The total savings could be between $114,00 and $135,000 but the municipalities have until Nov. 30 to decide. The South Frontenac budget isn’t scheduled to be finalized until at least Dec. 5 (or more likely Dec. 19).
“This would mean that our mutual aid partners would all be using the same apparatus which allows for interoperability,” Chesebrough said.

He said the advantages of these new SCBA are increased firefighter safety with built-in thermal imaging cameras, lightweight bodies, increased air supply, 15-year warranties, built-in telemetry for future blue tooth connection, rechargeable batteries and serviceable tunnel straps for complete decontamination.

Let the budget process begin.
South Frontenac Treasurer Louise Fragnito presented Committee of the Whole with the draft capital budget for Corporate Services, Protective Services, Recreation and Planning Tuesday night with a total of $782,000 for those departments.
“The items presented are in line with the target capital budget within the 10-year long range financial plan previously presented with amendments to maintain a minimum $10-million reserve balance as well as a 2.0 per cent taxpayer impact,” she said. “The draft capital budget represents the initial listing received from all department heads incorporating input from committees and Council.”
“Each line of the budget is subject to Council approval,” said CAO Wayne Orr.
“Some of these lines are a little bit out there for my taste,” said Mayor Ron Vandewal. “For example the tennis court fencing at Point Park — we had that before and it didn’t work out.”

Of course these figures represent only the non-public works projects and costs.
The public works budget, which represents the bulk of municipal spending, will be presented Oct. 24.
The combined budget is scheduled to be tabled Nov. 7, with delegations on the budget document being heard Nov. 14.
There is a special Saturday Council meeting Nov. 18 for budget deliberations.
The budget could be approved as early as Dec. 5 or as late as Dec. 19.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
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