| Aug 15, 2013


Once again this week North Frontenac Council found itself looking with concern to Norcan Lake, in the north-east corner of the township. At their late July meeting Council heard from trailer owners at Frank's Park, who have been ordered to remove add-on rooms and move their trailers back from the water.

This time it was lot owners at a new subdivision in the vicinity of Norcan Lake who have found themselves at odds with the developer, Dave Hill, who also owns Canonto Lodge.

Two families have purchased lots from Mr. Hill based on a promise to extend a laneway, Rosie Lane, onto a lot that is to be commonly held by nine landowners once all the available lots are purchased. That commonly held lot extends to the water, giving the back lot owners access to Norcan Lake.

However as David Milloy, one of the lot owners, pointed out to Council, the road is not complete and what has been built is not prescribed in the plan of sub-division and site plan agreement that Hill obtained from North Frontenac and Frontenac County. It does not reach the jointly held property, leaving the lot owners without water access.

A letter to the township from Milloy and two other lot owners outlines this and a number of other concerns.

“The completion of this project is almost two years late. As the roads are not up to standard, there are safety issues. As the roads are not laid out according to the agreement, there are title issues. We are all taxpayers and we all have title issues. We feel the township has really dropped the ball on this project. We need to know what measures the township is taking to complete this contract. The continued delays and lack of information from the township is unacceptable,” said the letter.

Council met in camera to discuss the matter, because of the potential legal ramifications of their decision. Afterwards they passed a motion which, if accepted by all adjacent landowners, would give the back-lot owners the deeded access they need without requiring Dave Hill to relocate Rosie Lane. Mr. Hill will be required to pay all the planning costs to make this happen.

“Hopefully this will work,” said Milloy, “but I have to wonder how it got to this point. Where has the township been?”

More on Solar Voltaics – On Councilor Lonnie Watkins' request, a report was received from the Ontario Fire Marshal's office concerning fighting fires in buildings that have solar arrays on their roofs.

While firefighters are trained to shut off power to a building before fighting fires in order to protect against electrocution, solar panels remain live in daylight hours even after the power is shut off, complicating the job of firefighters. This was enough for Lonnie Watkins to again say that the planned solar voltaic project at the North Frontenac Township office should be scrapped.

“All you are doing is trying to throw up roadblocks after the project has been approved,” said Councilor John Inglis to Watkins. "Firefighters will find a way to alter their procedures to deal with this. That is what they are doing everywhere in Ontario. The same argument was made when hybrid cars were first on the road. It's time to move on with this.”

AH Council turns down burn ban warning letter

Council members, particularly Deputy Mayor Fred Perry, expressed disbelief that a plan to send a warning letter to property owners who set fires while burn bans are in place in North Frontenac and Addington Highlands, was voted down by Addington Highlands Council.

The template for a letter entitled “Open Air Burning Warning” was prepared by North Frontenac Township staff and presented to the members of the Kaladar/Barrie Joint Fire Board earlier this summer.

Because North Frontenac and Addington Highlands jointly oversee the operation of the fire department in Ward 3 (Barrie) of North Frontenac and Ward 2 (Kaladar) of Addington Highlands, a joint fire board that includes representation from both councils sets policy for the joint department.

“I don’t understand how this happened,” said Deputy Mayor Fred Perry, who has been a member of the joint fire board for almost 10 years. “This was brought to the board, and aside from asking for wording changes, which were made, nobody said anything. And the majority of Addington Highlands Council sits on the joint fire board. Then we hear that their Council turned it down.”

"I asked Mr. Pauhl [AH clerk Jack Pauhl] if there was a reason for the decision, and he just said that the Council thought it was just another piece of paper that was not needed,” said North Frontenac Clerk Jenny Duhamel.

North Frontenac has been pushing for the warning letter in order to facilitate enforcement of burn bans.

“This is very important to some constituents in ward 1” (Palmerson-Canonto) said Councilor Inglis. “A number of residents are concerned about the threat to their property when neighbouring property owners burn garbage or brush during burn bans. They want us to take action.”

“We are being held hostage for fire protection by another council, whom I might add we are subsidizing,” said Mayor Clayton.

“How do we handle this one?” asked Fred Perry. “I’m getting frustrated.”

The council is considering implementing the letter in Wards 1 and 2, although they are loathe to have different policies in place within different parts of the township.

Special meeting on Algonquin Land Claim set for August 30.

Brian Crane, the Chief Negotiator for the Province of Ontario for the Algonquin Land Claim, has responded to North Frontenac Council’s request for a public meeting. He will attend a special meeting of North Frontenac Council on August 30 at the Clarendon/Miller Hall. Crane will outline the elements of the Draft Agreement in Principle (AIP) for the Algonquin Land Claim, and will also take questions from the public as well. The proposed Crotch Lake Provincial Park will also be discussed.

Mayor Clayton also announced that he has been in contact with Chief Doreen Davis of the Shabot Obaadjiwan, who said that she is willing to come to North Frontenac, as will Randy Malcolm of the Snimikobe Algonquin First Nation, to discuss the specific land parcels in North Frontenac that are included in the AIP.

Clayton said that he prefers to wait until after the meeting with Brian Crane on August 30 before approaching Chiefs Davis and Malcolm to schedule a second meeting. “I think we should see what happens on the 30th. Maybe Brian Crane will answer all the questions. As far as the timing of a meeting with Chiefs Davis and Malcolm, I think we will first see when they are available and go from there,” he said.

Internet concerns: Council expressed frustration over some continuing problems with the Internet service at the township office. There were problems that stemmed from the township's service provider earlier this summer, and over the last couple of weeks a virus affected the township’s ability to communicate by email.

“I suggested before, and I will suggest again, that we set up a backup email account for when the township's email is down,” said Councilor Gerry Martin. “How much can it cost for a single hookup and one email address? We have had staff sending emails from home. That shouldn’t happen.”

Township CAO Cheryl Robson said the township's IT Co-ordinator, Evan Sepa, will prepare a report on the state of the township's Internet service for the next meeting. In the interim, a motion was approved to establish an alternate emergency Internet and email account should the main account go down again.

Concerns over Wild Parsnip: CAO Robson prepared information for Council regarding Wild Parsnip, which has become prevalent at the side of township roadways. “We contacted our bylaw officer and it turns out that Wild Parsnip is not included on the provincial noxious weed list, which is oriented to agriculture, so there is nothing he can do about it,” said Robson.

The information that was presented to Council indicates how much of a threat the plant is to the skin of people who touch it, and the township will be launching a public information campaign to help residents and visitors identify and avoid the plant. Information and links will be posted at Northfrontenac.com. 

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