Leonard Chan started working in his uncle’s pharmacy, as a volunteer, when he was just a kid. Later he worked in local pharmacies in Mississauga, where he is from, as a part-time and summer job.

When he went to University of Waterloo in 2006, he took a science degree with a pre-health option, and then took a pharmacy degree in the co-op program. Between co-op placements and work in the field since graduating he has worked in a variety of settings, including hospitals and for Health Canada as a program officer in the medical marijuana division.

As his career has progressed he has focused on bringing some of the modern aspects of pharmaceutical medicine to an independent, community based practice.

“Out of all the places I worked, I always found myself drawn back to the community setting and always wanted to open my own Pharmacy one day. Pharmacists are the most accessible health care professionals,” he said, when interviewed a couple of weeks ago as he was putting the finishing touches on the new Inverary Pharmasave.

For the past three and a half years Leonard has been working at the Gananoque Pharmasave as a clinical pharmacist.

Taking the job in Gananoque meant moving to the Kingston area for Leonard and his wife Rachel. The proximity to nature has been a welcome change for the couple, allowing them to enjoy the outdoors more.

“We love the outdoors and often camp, fish and hike in our leisure. It was these hobbies which attracted us to the South Frontenac area as we often canoe at South Frontenac Park and in neighbouring lakes.”

Leonard knew that he wanted to open his own pharmacy at some point, and when he got to know the region a bit better, he saw an opportunity.

“We realised there was a void that could be filled by opening a pharmacy in Inverary, with all the surrounding areas such as Perth Road Village, Battersea, Sunbury, Davidson's Beach and Glenburnie which could potentially utilize our services. The Inverary area is also growing at a rapid pace with the construction of new homes and developments, two new commercial buildings and a recent return of the LCBO outlet.”

The new Inverary Pharmasave is located just south of the hamlet on the east side of the road at 3810 Perth Road, in a new building that is set back from the 24 hour automated gas station.

The pharmacy is open Monday to Friday, from 9am – 6pm. Leonard’s vision of the pharamacy is as more than place to pick up medications, vitamins and household supplies.

“We want to be a healthcare hub, where people come to get advice and utilize some of the services our Pharmacy has to offer,” he said.

Among the services that Inverary Pharmasave are bringing on right away are: smoking cessation counselling; travel health counseling to ensure people are fully prepared and take the right precautions when traveling out of the country; medalign to ensure medications are filled on schedule; and strep throat an urinary tract infection testing.

Also, the store offers MyDNA Personalized Medication Test.

“Everyone has a unique genetic profile determines how their body processes certain medications. Some people process certain medications too quickly and receive little or no benefit. Others process some medications too slowly and have an increased risk of dangerous side effects. The myDNA Medication reports can help us personalise treatment by selecting the medications and doses that may work better for individuals.”

Inveray Pharmasave is also committed to being part of the resurgence of local business in South Frontenac and rural Kingston. As he was setting up the store, Leonard asked around and used social media to find products he could use in the new store.

Among those that he found were farmacy bath and beauty products from Harrowsmith, Litsie Creations from Perth Road who make artisan fabric bags, will be providing flax seed heat packs and maybe epipen bags at the pharmacy. The pharmacy also worked with Westwood Rustic Living of Glenburnie who are making the exterior sign for the store, and Rust and Roses Design, or Elginburg, who make metal signs.

Opening a new store is a big step for Leonard Chan, and along with a baby on the way 2018 is a year of big, positive changes for the Chan family.

Fatal Snowmobile Collision
On December 16 at 12:10am officers from the Central Hastings Detachmentwere dispatched to a single snowmobile accident that occurred on Elzevir Road in the Municipality of Tweed. The driver was eastbound on Elzevir Road when it left the roadway and collided with a tree.

The male driver of the snowmobile, 34 years old Adam Connoly of Addington Highlands Township was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The OPP Technical Traffic Collision Investigators was called to the scene and the investigation is continuing.

OPP – Ice Fisherman Located Deceased
On Saturday December 16 at 9pm,=, members of the Lanark County detachment responded to an overdue person call on Bennett Lake in Tay Valley Township.

