Last Friday’s North Frontenac Township Council meeting began with a definite air of surrealism.

Before entering the Council chambers, everyone, councillors and staff included, was led by firefighter Robert Rutherford, one at a time, to Geoff Culp and Marc Guilbault, who asked questions (have you been out of the country, have a sore throat, etc) and took people’s temperatures. (The reporter’s temp was 36.5 C.)

Once screened, it was inside to a skeleton Council consisting of Mayor Ron Higgins, Coun. Fred Perry and Wayne Good. Coun. Fred Fowler arrived 20 minutes late to complete a quorum. Dep. Mayor Gerry Martin along with Coun. John Inglis and Vernon Hermer were advised not to attend due to underlying medical conditions.

Friday was actually two meetings, the first of which was a public meeting to present the 2020 budget.

“We have continued to maintain a great fiscal outlook for the Township with healthy reserves, fiscal management and priority setting based on our strategic plan,” Higgins said in his opening remarks. “I would like to thank Council and management for their continued commitment and management of our fiscal responsibility. That commitment and our healthy reserves has allowed us to keep our annual levy at, or close to, the annual consumer price index and avoids higher than necessary taxation. Doing so has not been easy based on the continued level of Provincial and Federal policies that at times puts a huge strain on how a municipality can respond and sustain our municipal responsibilities.”

For the record, the 2020 budget is set at $6,197,558 to be raised in taxation or a 3.09 per cent increase over 2019’s $6,001,535.

“This has gotten right out of hand,” said Herbert Kent, when the Mayor asked for comments from the public (Kent was the lone member of the public who attended). “Our businesses can’t handle it.”

Once the budget was passed into law, the regular meeting continued.

Higgins told Council that on March 17, he was part of a conference call with several other heads of council and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark.

“The Minister told us that a bill has been passed that will allow us to hold electronic meetings,” Higgins said. “Everybody knows our bandwidth in NF isn’t that great.”

“Another push for better internet,” said Perry.

“How will the public be able to listen in?” said Fowler.

Higgins said that all that would have to be determined.

“We’ll have a meeting with staff after this meeting to discuss what we need to go about this,” Higgins said. “If we can’t get it done soon, we’ll probably have to cancel the April meeting.”

CAO Cheryl Robson they did have funds to potentially upgrade the computer systems.

“We’ll see what we need to buy.”

One aspect of such a system would be that the public must be able to track it online and likely all votes would have to be recorded votes.

• • •

Council and committee members remuneration figures for 2019 were released, including mileage, conference expenses, training and office expenses.

Coun. Fred Fowler received $22,310.15; Coun. Wayne Good — $18,179.74; Mayor Ron Higgins — $28,561.54; Coun. Vernon Hermer — $19,181.83; Coun. John Inglis — $20,935.94; Coun. Gerry Martin — $19,610.94; Dep. Mayor Fred Perry — $23,281.09.

• • •

Coun. agreed to draft a letter signed by the Mayor and Coun. John Inglis (Economic Development Task Force)to present to a potential private donor for a substantial amount of funds towards the building to house the donated Fred Lossing telescope at the North Frontenac Star Gazing Pad near Fernleigh.

“It was advised that it may be helpful to offer a possible large donor an opportunity to have the potential building named after him/her . . . and a plaque be mounted on the building advising same,” said a report from the EDTV.

Joe Gallivan (Director of Planning and Economic Development) and Megan Rueckwald (Manager of Community Planning) came to Council as a delegation from Frontenac County. They brought an update on population projections for South Frontenac and outlined some of the planning advantages of introducing privately owned communal water and sewage treatment services in South Frontenac.

“The timing couldn’t be better”, said Gallivan, referring to the Township’s current updating of the Official Plan, and the projection that 80% of the County’s population growth over the next few decades is projected to occur in Southern Frontenac. He described how communal services would make it possible to develop smaller lots, to create infill and more ‘walkable’ communities. One issue is the requirement that the municipality support communal systems by assuming some responsibility for the greater degree of financial risk.

