North Frontenac Council

Jonas Bonnetta | Jan 20, 2016

Ompah Fire Hall In Need Of Repair

Jeremy Neven, the Chief Building Official, did an inspection of the Ompah Fire Hall in early December 2015 and pointed out 13 violations of the Ontario Building Code that need to be addressed.

The issues range from caulking the shower stall, moving pressure valves, electrical outlets, and water lines, to venting laundry traps and insulating the floor.

“I just can't believe this,” Councillor Wayne Good said. “On a brand new rebuild of a building...This is just ridiculous.”

“Council made a decision not to go ahead with a professional project manager and to use a volunteer instead,” Mayor Higgins said. “The Township itself is ultimately responsible for this as we never followed up on inspections.”

“Our existing building inspector pretty much refused to do interim inspections,” Councillor Gerry Martin said.

“The biggest and most major issue is the fact that the floor was improperly installed,” Councillor Bedard said. “We spent a pile of money on a concrete floor with the chances now of it heaving and destroying the in-floor heating system.”

“We were not willing to spend the money on a contractor to come in and do the whole thing,” Councillor Inglis said. “We went with this process because it was going to save us money.”

“The cost of fixing this, compared to the (quoted) cost of that building,” Inglis said. “We still have a 100% success rate with this.”

“For all this is going to cost us it's nothing compared to what it would've been with a major contractor,” Councillor Good said.

Bathroom Built Without Permit Causing Grief For Cottagers

Joe Gallivan, from the County planning department, made a presentation to Council on Monday morning regarding the request for a by-law amendment, made by Beth and Bo Mocherniak, cottagers on Lake Kashawakamak, to allow them to keep the bathroom they built in their garage.

The Mocherniaks built a two-storey garage on their property in 2014 and added a bathroom to the structure in 2015. The project, excluding the bathroom, was constructed with a building permit, allowing them to build a garage with sleeping quarters upstairs. The bathroom was built in 2015, without a building permit, and was tied into the existing septic system of the original cottage.

The Mocherniaks purchased their cottage approximately 12 years ago although Beth has been cottaging in the area since the 1960's. When they first purchased the cottage their family was 5 people. It's now 9 people and soon to be 10.

“We've been cottaging here for a number of years and we've continued to support the local economy and use local builders and suppliers,” Mr. Mocherniak said.

The Mocherniaks made a plea to Council to allow them to keep the bathroom. They suggested that it wasn't practical to expand the current single bathroom in their cottage as it would mean possibly eliminating one of their bedrooms. They also said that the original cottage bathroom setup made it difficult to bath a child in, a concern of theirs since they've now got grandchildren. The new bathroom in the garage includes a bathtub to alleviate this problem.

“It is almost impossible to bath a child in a shower stall,” Mr. Mocherniak added.

The garage is considered an accessory structure and therefore isn't allowed to have a sanitary, or cooking, area in it, under the local zoning regulations.

“We didn't realize we needed a separate permit for it,” Bo Mocherniak said regarding adding the bathroom to the garage. “Our contractor didn't mention it to us.”

“I would say the majority of the area is habitable and insulated,” Gallivan said. “There is no kitchen but there is the tub and the shower and running water in the summer time.”

“I would argue that 'majority' is not correct,” Bo Mocherniak said. “It is a garage. We store stuff there. Maybe a significant portion (is livable)”

Brad Taylor, a neighbour to the Mocherniaks, raised concerns during the meeting.

“What it comes down to is the building code and the by-law,” Taylor said. “If you do allow special exemptions to one person then you're opening the door to everyone else.”

“If we allow this to go through we might as well scrap the zoning by-law,” Councillor John Inglis said. “The word 'shall' would be replaced by the word 'should'.”

“The washroom addition doesn't impact the environment. The septic system can handle it,” Councillor Dennis Bedard said. “Why wouldn't our by-laws change to accommodate situations like this?”

“That's something to consider, changing the by-law,” Mayor Ron Higgins said. “That would include the planning department and the building inspector but the point is we have an existing by-law we need to go by right now.”

“We just built a cottage next store. It's 1300 square feet,” said Louis Armstrong, a neighbour of the Mocherniaks. “They just built a garage that's 1344 square feet. I'm thinking I'm going to pay high taxes on my brand new cottage and they're going to pay taxes on a garage that's bigger than my new cottage. I just don't find it's fair to skirt around the rules.

The by-law amendment request for the Mocherniaks was voted on by Council and defeated 5-1.

Plugging In

The Ministry of Transportation is investing $20 million into installing public electric vehicle charging stations throughout Ontario through their Electric Vehicle Chargers Ontario program (EVCO).

The program is a one-time, competitive, application-based grant program designed to cover the costs of purchasing and installing a public charging station and is accepting applications up until February 12th 2016.

“The Economic Development Task Force (EDTF) recommended that the Township actually apply for the grant,” Councillor Inglis said. “If we get a grant to do something than we'll scramble to find a private partner. I'd like permission for the Township to pursue the application and that we deal with the question of ownership if we get the grant.”

“Our choice was Cloyne,” Councillor Inglis said regarding a potential location for one of the charging stations. “We'd be lucky to get one here.”

The Township could apply for 100% of the costs to cover the project through the EVCO and there is no limit to how many chargers they can apply for.

These charging stations allow an electric vehicle to reach 80% charged in 20-30 minutes.

Potential Ompah Picnic Area

Councillor Bedard met with members of the Ottawa ATV group last week to discuss the idea about developing a trailhead and picnic area with a washroom in the Ompah area.

“The Ottawa ATV group officially committed a minimum of $2500 towards the project,” Bedard said, “I also have a meeting with the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance on Thursday and will be discussing it more formally with them to see if they're interested in participating.”

“It might be an opportunity to combine all these partners and put this together,” Bedard said.

“It's not intended to be used just by that group (ATV's),” Bedard said. “A picnic area and washrooms would allow people coming into the community to stop and maybe look at a map, use the washroom. The biggest structure would be similar to the pavilion at the park in Plevna.”

“We don't have to do anymore than the Malcolm Lake boat landing,” Councillor Gerry Martin pointed out. “That's being used all the time. Families are using the picnic tables, the washrooms. They stop there.”

The project has been budgeted to cost between $13,000-$14,000.