Police responded after receiving information that a male had been ice fishing on the lake and did not return home on his ATV. His family observed a large hole on the ice surface and became concerned that he had fallen through the ice. Lanark County OPP members attended to search for the male with the assistance of the OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit

Elmer Abercrombie age 80 of Tay Valley Township was located deceased. It was determined that Mr. Abercrombie had been travelling on the lake ice earlier in the day with his ATV and fell through.

If any person has further information in regards to this matter they are asked to please call 1-888-310-1122

Break and enter in Inverary
On December, the Frontenac Detachment responded to a break and enter that occurred at a residence near the area of Round Lake Road and Latimer Road.

Sometime that day, between the 10am and 2pm, unknown person(s) entered into the residence. Entry was forced through a basement window and several items such as jewelry and electronic dev ices were stolen from the residence. The homeowners arrived to find their front door open and immediately called police.

The OPP are seeking the assistance of the public that may have observed any suspicious persons or vehicles in the area of Inverary at that time to contact the Frontenac OPP Detachment at 1-888-310-1122. Contact: Provincial Constable Roop Sandhu 613-532-0247 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A service club in Frontenac County is asking for the gift of hope this Christmas.

“Storrington Lions Club has been working hard to revitalize its community hall in Sunbury,” says John Beskers, President of Storrington Lions Club. “Working with very little money, we have accomplished a great deal and have now started the second phase of repairs to the hall. We are asking residents to share the gift of hope this holiday season by making a donation to the Lions Club to save the Storrington Lions Hall.”

Operated by a small group of volunteers, the hall is a central meeting place for dozens of community groups. It is a polling station, blood donor clinic and gathering place for residents to celebrate engagements, marriages and birthdays.

“We’re here as a service,” Beskers explains softly about the club and the hall. “We help people by providing an affordable and convenient space to learn, connect and celebrate life.”

Located in the heart of Frontenac County, the hall is a major part of the community. Volunteers have been working to revitalize it for more than a year despite a major setback in August when a $5,000 air conditioning unit was vandalized for a couple hundred dollars’ worth of copper coil.

“The sides were left in place. The robbers basically just cut everything and took the coil,” confirms Beskers who discovered the broken equipment while hosting a youth dance. “It was a major setback for the club, but we persevered.”

According to Beskers, volunteers have spent the last year upgrading the bathrooms, infrastructure and exterior.

The club estimates it could use another $50,000 to complete all of the renovations and upgrades needed for its sustainability.

“We have also been busy with our paint brushes inside the hall and have now moved into phase two which is an urgent upgrade of our bar area and kitchen,” he explains. “Most people have enough socks and ties. Please give the gift of hope this holiday season by donating to Storrington Lions Hall. What better way to achieve peace, love and joy than investing in our community.”

To help Storrington Lions Club save its community hall, donations are gratefully accepted through the mail at 2992 Princess Road; Inverary ON K0H 1X0 or on the club’s electronic fundraising page Go Fund Me at https://www.gofundme.com/dzyxmr7y

Christine Lavallee opened Lavallee’s Inverary store last January 1. The store is located in the centre of Inverary in the location of the former Inverary store. It carries what you would expect to find in a convenience store, but over the last year it has also brought in dozens of local products, and has become an enthusiastic supporter of the Infrontenac branding initiative.

“We have found that there is a market for excellent local products, such as the salsa that T&A Condiments make, Hanna meat pies, and other products both from Frontenac County and nearby,” Christine Lavallee said, when interviewed the store last week.

While running the store, she has also noticed there is a market for fresh baking as well as quality take home food. And that is where the idea for a new, complementary business came in.

“We can’t keep up with the demand for baked goods, and I thought if we could have a kitchen to work out of it would be good for us and the community.”

Not one to wait too long for the dust to settle, Lavallee, who ran a restaurant in Kingston between 2003 and 2008, jumped at the opportunity to be an anchor tenant in a new commercial building that has been completed just south of the hamlet, on the Campbell property, which is located next door to the Northway Home Hardware/LCBO store and includes the 24 hour gas pumps. The building is also set to house a pharmacy in the new year.

