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Jeff Green | Oct 06, 2005

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Addington Highlands will sell sand, but won't deliver

by Jeff Green

The township of Addington Highlands has received legal opinion outlining the measures the township would have to take to protect itself from possible liability if it decided to offer sand/salt delivery to private businesses. This has led Addington Highlands Council to decide that private operators who want some of the sand/salt the township stockpiles at its Denbigh and Northbrook yards can pick it up themselves.

For commercial businesses there will be a minimum load of 10 tonnes of the 2% salt and 98% sand mixture that the township uses on their own roads, and price and pickup times will be set by the township.

Homeowners will not be left slipping on the ice, however. Individuals will be able to fill one or two five gallon pails free of charge.

The new policy is taking effect for safety reasons mainly. “Last winter there were too many half ton trucks driving around the sand pits while the roads department was trying to load up trucks with sand for the roads, and sooner or later something was bound to happen,” Roads Superintendent Royce Rosenblath has told Council.

The township will be paying $37,075 for sand this year. Nine thousand tonnes will be delivered, half to the Denbigh yard, and half to a newly constructed salt containment building at Northbrook. The new building is nearing completion, Rosenblath informed Council this week, and will be ready to receive salt later this fall.

Sand will be sold on a cost recovery basis to local private businesses only. “If we start to run out in the early spring, the businesses will have to look elsewhere,” Rosenblath told Council.

The details of the new policy, including pricing, will be worked out this month.

Crime down in Addington Highlands John Lathunge, OPP Detachment Commander for Napanee and Kaladar, brought a report on OPP activities in the township in 2005, and reported that violent crimes, break and enters, mischief and drug charges have all declined in AH this year, although motor vehicle collisions are up slightly.

Reeve Ken Hook asked Lathunge if any charges or ticketing has taken place in Northbrook on Hwy. 41 where there is a problem with illegal parking in the summer.

“No charges have been laid,” Lathnge said.

“Any reason why?” Hook asked, “Because there’s lots of cars parked illegally there, and there are No Parking signs posted. It’s right in downtown Northbrook. Everybody agrees it’s a hazard.”

“I think there’s a voluntary aspect to that. We have been giving out warnings, trying to get the public to refrain from parking illegally,” Lathunge answered.

Councillors Bill Cox and Louise Scott both commented that it was tourists who were parking illegally, not locals, so education was not the problem.

“This is taking place on Hwy. 41. We can’t do anything about it. It’s not our road, not our signage, not our jurisdiction,” Reeve Hook said.

Lathunge said he would look into the matter and report back the next time he reports to Council. He said he would set up a time for late in ’05 or early ’06.

New road standard?In response to a concern from ratepayers living seasonally on a part of 5th Concession Road South which is a township owned but not maintained stretch of road, the township is considering doing some remedial work on several hundred metres of road next year.

The road is not included in the township work schedule, and Road Supervisor Rosenblath recommended that Council consider coming up with a new category of roads to cover mainly un-maintained roads which require work once every several years to remain passable.

The cost of work on the road is yet to be determined, and Councillor Scot said she would approach the people who live on the road about clearing the brush on the side so Township trucks can get in to save the township the cost of brushing.

Action at Doctor Recruitment session Reeve Hook reported that a delegation including himself, Doctor Tobia from the Northbrook clinic and Ken Young attended a Doctor recruitment event in Kingston last week. The township is now offering to pay one year’s tuition for every a year a student doctor commits to spending in the township, and Hook said this had a good effect on the response by potential doctors. The township’s offer, which could be worth up to $20,000 per year, could be coupled with provincially funded incentives for rural placement that could be worth up to $55,000, making Northbrook a potentially lucrative location for a young doctor to start a career.