Anyone who has driven past The Oaks Cottages on Crow Lake recently may have noticed two new friendly faces there. They belong to Karen and Dan Lahey, the new owners of The Oaks, the cottage rental property and resort located in Crow Lake village on the north shore of Crow Lake.

The Laheys have been busy sprucing up the seven cottages and the waterfront grounds in the last many weeks after taking ownership of the business from former owners Ludwig and Marion Ratzinger, who ran the business for over a decade.

It was early last July that the Laheys of Kingston came across the property online and decided immediately to go see it. “We fell in love with it there and then”, Karen Lahey said this week, “and we both knew that this was exactly what we wanted to do in our retirement… Within ten days of seeing it, we put in an offer and we haven't looked back since.”

Karen is a semi-retired nurse who specialized in cardiology at KGH and Hotel Dieu and Dan is a former power and stationary engineer. The two are no strangers to the hospitality business. While living in Kingston, for 16 years they opened their home to international students and they both feel the experience has prepared them well for making their customers at The Oaks feel comfortable and welcome. “Looking after people and caring for them is something that we love doing and have been doing for a long time so this business seems just the right fit for us”, Karen said. “When we first saw it, it was like a light bulb went off and we both felt, 'This is it.'”

The couple have been busy sprucing up the cottages inside and out and Karen says the business is perfect for her since she loves cleaning, decorating and gardening. “I've been busy painting and redecorating and Dan has been replacing sinks and counter tops and doing many of the more difficult jobs around the property.” The business includes a main central house and office and seven individual cottages that are fully furnished and equipped for visitors. The Laheys are looking forward to meeting The Oaks' regular customers who have been coming back year after year and are also hoping to attract newcomers. “We really like people so meeting everyone will be a lot of fun for us.” They are also planning to keep the business up and running well into the fall season and will be accepting bookings right up until Thanksgiving. “Fall is such a beautiful time up here too so we plan to stay open so people can enjoy the area at that time of year too,” Karen said.

They are planning to officially open on May 11, just in time for the opening of pickerel season. Both said that they are feeling very welcomed by the community and are very grateful for the generosity of the Ratzingers, who have been showing them the ropes. “They (the Ratzingers) have been just great and theirs has been the overall attitude of the people out here so far which has been exceptional and very welcoming,” Dan said.

The Laheys plan to promote local businesses in the area and are also planning to hire local service providers. As far as the challenges that face them, Karen admits that time is by far the biggest one. “We are both very fit and healthy and so we're are trying to get as much done now as we can so that we can also enjoy ourselves as well.” For Dan the challenge has been organizing the business end of things and taking care of things like advertising and marketing. Dan also makes and fits custom golf clubs.

The couple will be bringing a few new additions to the business including microwaves and new barbeques to the cottages, and they also plan to offer bike rentals to their clients along with a more expansive playground area for kids. They are inviting local businesses in the area to contact them directly since they plan to provide their clients with up to date information about local businesses and services. For more information visit www.theoaksresort.com or call 613-634-6093 or 613-279-2986.

Although the township is loathe to take on the maintenance or ownership of any private lanes for fear that it will open the floodgates for similar requests from every private lane owner in the township, staff and council have looked favourably on a portion of Fanning Lane, which is off Bell Line Road west of Road 509.

The reason they are so inclined is that the road has really been theirs all along, even though it was maintained by Butch Fanning for 28 years before he died.

“The lane is located on a township road allowance, and there is a motion from 1985 that indicated Mr. Fanning was told to use the lane to access his property. It was indicated that the public works manager of the day would be upgrading it,” said Public Works Manager Mike Richardson.

“If this has been our responsibility all along, we should at least take it on now,” said Mayor Janet Gutowski.

“Essentially, Butch Fanning did our work all that time,” said Councilor Frances Smith.

The township will take on 245 metres of the road, until the lane splits with the township road allowance. The road will be renamed Fanning Road and a sign will be put up at the point where the township responsibility ends, saying “Road is not maintained beyond this point.”

Solutions to Crow Lake Village speed woes hard to come by:

A discussion about possible solutions to the problem of cars speeding through the narrow roadway in Crow Lake village served to eliminate a number of proposed solutions.

Councilor Wayne Millar asked whether rumble strips might be a solution, but Works Manager Richardson said they can only be used on paved highways; they cannot adhere to the surface treatment on township roads such as the Crow Lake Road. The idea of speed bumps was rejected as potentially posing a danger to public safety because they could send vehicles off the road into the buildings located next to or even lower than the roadway in Crow Lake.

“Contractors use that road all the time and speed bumps have been known to cause dangerous load shifts in trucks. That would be another potential hazard,” said Richardson.

The possibility of approaching the OPP to put in a speed metre for drivers to see as they enter the village was discussed, and will be looked into.

Construction activity says above 2012, but halcyon days are still far off:

While construction figures show values that are almost a half million dollars higher than this time last year, activity remains somewhat sluggish. Thus far in 2013, permits for 11 new residential units have been issued as well as 6 new seasonal units. In 2012 those numbers were 13 and 5, and in 2011 they were 12 and 10.

Construction values by the end of September 2011 were $5.7 million, as compared to $3.8 million last year and $4.2 million in 2013.

County OP gets easier ride in Central:

In contrast to South Frontenac, Central Frontenac’s planning consultant Glenn Tunnock was kind to the draft Frontenac County Official Plan. In a report that was presented to Central Frontenac Council for adoption, Tunnock made a number of specific suggestions, and pointed to a number of issues that he feels need clarification, but his overall assessment was that as it stands the County Plan will not impede Central Frontenac as it pursues its development goals.

“Based on our review, we would not anticipate the need for a shift in the policy direction of lower tier plans; however municipalities should see clarification on the expectations of the County for studies that may be required in undertaking the next five-year review of the local official plan, especially with respect to the capability of settlement areas to accommodate further development,” Tunnock concluded.

Council accepted Tunnock’s recommendations with no further comment.