The Cookery includes a retail space of about 1,000 square feet as well as two commercial kitchens, one for the cookery and a second for other commercial food businesses in the area who need to use shared, approved facilities to make their products.

“This new building is a tremendous space. There is lots of parking, lots of light,” she said, showing off the still to be renovated space (a building permit from SF township is pending) on a sunny day last week.

The Cookery will be open early in the morning with coffee, baked goods, breakfast sandwiches and take out lunch items for large commuter traffic on Perth Road/Division street as they head into Kingston for work. It will also be open when those same commuters head home.

“These are busy people that work full time. Everybody that I talk to, seems to be in the same boat. The are driving home, wanting to cook a good meal for their family. We will be offering good quality, well prepared meals for people to bring home and serve,” she said. “and we won’t stand still. The Cookery will change what it offers to keep things fresh, and to bring new products on the market.”

Look for the Cookery to open early in 2018.

South Frontenac Council approved and adopted its 2018 budget at its regular meeting Tuesday night in Sydenham.

The Township will be collecting from $19,129,719, 2.92% more than the $18,586,507 it collected in 2017.

However, the Treasury department met the target set for them by Council. That target is based on a hypothetical average property value in the township, which would be worth $256,000 in 2017. That average property, which would have gone in assessed value up by $4,000 in 2017, would see an increase of 2% in township taxes, a little over $30.

This is just for the township. portion of the tax bill, which also includes Frontenac County taxes and School Board taxes. The final budget will not be approved until April, but with the township budget approcval this week, staff has a budget to work under from the start of the year on January 1st.

The biggest item in the budget is roadway maintenance at over $13 million followed by fire protection at over $3 million, policing at over $3 million and solid waste management at $2,7 million.

The lone dissenting vote against the budget came from Coun. Ross Sutherland.

“The proposed budget should not be supported because it is a budget of missed opportunities,” Sutherland said. “It fails to move forward on community development and engagement, it is not expanding resources to combat invasive species and climate change and it has fallen back on making important policy through back room compromises rather than publicly accountable debate.”

However, Mayor Ron Vandewal seemed quite pleased with the budget and praised staff.

“I’ve been through lots of budgets and they’re never fun,” Vandewal said. “Like that recent one at County.

“But staff bent over backwards and brought us a budget at 2 per cent like we asked for.”

Fermoy Hall, a “charming little building” - Barbeau
Coun. Brad Barbeau had served notice of motion that Council not proceed with any work on Fermoy Hall regardless of the funding source until the Heritage Committee met and made recommendations to Council.

But after touring the hall, Barbeau said he had a change of heart and withdrew his motion.

“I went to see Fermoy Hall and it’s a charming little building,” Barbeau said. “The Heritage Committee will be meeting in January and we’ll be discussing it.”

There is an allocation for work at the Hall in the 2018 budget and a note that a Trillium Grant has been applied for. There is a hold on the project pending the funding and direction from Council.

Inverary Lake zoning approved
Council passed a bylaw changing the zoning of a non-waterfront lot to be severed off a waterfront lot on Inverary Lake to Rural.

There had been opposition from the Inverary Lake Residents Association to the severance with concerns that this was only the first step towards a subdivision or plan of condominium development in the area and third reading of the bylaw was held up to address public concerns but Planner Lindsay Mills said this was the third and final lot to be severed from the original property.

“Do we know that this will come back as a condominium?” said Mayor Ron Vandewal. “No we don’t.

“But if it does, there will be conditions.”

Johnston Point species at risk issues left to County
Council decided not to petition the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to deny a proposed benefit permit to a development on Johnston Lake as requested by the Battersea Loughborough Lake Association.

The Association contends that only two of six species at risk (Blanding’s turtle and grey rat snake) have been addressed and there are four more (including the eastern whip-poor-will and three species of bats) species that should be examined before allowing the development to proceed.

Several councilors felt that the matter was now before Frontenac County and the County should be the ones to make such comments to the Environmental Registry 013-1130.

Coun. Alan Revill said he believed the Township “should not be commenting” but did file notice of motion to contact the MNRF to come to Council to explain its procedures.