Mayor Vandewal said the first five years would be critical: if the municipality could hold some of the responsibility for that period, it would allow time to build up a reserve and become self-supporting for maintenance issues, much as the Sydenham water treatment plant has done. 

Councillor Morey referred to last week’s delegations of residents upset about a subdivision setback being changed to permit a smaller front yard setback. “Might this tightening of space and greater density discourage people?”

“This will be the Township’s decision,” said Gallivan; “There are people coming from the city who don’t know anything about septic systems, and might prefer not to have to learn how to live with one.”

Vandewal added that there would probably be a market for people who couldn’t afford large lots and houses.

Claire Dodds (Township Director of Development Services), said “This would give us a viable alternative to the current lot size, which right now we do not have. We can set the limits, the parameters. It might be a good way to provide more units for seniors.

Councillor Ruttan agreed; “Smaller lots could provide a wider range of living choices for our residents.

Deputy Mayor Sutherland asked if there was any room for consideration of the effects of climate change; Rueckwald replied that the development consultation process could take these concerns into consideration. Mayor Vandewal summed the discussion up; “What’s most important is that our Township plans and controls how future growth takes place.”

Lake Ecosystem Advisory Committee

Following a request from Council, CAO Carbone brought a draft of terms of reference for a proposed Lake Ecosystem Advisory Committee for discussion. This committee could meet quarterly and would provide a new conduit through which council and senior staff could receive feedback from Lake Associations annually in advance of the budget process, and would also provide feedback to the township as it develops a lake study grant program.

Its priority would be to “promote and support growth that meets the community’s needs while maintaining the integrity of our natural environment.”

Deputy Mayor Sutherland asked why there was no provision for a secretary for the committee: Carbone said that staff would provide clerical support.

Mayor Vandewal said it was important to be clear that this is an advisory committee, to make recommendations to Council for consideration, but it would be subject to the Official Plan, the Planning Act, and other applicable township policies.

Strategic Plan Action Items

In discussing the final draft of Council’s Strategic Plan’s action items, Mayor Vandewal said that he had heard comments that positioning South Frontenac as a community leader was all the staff’s idea, so that it was important to emphasize that the Strat Plan is the result of staff-Council collaboration.

CAO Carbone agreed: “even when staff initiates an idea, they look to council for support and direction; we do not act unilaterally.”

Vandewal said that the staff/Council interrelationship was essential:

“If it was all left up to Council, probably nothing much would happen.”

Ad Bags Litter Roadsides

The problem of plastic-bagged Frontenac This Week advertising bundles littering roadsides led to a lively discussion: while some residents may look forward to these, many of the bags just pile up along streets and roadways.

Previous discussions between the Township and the distribution company have led to many promises but no resolution. (Other than the papers along the Mayor’s road have recently been stuffed into mailboxes.) Staff agreed to try to find a resolution: they will also check with other municipalities to see how they have dealt with the problem.

Lakeshore Clearcutting

Deputy Mayor Sutherland and Mayor Vandewal distributed photos of a swath of clearcutting on the Sydenham Lake shoreline just outside the village. In spite of clear evidence that all trees and undergrowth have been removed, and much of the brush has been burned on the ice, so far there seems to be nothing in the Township’s regulations that can prevent this. Only when a building or development permit is issued can a site plan with shoreline protection be instituted.

The future of the Oso dump is back on the table pending more information after Central Frontenac Council’s regular meeting Tuesday evening in Sharbot Lake.

Public Works Manager Tyson Myers’ report recommended the landfill simply be closed when its life runs out in about four years.

“If we opt to just close it in four years, is there an option to reconsider down the road?” asked Coun. Bill MacDonald. “There are a lot of strong feelings out there.

“We have to look at a transfer station.”

“I’m reporting on a cost basis only,” Myers said. “I need you guys’ feedback on the politics of it.”

Meyers said.

The estimated total closure cost in year 1 is $440,000. If it were to be operated as a transfer station, the cost would be $525,000 for a seasonally (summer) operated site or $540,000 to operate year round, Meyers said in his report.

