Pine_lake

Jeff Green | Nov 30, 2006

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More meetings at Pine Lake

by Jeff Green

North Frontenac Mayor Ron Maguire brought news of a potential agreement between the Ardoch Algonquins, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the township, to a meeting of North Frontenac Council on November 23rd.

Maguire described a meeting on November 21st at the Pine Lake boat launch, which has been transformed into a fledgling Pow Wow grounds this past summer by members of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFNA).

Present at the meeting were Harold and Neil Perry, Daniel St. Pierre and Randy Cota from AAFNA; Ron Maguire, CAO Cheryl Robson, and Chief Building Officer David Young from the township; Bob Walroth and Monique Rolf Von den Bauman-Clark from the Ministry of Natural Resources; and Sgt. Jeff McCann from the Ontario Provincial Police.

As Maguire described, a working agreement was reached concerning the future of the site. The Ardoch Algonquins said they would not be building a community centre on the site as originally planned, but only a smaller building, “suitable for a meeting of perhaps a couple of dozen people” Maguire said. The parties all agreed to cooperate so that the building satisfies environmental and building code regulations.

“The agreement was welcomed by all the parties,” Maguire said.

However, a subsequent meeting on Monday of this week (November 27) did not go quite as well.

According to Harold Perry of AAFNA, MNR official Bob Walroth said this week that they need to do a more comprehensive environmental assessment of the project than they were talking about at the meeting on November 21st.

This led to a heated exchange between Walroth and Randy Cota over what had been agreed to on November 21st.

After the meeting, a series of phone calls between MNR officials, Randy Cota, and Ron Maguire seem to have sorted out the matter, and late on Tuesday afternoon the township sent a letter to Harold Perry outlining the township’s expectations from AAFNA regarding the project.

Maguire remains optimistic that the working agreement between AAFNA, the township and the MNR will work.

Harold Perry provided some details about the building that AAFNA is planning to construct. He said it will be a 28’ by 40’ structure, which will include washrooms, a room suitable for a meeting, and space for storage.

A parking lot is being proposed for the opposite side of the Ardoch Road .

(The News was unable to obtain an interview with Monique Rolf Von den Bauman-Clark of the MNR for comment on the latest developments in this ongoing story)