Coun. John McDougall said that since the matter was before the County “it would be inappropriate for us (as a Township) to comment.”

“But any councilor may comment as an individual just as any resident can,” said Mayor Ron Vandewal.

Only Coun. Ross Sutherland voted in favour of the Township commenting.

Opponents of the Johnston Point 15 lot development on Loughborough Lake have not given up the fight. The development received draft approval from the Ontario Municipal Board over a year ago last spring.

That approval included a number of conditions that need to be met by the applicant, Magenta Waterfront Development Corporation, before the plan can be approved and the lots created. Among those are conditions related to endangered species at that location. Early in November, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) posted a notice on the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) web site. The notice concerns a so-called “overall benefit” permit that the ministry is intending to issue regarding two species at risk that have been identified on the 36 acre parcel known as Johnston’s Point. It relates to two species, the Gray (aka Black) Ratsnake and the Blandings Turtle.

If the ministry issues the permit, it will be based on a commitment by the applicant to take measures to offset any harm that is done to the habitat with greater measures to improve the habitat, achieving an “overall benefit”.

A delegation on Tuesday Night (November 28) urged Council to support their opposition to the “Overall Benefit” permit on the grounds that two other species at risk have been identified at Johnston’s Point, bats and whip-poor-wills.

“The benefit permit completely disregards significant evidence gathered by citizens of South Frontenac regarding the presence of at least two more species: Little Brown Myotis Bats (Endangered), as well as Eastern Whip-poor-will (Species at Risk)” said Roel Vertegaal in a letter to council.

The Eastern Whip-poor-will was mentioned in the draft condominium approval from the OMB. One of the conditions was the delivery of a study concerning the presence of whip-poor-will. The opponents presented a report that they commissioned, which was prepared by Cambium Engineering, which found whip-poor-wills on the site on three sampling dates in June, 6 on one night, 16 on another, and 11 on a third.

The report also says that there is “probable breeding” within the proposed condominium area.

It also concludes: “The General Habitat Description for the Eastern Whip-poor-will states that an area extending 500 meters from the centre of defended territories is considered part of the general habitat for this species. Therefore, the entirety of the peninsula is considered Eastern Whip-poor-will habitat under the ESA [Endangered Species Act] and damaging or destroying the forested areas without appropriate authorization is prohibited.”

While the conditions for the approval of the condominium are being worked on, some of the lots that have not yet been created have been sold. As well, work has been proceeding on a road that will access those lots.

The development is also being marketed by a corporation called Boneliving, which builds what it calls “Net-Zero Energy Ready High Performance Homes” out of steel “on unique lots”.

In addition to the proposed Johnston’s Point development, Boneliving lists properties on Sweetfern Lane on Inverary Lake.

Evonne Potts, one of the opponents of the project, told the News that she is concerned about the amount of roadwork and shoreline work that has already been done at the site when the condominium approval is still pending.

Joe Gallivan, Manager of Planning for Frontenac County, said that while there are limits to work that can be done on properties before planning is completed in some jurisdictions, there is little in place in South Frontenac to limit that kind of work. He also said that selling lots that have not yet been created but are in process can be done, although the sales are by necessity conditional on planning approval.

South Frontenac Council took time out at their Saturday budget session earlier this month to discuss the Inverary Lake Association’s request for $15,000 to help them develop a lake assessment/management plan.

Although Council has never granted individual lake associations money to do lake studies, several of the larger lake associations have managed, through a combination of fundraising and grants, to complete their own studies. Given the large number of lakes in the Township (who even knows how many? when’s a pond a lake, or vice versa?) awarding one grant could blow the dam, so to speak, leading to a flood of similar requests.

However, there was general consensus that although it was too late for the 2018 budget, Council should consider the possibility of setting up a limited fund similar to the private lane enhancement program, which might encourage lake associations to develop plans for their lakes.

As Councillor Barbeau commented, “We need to line up our ducks first.”

At a special committee of the whole meeting Monday afternoon in Sydenham, South Frontenac Council committed in principle to some form of near-future project for seniors housing.

Just exactly what that project will look like other than 12 units with a price tag of around $1 million has yet to be finalized but CAO Wayne Orr expects to have some form of proposal ready for Council’s Dec. 5 meeting.