Either way, he said, the consultants overseeing the shut down need to know now, as the requirements for either type of change are quite different.

“I can’t agree with that option (total closure),” said Coun. Nicki Gowdy. “People in Arden are still bitter about their site being closed down and this would cause a lot of hard feelings.”

In 2019, there were on average 51 vehicles per day at Oso, 56 vehicles per day at Olden and 28 at Hinchinbrooke. About 60 per cent of the total traffic at Oso is from May 1 to Nov. 1.

Coun. Sherry Whan asked if an incinerator was an option and Dep. Mayor Tom Dewey asked if mining the site for scrap metal had been explored.

Meyers said he’d come back to the next Council meeting with answers to those questions.

“I too have concerns with totally closing it (as opposed to making Oso a transfer station),” said Mayor Frances Smith. “With 40 per cent of the people using it, if you come from the far end of the Township, Mountain Grove can be a long drive.”

Red grant application

Council approved a plan to apply for Provincial Rural Economic Development Program funding to piggyback on the Townships roadwork plans for Elizabeth Street in Sharbot Lake. The plan would result in direct physical improvement connected to Elizabeth Street renewal such as public art, streetscaping and signage.

If successful, this would provide for a $100,000 budget with $50,000 coming from the RED program, $43,000 coming from the Township, $2,000 and staff support coming from Frontenac County and $5,000 from the Sharbot Lake Business Group Inc.

SALT thanks premature?

Representing Seniors And Law Enforcement Together(SALT) , Bill Bowick told Council “force once, I’m not here to asking for anything, I’m here to express thanks.”

Bowick was thanking the Township for its donation of $1,000, which helps pay for the meal at S.A.L.T. talks.

“Our budget is just draft,” said Mayor Frances Smith. “But it is in there.

“The pressure will be on now to approve it.”

11 months ago, with potential purchasers having contacted the township, Central Frontenac Council declared the building and land surplus to its needs in order to clear it for sale. A few weeks later, however, it became apparent that selling off the former fire-hall and the 1/2 acre parcel where it is located would not be that simple a proposition.

First of all, a ½ acre lot is undersized, and in order to make the land parcel viable for general and commercial, it would have to have adjacent lands added to it. But there are no suitable lands that can be added since the firehall is located next to the former Hinchinbrooke school on one side and the Parham Fair grounds and ball field on the other side. The well on the property served not only the fire hall but the fairgrounds and ball field as well, so a new well for those important township assets would need to be drilled if the lot were sold.

For those and a couple of other reasons, the township’s planner, Megan Rueckwald, recommended that the township look into keeping the building open as a storage facility, and spend the money required, to repair its roof and remove some drywall that has developed mold.

Councillor Nicki Gowdy said she had no problem keeping the building but said “I don’t think we need it for storage. Couldn’t we do something else with it?”

“If we wanted to use it for something else the cost of repairs would be higher. The storage use would be less costly,” said Councillor Victor Heese.

Council agreed.

Dewey unhappy with EOTA snub.

A proposal to approve the allocation of grant money from the Rural Economic Development (RED) Fund that may or may not be forthcoming, caused some consternation for Councillor Tom Dewey. Dewey is a long time Central Frontenac Council representative to the board of directors of the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance (EOTA), an ATV tourism marketing and trail not-for-profit corporation, based in Tweed. The County of Frontenac has applied for RED funding to upgrade the section of the K&P trail between Sharbot Lake and Clarendon, which is owned by Central Frontenac Township and is covered by a maintenance agreement between the township and EOTA.

“EOTA was not informed about this application, even as a courtesy,” Dewey said.

Mayor Smith said that the RED grant “is for a construction and upgrade project, it has nothing to do with maintenance”.

“As you know, Frontenac County pulled out of a maintenance agreement with EOTA for the K&P between Verona and Sharbot Lake just this month, replied Dewey, “and that was without notice as well. I can’t support this.”

