North Frontenac Council - Jul 4/13

Jeff Green | Jul 04, 2013

North Frontenac achieves dark skies designation

North Frontenac Township is the first municipality in Canada to achieve the designation of Dark Skies Preserve from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

The designation is in recognition of efforts, led by the township's Economic Development Task Force, to develop an observation pad off Road 506. The pad is open to the public year round, and is also the location of a Dark Skies event in the summer and fall season.

There are numerous dark skies preserves in the country, but this is the first time that an entire municipality is achieving that designation.

After receiving an application earlier this year from the township, the Royal Society said they would approve the designation if the township was willing to enact a new lighting policy. The policy commits the township to using only International Dark Sky Association approved lights in all new installations and when lights need to be replaced.

The township is also committed to carrying out a communications plan aimed at educating permanent and seasonal residents of the benefits and cost savings of adopting Dark-Sky lighting, but the new policy calls for only voluntary compliance among township residents and business owners.

Still, at least one member of Council, Gerry Martin, expressed the concern that the township is edging towards legislating the kind of outdoor lighting that township residents are allowed to purchase.

“I find there is a real Big Brother aspect to this. I don't like that,” he said.

But, as Mayor Bud Clayton explained when asked about the new policy by a member of the public, “All we are contemplating doing is encouraging modern lighting techniques, which are more efficient, light up the ground rather than the sky, and save money. There will be no forced compliance.”

With the policy in place, the township will now focus on the grand opening of the North Frontenac Observatory, which is slated for Saturday, August 3. The observatory, which is located next to a township helipad, has been the site of dark skies events in the past.

Now, thanks to $41,000 in Frontenac County Federal Gas tax rebate money, there is a new concrete pad for the observatory, as well as a parking lot, privies, and picnic tables. The site also has hydro available for powered telescopes.

“Since we started this initiative, we have had a lot of support from astronomers from throughout the region who value the dark skies that we have in North Frontenac. We are accessible by car from Kingston and Ottawa, but the light from both of those cities does not overly impact our viewing. And with 70% of our land being crown, the viewing is very good,” said North Frontenac Councillor Betty Hunter, who has spearheaded the dark skies initiative in her role as chair of the township's economic development task force.

A number of astronomers will be on hand on the 3rd with telescopes. Assistance will also be offered to those with their own telescopes. Because there is also a PA system on the site, information about what can be seen on that particular night will also be available.

Before all the after-sunset action, there will be a grand opening of the new site and a celebration of the township's designation as a dark sky preserve.

North Frontenac pulls plug on municipal solar project

At the very last minute, a seemingly routine vote at North Frontenac Council has stopped a planned MicroFit project that was to generate revenue for North Frontenac Township.

For an initial investment of $56,741, the township was slated to receive over $100,000 after expenses over the 20-year life of the project, a profit margin of over 7% per year. Instead they are out $3,300, the cost of the structural study on the roof where the panels were to be located.

The project, which was in line with a commitment made by the township to Frontenac County to put at least one MicroFit project on a municipal building, has been in the works for over a year. It was slated to be built at the township's municipal complex at 6648 Road 506, near Plevna.

The final vote on the project was tied at 3 votes in favour and 3 votes against, and a tie vote is a lost vote according to the township's procedural bylaw. Only 6 members of the 7-member council were on hand for the vote. Councilor John Inglis, a strong supporter of the project, was not in attendance, and Mayor Clayton pointed out that had he been there the outcome would have been different.

Citing their opposition to the MicroFit program because of its potential to raise Hydro rates on a province-wide basis over time, Councilors Gerry Martin, Lonnie Watkins and Deputy Mayor Fred Perry voted against the project, which was supported by Councilors Berry Hunter, Wayne Good, and Mayor Clayton.

North Frontenac has been considering starting up a MicroFit project for a number of years; they initially hoped to put one on the proposed fire hall/ambulance in Ompah before that project was scrapped.

Last August, Public Works Manager Jim Phillips began working on developing the project for location at the township's administrative complex. Exxex Energy Corporation did a structural engineering feasibility study on the roof of the building, at a cost of $3,300. The study concluded that it would cost $10,000 to $12,000 to shore up the roof of the building, $43,241 for the equipment and $1,500 in installation, for a total project cost of $56,741.

On May 8, the township received a contract from the Ontario Power Authority for sale of the power that the project would have generated by the panels. The contract gives them until November 8 to have the project up and running.

After the no vote, Councilor Hunter gave a notice of motion to revisit the decision at the next Council meeting. It was unclear whether a simple majority is required in order to revisit and perhaps overturn the decision, or whether a 2/3 majority is required. If the latter is the case, in a seven-member council, five votes would be necessary to meet that requirement.