The reason for the sense of urgency, Orr explained, is that the City of Kingston has indicated that they have funding to support seniors housing but will need “final approvals by December 2018 and a ‘shovel in the ground’ by March 2019.”

Given that there is a municipal election in 2018 and Council could be faced with a ‘lame duck’ situation, a decision has to be made soon in order to make further decisions on financing before Council might not be allowed to make such decisions until after said election.

From the onset of the meeting, Council seemed quite unified in its belief that there is need for more seniors housing and its desire to proceed with with some form of 12-unit plan.

Several councilors were concerned should this be a repeat of McMullen Manor in Verona whereby units intended for seniors ended up being assigned to non-seniors (with challenged clientele) because of not enough seniors to fill the units.

“There’s such a small number of people from South Frontenac needing this,” said Coun. Ron Sleeth. “Are we going to create seniors housing for people outside of South Frontenac?”

“Do we run the risk of loosing control of this (new) facility like we did with McMullen Manor?” said Orr. “No — that was a provincial decision.”

“Will we be tied to Kingston and their wait lists?” said Coun. Alan Revill.

“No, Kingston will simply manage things as a South Frontenac board dictates,” said Orr. “We won’t be tied to their wait lists.”

So, that essentially left two questions — how this would be financed and where would it be built.

As far as financing, rather than take out a mortgage, Orr suggested the Township could “act as its own banker” by financing the project through reserves.

“But, the reserves would have to be paid back with interest (out of rents, subsidies and grants) similar to what we would get for investing the reserves,” Orr said.

The “where” part drew considerably more debate.

Sydenham and Verona would appear to be the frontrunners for such development given that they have the most amenities such as medical facilities, shopping and social opportunities within potential walking distance, ie ‘walkable communities.’ Also, several councilors pointed out potential sites already owned by the Township and the fact that Sydenham has municipal water, making it the front runner.

Not surprisingly, the two representatives from Storrington District, Sleeth and Dep. Mayor Norm Roberts argued for the ‘Inverary Corridor.’

“I’m going to push the Inverary Corridor,” said Roberts. “There is development coming and as far as water goes, I’ve talked to a home in Gananoque who uses a 10,000-gallon tank from which they draw 3,000 gallons a day.”

There was even a brief consideration of Fermoy Hall.

“We do own the building,” said Mayor Ron Vandewal.

“But there’s not much land there,” said Coun. Pat Barr.

Eventually, Vandewal said “we’re not much further along than when we started.”

Orr disagreed.

“We’ve moved from ‘should we do it’ to ‘how do we do it.’” Orr said. “The biggest variable now becomes land.”

Council decided to have Orr return a report with recommendations.

Outdoor Furnace Issue
Neighbours Mary Royer and Jim Varrette made presentations about their neighbour’s outdoor furnace, which Royer says has caused her ongoing health and comfort problems with its smoke. She uses an inhaler and sometimes a mask, cannot open her windows, and has had her indoor smoke alert set off. Varrette, who lives on the other side of the furnace, although aware of the smoke, says he’s upwind of it much of the time. Royer asked why Council couldn’t enforce its recent bylaw which forbids operation of an outdoor furnace which interferes with ‘any reasonable enjoyment of the environment.’

Mayor Vandewal called on Councillor McDougall, who said that he had talked numerous times with the furnace owner, and felt the man had tried hard to minimize emissions: “The furnace is small, very efficient, and he uses wood that’s dry, well-seasoned,” said McDougall, recommending that Council continue to monitor and assess the situation. Considerable discussion followed.

Councillor Revill said they needed to set specific time limits on any expectation of improvement. Although all agreed that an objective assessment of the problem would need to be made, no one had a concrete suggestion of how to measure, on a 24-hour basis, the frequency and density of the emissions. It would also be necessary to be able to establish and then measure an unacceptable level of smoke.

CAO Orr added that as long as the furnace owner was making serious efforts to improve the situation, it would be legally difficult to shut the furnace down.