Dewey’s was the only dissenting vote. If the grant application is successful, the RED money will replace existing grant money that Frontenac County has earmarked for the trail upgrade this year, freeing up money for the county to spend on other projects.

Sharbot Lake Public School Property – pilot project for communal servicing?

Frontenac County Manager of Planning and Development Services Joe Gallivan has been working on developing a new planning tool, communal servicing, in Frontenac County.

Because none of the Frontenac hamlets have municipal water and sewer systems in place, opportunities for residential development are restricted by the requirement for a well and septic system for each residential or commercial building.

The site of the former Sharbot Lake Public School is a prime example. The school was located on a two-acre lot, and Central Frontenac Township has been hoping to maximise the use of the lot in the near future. Pending some further evaluations of the existing septic system on the site, the township is hoping that it will be possible to put up two single story buildings on the site, each containing 5 one-bedroom apartments suitable for seniors.

Each of the buildings will require its own well in order to comply with provincial water regulations.

Joe Gallivan made a presentation, and urged council to apply for a $30,000 grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Green Initiative Fund, to explore the possibility of communal servicing for the site.

If communal servicing is viable, the site would have a single, professionally managed water service and septic system, and would be capable of supporting up to 40 housing units and/or commercial entities.

“The technical challenges for septic capacity can be overcome with existing technology, which has advanced in recent years,” said Gallivan.

A 40-unit development would have to be developed and financed by a private sector developer, whereas the existing plan for two, five-unit seniors buildings would likely be developed by the township and managed by the local not-for profit housing corporation.

The biggest impediment to communal service is that the township would assume financial liability if the communal servicing system ever failed and the developer went out of business.

So far, few municipalities in Ontario have been willing to take that liability on.

“The financial model is the make or break issue for this, said Gallivan, “creating a municipal services corporation to handle the liability may turn out to be the answer.

Gallivan added that the FCM has indicated to him that they would welcome an application for funding for this kind of pilot project.

Council passed a motion directing staff to prepare the grant application.

When Neil Carbone was hired as the new Chief Administrative Officer in South Frontenac last summer, it signaled that the council of the township was ready for a new future. Carbone, who is in his mid-thirties, is from a different generation than the leadership that has forged the four founding townships, that make up South Frontenac, into a single entity.

He also comes to South Frontenac from a job in Prince Edward County, where he served as the Director of Community Development and Strategic Initiatives, a role that has no parallel in Frontenac County. Prince Edward County, which is a single tier municipality, with a population of over 24,000 people, with a diverse local economy thanks to its mix of residential, agricultural and commercial sectors.

“The department underwent an expansion during my tenure. It had an Economic Development focus when I started, and by the time I left, not only had it doubled in size, but had a much broader role as well,” he said in an interview last week from his office in Sydenham. “Not only had we taken on destination tourism marketing, but also customer service and oversight of capital grants and even project management. The department’s role has become one of putting a community lens on everything that the township does.”

An example that he cited was a $4 million water and sewer replacement on the main street in Picton.

“We knew that the businesses on that street do 50% of their business in July and August, so we looked at the cost factor if we set out an RFP [Request for Proposal] that called for construction to shut down for two months in the summer. A contractor found a way to make it work for them, to do it that way, by taking some other work in the region during the summer. It cost about $200,000 more to do the project that way but it made a difference for the business community in Picton,” he said.

When he learned that South Frontenac was looking for a new Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Carbone did some research, and his interest was piqued, by the growth potential of the township and also by its financial position, so he decided to put his name forward.

“I saw a lot of opportunity in South Frontenac. The house is in order financially. It has a very lean organisation and has been building its administrative capacity, a bit pre-emptively, to handle the growth that is coming. I saw coming here as CAO as a great opportunity for me,” he said.

Coming in to 2020, the future shape of South Frontenac is coming into focus.

“I thought that our budget process was very good, very productive for my first budget, and our new strategic plan will form the basis for us to move forward quickly,” he said.

