North Frontenac Council

Jonas Bonnetta | Jun 11, 2015

History of Malcolm and Ardoch Lakes documented In new book

Brenda Martin presented a recently completed book on the history of Malcolm and Ardoch Lakes. What had started out as a calendar quickly blossomed into a thick book full of photos and stories about the lake's past which is now available for purchase. She brought copies of the book on DVD to donate to the Ompah and Clarendon-Miller libraries.

Martin also spoke about a need for space to store the archives that have been collected throughout the process.

The book, 'History of the Lakes: Malcolm and Ardoch' is available to purchase for $20 on a DVD or for $125 in print, which is the actual cost of printing, via the Malcolm and Ardoch Lake Association Work Team.

Support for Studio Tour

Betty Hunter, an artist from North Frontenac, made a presentation to council informing them of the work she and her peers do to promote the artwork of local artisans, and asked for their support.

With the help of local artists, Hunter is organizing this year's North Frontenac Back Roads Studio Tour, which will take place September 26 & 27. The North Frontenac Back Roads Studio Tour was created in 2014 by Jim Craig and friends. In its first year, the tour had 15 artists displaying their artwork, in their own studios, spread out across North Frontenac. Some of these studios reported over 200 visitors. 17 artists have signed up to display work on this year's tour and that number could grow. Hunter was hopeful that the audience for the tour will continue to expand.

“It brings people into the area. We want a lot more people to know about it this year,” Hunter said.

Hunter asked council for $750 to help create and publish 5000 brochures for the studio tour as well as to update their website. In addition, she hoped to secure funding at the county level to subsidize making signs for the tour. Council agreed to the grant request.

Proposed 5-Acre Solar Farm For Clarendon

Abundant Solar Energy Inc., an Ontario company headquartered in Toronto, has asked council to sign a letter of support for Abundant's bid to build a 500kW array of solar panels on 5 acres of land on Gutheinz Road, near the Mississippi River in Clarendon. This letter of support would help make their bid more competitive to the Independent Electricity System Operator (ISEO), the governing body who awards the contract for which they are applying.

Council deferred signing the letter until they gather more information about the project and the possible damage to roads when accessing the site during construction and maintenance.

One Person's Trash...

Local resident Mavis Wade wrote to council suggesting they look to McDonalds Corners and its “re-use” centre as a solution in diverting waste from the landfills.

Council discussed the possibility of creating a volunteer-run recycling or reuse centre in North Frontenac, similar to the one in McDonalds Corners, where residents could leave items that are still functional or useful but no longer wanted. The idea is that someone else might find a use for the item and thus prevent it from going into the landfill. The successful McDonald's Corners facility was started by volunteers but now receives some financial support from their municipality.

Council is hoping to develop a more thorough proposal with Wade and the Public Works Department to discuss its viability at a future meeting.

Dock Talk

In a discussion concerning a request from the Malcolm Ardoch Lake Association (MALA), the entire category of docks sidelined Council.

“There have been so many different directions out there. The point is we need a policy we can follow. Consistency,” Corey Klatt, the Manager of Community Development, explained. “It's frustrating for us... we don't have consistent directions.”

MALA wants to to build a small platform, at their own expense, at the Malcolm Lake boat launch Council decided to approve this dock and will draft a new public boat launch by-law.