North Frontenac Council - Oct 22/12

Jeff Green | Nov 01, 2012

Construction numbers down, but not department costs

Construction starts were up in September as compared to last year, but with the quiet late fall months upon us, the yearly total seems sure to lag behind the numbers from 2011.

In September, led by three new waterfront homes and two large additions to existing homes, permits for over $1.5 million in construction were issued, as compared to under $500,000 in September, 2011.

However, principally because August of 2011 featured over $2.5 million in construction as compared to $650,000 in August 2012, the year to date total for 2012, which is just under $5 million, is well below that of 2011, which was over $6.5 million.

While there is not much Council can do about construction levels, they will be looking at building permit fees in the near future.

“I need to give Council a heads up that our permit fees are not covering the cost of the building department, which is what they are supposed to do,” Township CAO Cheryl Robson told Council, “and this is something we will be looking at when we look at all our user fees as part of our service delivery review.”

So far in 2012, the township has taken in $76,000 in permit fees, a drop from $90,000 at this time last year.

The actual costs of running the department, however, are about $140,000 per year, Robson said, so covering them entirely with permit fees would see a significant increase. The current fees for a new home work out to about 1% of the construction value.

Steady rise in website usage – the North Frontenac township website has continued to see increased traffic this year. In the July-September period (the busiest of the year) there were 14,815 visits to the site, an increase of 43% over the 10,358 visitors in the peak season last year.

Over the past three years, usage has fluctuated in the same manner each year, starting slowly early in the year and then building to the peak months of July and August before subsiding. The overall numbers have gone up so much that the number of visitors in the quiet months of 2012, January and February - about 95 visitors per day - now exceeds those of the busiest summer months in 2010.

The site’s success can be mainly attributed to its increased functionality as new features have been added over time.

Recycling levels at 55%

For the latest quarter, the total bags of recycling were 55% of the total waste brought to the sites. Of the seven sites in the township, the Plevna site, at 59.35% had the highest level of recycling, while the Cloyne site, at 51.05%, had the lowest.

Resignation from Committee of Adjustment

Frank McEvoy, a long-serving member of the township’s committee of adjustment, has resigned. Carl Tooley, who has been sitting as the alternate member of the committee, will take his place and the township will be advertising for a new alternate member.

McEvoy sent a letter of resignation to the township, which was considered during the closed session of the meeting.