While strategic plans sometimes get lost in the shuffle, as unexpected day to day and external pressures come to bear, Carbone sees the new South Frontenac plan as a call to action, within the context of pressure from growth on the townships’ ability to maintain service levels, increase its organisational capacity and upgrade community amenities.

“When we considered those pressures in the context of increased provincial uncertainty, Council recognized the need to take control of its own destiny, a common theme of the strategic plan and the 2020 budget is a desire to lead, to grow, and to look outside our borders for opportunities to collaborate,” he wrote in a year end township press release.

The plan has four priorities: becoming a regional leader, supporting growth while protecting the environment, enhancing the township’s organizational capacity, and “being a catalyst for the creation of vibrant and complete communities”.

The idea of ‘vibrant and complete’ communities will play out when the township looks at its official plan this year. It involves making a decision to promote development that does not turn South Frontenac into a bedroom community for the City of Kingston.

“They way things are set up now, we are able to develop subdivisions with two acre lots. That limits the people that can move in to our townships and limits the business opportunities. I think the idea of communal servicing, that Joe Gallivan from Frontenac County has been leading, will be something we will talk about a lot this coming year,” he said.

Communal servicing refers to a water and sewer system, similar to a municipal system, to serve a private development. It can substantially increase the density in a development, making retail, commercial, and multi-residential development possible in rural settings where publicly owned water and sewer systems are not viable. There are technical, bureaucratic and financial liability hurdles to overcome, however.

“To realise the growth that has to be in place for complete communities in South Frontenac, let’s identify what those needs to be in place for the developer, lets talk about municipal ownership versus private ownership, let’s put the model together,” he said.

The township will also be undertaking a branding initiative this year, which fits with the strategic plan vision.

“The practise of branding itself is not just about a logo. Your brand is who you are. The act of branding a place is not about creating something new, it is about making sure that everybody sees themselves in the community,” he said.

It also ties in with an evolving role for the township, in Carbone’s view.

“We can establish one to one relations with the City of Kingston, with the Province of Ontario,” he said. “That’s part of becoming a regional leader, which is also in our strategic plan.

While Central Frontenac Council is all behind plans for economic development, spending $75,000 on studies didn’t seem to sit too well with councillors at the regular meeting of Council Tuesday in Sharbot Lake.

Council was discussing a report from Dep. Clerk Cindy Deachman on a recent meeting of the Central Frontenac Economic Development Committee with Megan Rueckwald and Alison Vandervelde from Frontenac County’s Planning and Economic Development Departments regarding the Official Plan process and economic development in general.

“The committee has identified some key opportunities relating to the official plan process and the revitalization of village streets to promote economic development within the Township,” the report said. “The committee recognizes that the road reconstruction project and seniors housing projects are in progress and it is not the intention of the committee to hold up these projects until a secondary plan process is completed. The committee is confident that these projects will be planned in such a way as to allow for maximum flexibility for any future developments contemplated as a result of a secondary plan.”

The report said that the committee believes that prioritizing the plan for 2020 would put the planning framework in place for future projects and opportunities that present themselves so that future development maximizes the hamlet’s economic development potential as a hub.

“We do know that there are talks about Hwy. 7 and about the revitalization of Elizabeth Street in Sharbot Lake,” said Coun. Brent Cameron. “But we are the economic development committee for the entire Township.

“There are lessons to be learned for Mountain Grove and Parham.”

The report said that Reuckwald noted the recent planning process in Marysville was anticipated to cost about $75,000 and that aspect drew fire from Coun. Tom Dewey.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to spend that,” Dewey said.

“I agree,” said Cameron. “There’s enough of a knowledge base on Council and these committees to shape this up.”

“My concern is that we get the Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw done and I don’t know that the County has the staff to do more,” said Mayor Frances Smith.

“We’ll have to watch the Marysville document carefully,” said Dep. Mayor Victor Heese. “There will be differences between Sharbot Lake and Marysville but $75,000?”

Humane Society expensive

Central Frontenac may be looking elsewhere for pound services following a contract renewal offer from the Kingston Humane Society that would end up costing the Township $5,292. In 2017 the same contract cost $1,980, $2,128.63 in 2018 and $2,412.80 to date in 2019.

