North Frontenac Council

Jeff Green | Mar 02, 2016

North Frontenac waste sites earn praise from new consultant – township has 40 years of dump life left

David Bucholz, from Cambium Consulting, made his first report to North Frontenac Council on February 26 after his company took over the monitoring contract for waste sites as part of a county-wide procurement initiative.

“In my job I've seen a lot. I've seen how not to manage sites. The North Frontenac sites are neat and trimmed; the testing wells are in good order, they are locked. There is no loose garbage, and that matters for residents and it matters when the Ministry of the Environment comes to inspect. Your sites are managed with due diligence and care, with effective signage and not too much signage. From a monitoring point of view everything we needed was easy to access. I'd like to commend you on the way you operate the sites.”

Bucholz reported that all of the six active sites in the township have over 30 years of capacity at current dumping rates, with an average of 39 years overall. Although Cambium found a significant decrease in the amount of material entering landfill in 2015 as compared to 2014, Bucholz was reluctant to project even longer life spans for the waste sites.

“With us taking over the monitoring from AECON [the previous consulting company] there may have been changes in how the measuring is done, so I would not project forward until we have a couple of years of data,” he said.

Concerns about Kaladar-Barrie fire budget

Mayor Higgins expressed his concerns regarding the budget for the Kaladar-Barrie Fire Department. The budget, which was approved by the board that oversees the department, contains limited reserve funds. The board is made up of three township councilors from North Frontenac and three from Addington Highlands.

“It seems to me this department is becoming under-funded,” said Higgins.

“We wanted to put more in the budget, to up the reserves,” said Deputy Mayor Fred Perry, one of the North Frontenac representatives to the board, “but the councilors from Addington Highlands wouldn't go for it.”

“Does the fire chief say they can afford the core services they are committed to providing?” asked Higgins.

Fred Perry said that Casey Cuddy, the fire chief, said they can do so this year, but not over the long term.

Mayor Higgins recommended setting up a meeting with Addington Highlands Council to discuss the fire budget. Council then ratified the 2016 budget for the department and passed a motion authorising the clerk to approach Addington Highlands about a meeting in the spring.

Wind turbines back on the radar

The Independent Energy Systems Operator (IESO) of Ontario has said it will award contracts this month under the Large Renewable Procurement (LRP) for wind and solar projects. Companies have made bids under the LRP in North Frontenac and Addington Highlands. Since North Frontenac has come out against industrial wind turbines, Council was quick to endorse a motion being circulated by the municipality of Wainfleet. The motion calls on the provincial government to exercise its right to cancel the process “at any stage and for any reason” and to hold off on any new renewable projects until there is a demonstrated need for the power they would generate.

Councilor Vernon Hermer said that solar projects should be included in the motion. “Everything that the motion says about wind can be said about solar as well”.

Mayor Higgins pointed out that the Wainfleet motion included solar in calling for a moratorium on renewable energy projects and that he would make a specific reference to solar in a letter he will be sending out on the matter.

Although North Frontenac is on record as opposing wind projects, the situation as regards solar is less clear. Mayor Higgins invited a large solar generation company, SunEdison Canada, to address Council on the potential for a large-scale solar farm to be located in the township, and Higgins even talked about the township assisting SunEdison by locating a suitable property for the company to use. Council, as a whole, has not yet taken a formal position as regards large-scale solar power projects.

At last week's meeting, Mayor Higgins also canvassed Council about what to do if either of the wind projects being proposed by NextEra in North Frontenac were awarded the LRP contract by the IESO.

Higgins proposed calling a special meeting with representatives from BEARAT (Bon Echo Area Residents Against Turbines) if a contract is awarded in either township, with a view towards launching an appeal. (See “Opposition ramping up as LRP decision nears”)

Lobbying the province over OPP

Mayor Higgins reported back on the meetings he attended while at a major municipal conference earlier in the week.

At the OGRA-ROMA (Ontario Good Roads Association and Rural Ontario Municipal Association) conference in Toronto, Higgins participated in a forum with the Deputy Minister of Community Safety Correctional Services, among others.

“The request we are making to the ministry is to have direct involvement in the process of overseeing administration of policing services. Municipalities pay 38% of the cost, but we have no oversight over how that money is spent,” he said.