Council will seek further information and agreed to try to find a way to resolve the problem. Orr added that if something was deemed to be “a public nuisance,” there is a process to address it, but the process must be able to be seen as fair and transparent.

Budget Delegations
Although Council had invited public delegations to address issues related to the township’s 2018 budget planning, only one delegate appeared: Jeff Peters read a letter from the chair of the Inverary Lake association, asking Council to grant them $15,000 toward the cost of preparing a lake assessment study of Inverary Lake. In reply to the letter’s reference to the Sydenham Lake Association’s study completed this year, Councillor Schjerning said that there had been no cost to the Township: the study had been heavily funding through the Source Water Protection program, because the lake is a reservoir for the Sydenham water system.

CAO Orr confirmed that the Township has never given money to any of the local Lake Assessments. Mayor Vandewal added that the studies for Buck and 14 Island Lakes had cost $80.000 or more, and all the area lake studies done so far have shown a drop in phosphate levels. There was a brief informal exchange about the recent rise in algae growth in some area lakes.

McFadden Subdivision Draft Plan Changes
Planner Mills recommended two minor changes to a draft plan which has already been submitted to the County for approval. The subdivision proposal in question is located near Perth Road on McFadden Road, between Norway Road and the Cataraqui Trail. A recent letter from the CRCA has asked that no direct accesses be provided to the Trail, as there are already two access points reasonably nearby. (Councillor Sutherland said he felt this was an unfortunate request, for it meant residents would have to go by road to get on the trail.) However, a 1-foot reserve is to be placed along the rear portions of the two lots that abut the trail. Also, a provision for widening McFadden Road needs to be added, for the current roadway is only 9 metres wide at one point, instead of the required 20 metres.

Accessibility Presentation
Jannette Amini presented the annual Accessibility Advisory Committee report from the County. Among South Frontenac’s accomplishments, she noted the accessible features incorporated into the upgrade of facilities at the Point Park, the Sydenham boat launch ramp and planned for the new Perth Road Fire Hall. Councillor McDougall thanked Amini for keeping the Frontenacs informed of accessibility requirements and encouraging councils and businesses to continue making their facilities more accessible to all.

Cataraqui Trail Video
Council enjoyed a six-minute video produced by the CRCA about the Cat Trail from Sydenham to the Opinicon. It began with a great series of archival photos taken when the rail section near the Opinicon was first constructed, then moved into drone videos taken this September along the present-day trail.

No Council Meeting Next Week ..
but Saturday’s special budget meeting’s still on, beginning at 8 am!

Orr asked Council’s permission to cancel the November 21 Council meeting, because there is nothing on the agenda. Councillor Revill’s suggestion that they could “get together for tea and cookies” had no takers.

Kyle Ainsley started out playing soccer in the Storrington League when he was very young but by the team he was 6 or 7 he had taken up baseball in Battersea, and he has never looked back. Hje has been a pitcher since he started.
Now 20 and an apprentive carpenter working for Bencze Construction in Inverary, he still finds time to pitch fastball with teams in the Kingston League and with the Port Perry Bulls on weekends. He came to the attention of the New york Merchants of Oswego at a tournament when he was pitching for he Bulls and they have invited him to pitch for them at the North American Fastball Association tournament in Fargo, North Dakota starting on August 9th. He will barely have a chance to settle down when he gets back from that tournament before he leaves for Grand Rapids Michigan for the World Under 21 Fastball tournament with the Port Perry Bulls.

What both teams will be counting on is Kyle’s 73 mile per hour fastball. He is also a lefthander, which is another cahllenge for batters. He aversages 10 -13 stikeouts in a 7 inning game, meaning as few as 8 or 9 batters even put the ball in play against him.

He is a pretty good hitter and runner, but when he is pitching, which is about half the time his teams play, it is his ability to shut down the opposing offcence that is prized by his team mates.

“Fastball takes up a lot of my time in the summers,” he said, “but even in the winter I practice quite a bit indoors,” he said, and he added that pitching in the US will be a big event for him because fastball is popular in the US.
“It’s bigger there than it is here, that’s for sure” he said.

For Kyle Ainsly, fastball is destined to remain a major past time over the next few years, whether with his own teams or as an invited player on International teams.