“We should go back and renegotiate,” said Coun Tom Dewey.

“We reached out to them to explain the increases but they didn’t get back to us,” said Dep. Clerk Cindy Deachman.

“Maybe we should be looking at Lanark or Lennox & Addington,” said Mayor Frances Smith. “I think we went with Kingston because our former bylaw officer lived near there and could deliver dogs to the pound on his way home.

“It might be cheaper to pay mileage to Napanee.”

Council deferred a decision to allow staff to investigate further.

Six foot monuments?

A request to remove a restriction of four feet height in favour of six feet for monuments in Central Frontenac cemeteries was denied.

“Six feet is awfully tall,” said Mayor Frances Smith. “If there’s a strong wind or if someone wants to push it over, it would be easier.”

“We do have some existing monuments taller than four feet but they’re old and there was only the one request,” said Clerk-Administrator Cathy MacMunn.

$400 for Christmas Dinner

Council agreed to donate $400 to the Christmas Dinner Fund held by the Food Bank on Christmas Day at St. James Major Hall.

“They have $300 and they need $1,200,” said Clerk-Administrator Cathy MacMunn.

The dinner was originally the brainchild of former Frontenac News Publisher Jule Koch-Brison.

On February 27th, 2019 the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) and Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, announced Eastern Ontario CFDCs would receive funding to support projects that drive innovation and growth in rural Eastern Ontario.

As a result of this funding support, the Frontenac CFDC is pleased to announce, in cooperation with CFDCs across Eastern Ontario, the official launch of the Rural Innovation Initiative Eastern Ontario.

The priority sectors for funding are: advanced manufacturing, digital industries, clean tech, agri-food, and food processing. Another focus is projects that focus on inclusiveness: youth, women entrepreneurs, Indigenous peoples, Official Language Minority Communities, persons with disabilities, immigrants and visible minorities

Eligibility

Businesses (local stream refers to businesses operating in the County of Frontenac; regional stream refers to businesses operating in Eastern Ontario) and Not-For-Profit organizations supporting business and community transition into the new rural economy

Supported projects will strengthen competitiveness, productivity, business growth, process innovation, new market access, creation and retention of employment opportunities, the re-skilling of the industrial workforce, incremental sales and increased profitability, and as a result, diversify and transform our local communities and economy.

Project funding

The minimum project size for the local Intake opens for Rural Innovation Initiative Eastern Ontario Intake Opens for Rural Innovation Initiative Eastern Ontario stream is $50,000 (excluding HST) to a maximum of $200,000. Approved projects will be eligible for a non-repayable performance-based contribution of 50%.

In addition to the local stream being offered by the Frontenac CFDC, there is also a regional stream. The regional stream focuses on accelerating the growth of SMEs on the innovation track, with benefits to multiple communities in Eastern Ontario and is delivered by Northumberland CFDC. Guidelines and the online application for this stream are available at www.financingandstrategy.com

Applications and guidelines are available at www.frontenaccfdc.com/start/ grants. Our upcoming application intake dates are June 6, July 4 and September 5th. If you have any questions or would like to discuss your project in advance of applying, please contact Anne Prichard. Our phones are down until Monday. Until then, please email at anne@frontenaccfdc. com. After Monday, feel free to call 613-372-1414 Ext. 204 or Sue Theriault 613-372-1414 Ext. 206.

Joe Gallivan, Manager for Planning and Economic Development for Frontenac County, briefed Frontenac County Council last week on a communal services report that will be coming their way next month. This is a file that Gallivan has been working on for years, but he wanted some of the newer members of the council to be more familiar with the issues in the report in advance of its release.

The Province of Ontario encourages rural municipalities to focus on development within hamlets. Since there are no hamlets in Frontenac County that have municipal water systems except for Sydenham, and there are no municipal waste water systems in the county at all, development potential within and near hamlets is limited.

“The potential for communal services within subdivisions has been around since 1995, but municipalities have not taken it up within their jurisdictions, because of fears over the potential liability coming back to the public if a communal water or waste system fails,” said Gallivan. “Over the years, the technology for septic systems has progressed substantially, and that cuts the risk.”

Communal services would mean there is one large septic system to cover an entire development instead of separate systems for each building. In some case, one of more communal wells could be included as well.

Municipalities in Ontario have two options for creating multiple building lots on a single piece of property, ‘vacant land condominium’ development, and ‘plan of subdivision’ development. Under a ‘plan of subdivision’, the municipality assumes ownership, and the associated costs, for the public infrastructure (roads, ditches, sidewalks, etc.) within a development, after the developer pays to build them to a municipal standard, whereas within a ‘plan of condominium’ the infrastructure remains the responsibility of the property owners after construction is complete.

Plans of Condominium, Gallivan said, could include responsibility for upkeep and maintenance of communal services in addition to roads and ditches, keeping municipal liability to a minimum.

“As well, if there are a number these systems within Frontenac County, there may also be an opportunity to put together a single municipal fund to cover potential liability from all of them. Individual projects would not have to cover as much liability on their own.”

In making his presentation, Gallivan used an existing development on the southwest edge of Inverary as an illustration of how much more density can be achieved using communal services. The Mathias subdivision is a 27 - acre block of land with 16 lots. The minimum lot size in the development is 1.5 acres, and each lot includes space for a well and individual septic system.

If a communal septic system were in place, the same block of land would be able to contain 42 detached lots as well as 9 townhouse lots and a small apartment complex with 12 units, plus a commercial lot. Gallivan said that once the study is released, he will be proposing that Council authorise him to go to the township councils to see if they are interested in pursuing the type of development that communal systems will make possible within their townships.

“It really comes down to what the local townships envision for their future,” he said, “the timing is good for South Frontenac, which is facing a lot of development pressure right now. The council is starting to review their Official Plan, and they will have the opportunity to accept communal services in their new plan”.

Gallivan said that one of the key elements for developers would be a consistent process and cost structure for communal water systems across the county.

“That would put Frontenac County ahead of other municipalities,” he said.

While South Frontenac is the jurisdiction that would be the most likely to see developments using the communal system model, Gallivan said he could see applications in Marysville on Wolfe Island, as well as in Central and North Frontenac.

When the Land O’Lakes Tourist Association (LOLTA) folded at the end of 2017, it left a vacuum of sorts in the region, one that has partly been taken up by the Frontenac County Economic Development Department and by the two regional tourism organisations that are active in Frontenac County. The northern part of the county falls within the catchment area of the Pembroke based Ontario Highlands Tourism Organization.

But without a member-based organisation such as LOLTA, a new generation of tourism operators have not had as much of an opportunity to work together as the fishing and hunting lodges in the past, who formed LOLTA in the 1940’s.

One of the first initiatives of the Sharbot Lake Business Group, which was formed last fall, was to look at the tourism sector in the region. One of the business group’s members, Greg Rodgers of the Rockhill B&B in Sharbot Lake, chaired a steering committee that decided to put together a one- day conference in order to gather up to 50 disparate tourism related businesses.

The conference, which was held on May 4th at Camp Kennebec near Arden, was built around the experiences of key note speakers from Haliburton and Renfrew Counties. They talked about how they have worked with a disparate group of other local businesses to develop a thriving tourist region.

That was followed by 5-minute presentations from 5 local business owners who talked about their own experiences and where they see their businesses going. Sarah Hale from Arden Batik, talked about her 40 years experience with the local arts community. Kim Perry talked about the founding of her Food Less Traveled store in Verona and the agricultural and food community. Sandra White from the Sharbot Lake Country Inn and the Crossings Pub, talked about the evolution f that business over the 7 years since they purchased it. Sarah Nilson from Unusual Acres in Clarendon, talked about how, among other ventures, Unusual Acres is developing a Halloween theme as a draw for visitors in late October. Finally, Gord Brown, who is not in the tourism business but was heavily involved in developing the Kennebec Wilderness Trail, talked about how community efforts can tie in to tourism.

These presentations set up the meat of the conference, tourism sector based group discussions which were an opportunity to talk about common challenges and individual experiences.

“One thing that I noticed when looking at some photos of the day, were the number of side conversations, animated conversations, that were picked up at random by the camera,” said organiser Greg Rodgers, in a phone interview after the conference.

One of the main goals of Rodgers and the committee that organised the conference, was to see an ongoing community tourism effort come out of it.

At the end of the conference, 17 of the participants committed to attending a follow up meeting where setting up a Rural Frontenac Tourism Group will be the main item on the agenda.

Rodgers said that the response to the conference from Nicole Whiting, OHTO Executive Director, and Richard Allen and Alison Vandervelde from the Frontenac County, was extremely positive.

“But more importantly, I was pleasantly surprised that there was a much greater sense of desire to keep the ball rolling among the participants than I had ever really imagined,” he said.

Vandeross consulting (Ella Vanderburg and Katie Ross) is a new consulting company with a focus on helping small businesses in Kingston and Frontenac County.

They were approached recently by an organisation called Rural by Purpose to see if they wanted to participate in a pilot project that is focused on something that is normally associated with urban environments, freelance workers needing office space.

“We thought this idea was interesting, and approached Richard Allen to see if Frontenac County would like to participate in this, and when he said yes, we decided to give it a go,” said Katie Ross in a phone interview this week.

The local version of the project is called Coworking in Frontenac, and the week of May 6-10 is the target week for the project. During that week, participating Frontenac County businesses will be opening their doors and providing space for freelancers to work out of some unused space within their offices.

Vanderburg and Ross brought the coworking challenge concept to the April meeting of Frontenac County Council and have been helping find suitable locations over the last couple of weeks.

“So far we have found there are more people looking for places to set up than there are locations, and it looks like the main thing that freelancers in Frontenac County are looking for is reliable Internet service which many don’t have at home.”

An important aspect of coworking week, and one of the major goals of Rural on Purpose, which was co-founded by Belleville based Mary Doyle, is to retain and attract younger workers to rural communities. In blogs posted on the Rural on Purpose site, Doyle makes it clear that she believes it is only through retention and in-migration of youth that rural communities will survive. In one case, at the end of an entry, she talks directly to millennials, saying, “Do you want to create new ways of doing business? What support do you need from us?”

According to a media release from Frontenac County, the majority of the workforce is predicted to be freelance within a decade, and seventy-four percent of millennials are currently freelancing. Global coworking spaces are projected to grow from 14,411 in 2017 to just over 30,000 in 2022.

"More and more we find that people are working from their homes, so it has become important to let remote workers and entrepreneurs know they have places to connect in our communities. The Coworking Takeover Challenge is a great way to start thinking about how we can be freelance friendly," said Richard Allen, Manager of Economic Development at the County of Frontenac.

So far, a number of locations have committed to having space available for the coworking week, including the township office in Frontenac Islands, the Frontenac County office, Rural Frontenac Community Services offices in Sydenham and both of their Sharbot Lake locations, and Holiday Country Manor in Battersea.

Information about locations is available at coworkfrontenac.com by clicking on participating vendors. Further down the page, there is an option for both freelancers and potential hosts to register. The site also includes a voluntary survey.

“A major goal of the pilot is to identify the need for coworking within the four municipalities. Our goal is to bring together existing business with those working in isolation and providing access to resources such as reliable internet services, networking opportunities and business support,” said Ella Vanderburg.

“As we have gotten into it, we are seeing that we might need to extend the week to a couple of weeks to get the word out and get a true sense of the potential in Frontenac County. That will also give us time to locate more vendors throughout the county,” said Katie Ross. “We think the demand is there.”

Ross and Vanderburg will be monitoring the pilot to see how it is progressing, just as they are establishing their own permanent headquarters on Sydenham Road.

For further information, go to coworkfrontenac.com, or call /email Vandeross at 613-777-2200, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..