Municipal races set for mayoralty; some ward contests as well

Mayoralty candidates have been making the rounds at lake association meetings this month, seeking elusive seasonal voters. Meanwhile, some potential candidates for council are waiting in the sidelines, perhaps waiting until the registration deadline of September 12 approaches.

Unlike what has transpired on one or two previous occasions, when incumbent mayors sometimes indicated they were not running, drawing members of council into the mayoralty race and then jumping in at the last minute, the races this time around seem to be set.

The most intriguing mayoralty election is set for Central Frontenac, featuring incumbent Janet Gutowski and long time councilor and pre-amalgamation reeve Frances Smith.

The campaign for the seasonal vote in Central Frontenac, which represents 50% of potential voters, is underway now.

Gutowski, who has been mayor for eight years and sat on Council for three years before that, has promoted economic development and closer ties with Frontenac County during her political career. She also founded and it still closely associated with the Frontenac Heritage Festival.

Frances Smith has been critical of Frontenac County over the past eight years or so, and has been one of the voices on Council seeking to keep taxes down.

In the ward elections, where two candidates will be elected, there will be a contested election in at least two wards. In Kennebec ward, incumbents Tom Dewey and Jeff Matson are seeking re-election, and former councilor and past candidate for mayor, Logan Murray, is running as well.

In Hinchinbooke ward, four candidates have come forward thus far, including incumbent Heather Fox as well as Brent Cameron, Kirby Bertrim and Sharon Shepherd.

There are two candidates for the Oso ward seats thus far, incumbent Wayne Millar, and Bob Olmstead, a former member of the North Frontenac Council.

Finally, in Olden ward, Justin Gray and Victor Heese have come forward.

There is one candidate for the Limestone District School Board rep for Central and North Frontenac, Steve Magee

In North Frontenac Township mayoral race, it is the case of an incumbent versus a long-time resident who has just retired.

Bud Clayton, who jumped into the 2010 election at the last minute and ended up being elected over council member Jim Beam, has been promoting long-term planning and a strategy for the township to survive some hard times in the coming years as the population ages more rapidly than in other parts of Eastern Ontario.

On the other hand, mayoral candidate Claudio Valentini, who is recently retired from teaching at Sharbot Lake High School and is the operator of Tomvale Airport and other small business ventures, thinks that North Frontenac can attract new businesses and residents if it works at it.

“We’ll create good, middle-class jobs by supporting homegrown businesses in promising areas like the arts, local food, clean energy and even local manufacturing. We’ll make it easier for people to build, relocate, set up businesses, tele-commute, improve themselves and make a living that doesn’t rely on going elsewhere every day,” he says on his election website.

Candidates for council have been slow to come forward, but at this point there will certainly be an election in Ward 2, the former Clarendon and Miller ward, where incumbent Garry Martin is seeking re-election, as are Ron Higgins and Vernon Hermer.

As of this week, there is one candidate in Barrie ward, incumbent Fred Perry, and no candidates in Ward 1, Palmerston-Canonto.

In South Frontenac there are three mayoralty candidates: John McEwen, Allan McPhail, and Ron Vandewal. McPhail and Vandewal are sitting councilors, both in Loughborough ward.

Ron Vandewal, a long-serving council member, has an interest in planning issues and is the current chair of the township's Committee of Adjustment. He has also been critical of the way Frontenac County is run.

Allan McPhail, who has been on Council for the last eight years, also takes an interest in planning as well as trails and environmental issues. He is the chair of the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority, and a member of the K&P Trail committee of Frontenac County.

John McEwen has never sat on council, but he has been involved in municipal affairs mainly as the result of his efforts to bring about changes to building regulations to require better protection for new houses against ground water infiltration into foundations.

There will be an election for the two Loughborough council seats that have been vacated by two of the aspiring mayors. Fran Willes, Stephen Bach, Mark Schjerning, Ross Sutherland and David Plumpton are all seeking council seats.

In Portland, the two incumbents, Bill Robinson and John McDougall are running, but no one has stepped forward to force a vote thus far.

In Bedford ward, incumbent Pat Barr is running, as is former township Chief Building Official Alan Revill.

There is only one candidate thus far in Storrington ward, incumbent Larry York.

Suzanne Ruttan is seeking re-election as South Frontenac representative to the Limestone District School Board

In Addington Highlands, long-time Reeve Henry Hogg is seeking a fifth term, and he is being challenged by newcomer Gerald Bray.

In Denbigh ward, there are no candidates thus far for the two seats, but in Kaladar ward incumbents Bill Cox and Helen Yanch are seeking re-election.

I wish to thank Mr. Edward Kennedy for his excellent letter Re: Mandatory Septic Re-Inspection,  July 10/14. Mr. Kennedy should receive the common sense award for July. There are too many enemies of freedom in all Frontenac townships. One can usually judge them since they all have square heads with empty corners. Thank you Mr. Kennedy.

Marie Anne Collier

Mississippi Bridge project gets the go ahead

A tender was granted in the amount of $2,167,000 to H.R. Doornekamp construction for the replacement of the one-lane bridge over the Mississippi River on Road 509 with a two-lane structure. The total cost of the project will be a bit higher, at $2,238,000. A grant from the provincial and federal governments will cover the bulk of the cost, $2 million to be precise. The rest of the cost is being covered by federal gas tax grants from the last few years, which have been held in a reserve fund, so the project will not have an impact on municipal taxation in 2015.

Funding for the project has been sought from provincial/federal infrastructure programs on at least two previous occasions, without success. Ratepayers may be thankful for those rejections, however, because the funding programs at the time covered only 2/3 of the cost of projects, whereas this one will be covering almost 90% of the total cost.

There will be minimal disruption during the construction, because the new bridge is being built just to the west of the existing bridge. Once it is completed the road will be rerouted and then the existing bridge will be removed.

Playground equipment approved, with some dissent.

In their 2014 budget, Council approved an expenditure of just over $44,000 towards an accessible playground structure at a site in Plevna that is also being contemplated for a war memorial and other public uses. The playground structure project was contingent on receiving a $25,000 grant from the Hydro One Power Play fund; however a few weeks ago Hydro One informed the township that they were only going to come through with $10,000 towards the project.

Cory Klatt, manager of community development, asked Council what he should tell Hydro One, leaving them with the option of finding another $15,000 for the project or turning down the $10,000 grant. According to CAO Cheryl Robson, there is enough money in the parkland reserve fund for ward 2 to cover the extra costs.

This brought up the question of how much use playground structures get in the Internet age.

“Will this be used?” asked Deputy Mayor Fred Perry.

“If you build something people will use it,” replied Councilor Gerry Martin.

“My concern is that the playground structure in Northbrook is never used,” replied Perry.

“There is equipment in Cloyne that nobody uses,” said Councilor Wayne Good.

“I understand what people are saying, but I think it is a gamble we should take, a leap of faith,” said Councilor John Inglis.

“We are lacking a lot of things, a doctor, a dentist, a bank, but let's start off with something,” said Councilor Lonnie Watkins.

In the end, the expenditure was approved 5-2, with Perry and Good being the dissenting voters.

Shabomeka beach privy

The township is looking at installing outhouses at five public locations in 2015, including three boat launches, the Cloyne Park, and at a proposed new public use site in Plevna. In response to a request from the Shabomeka Lake Association, Council decided to rent a privy for the Shabomeka boat launch this summer.

A number of councilors pointed out that the number of tourist-related boat traffic on township lakes was very high in late June and over the Canada Day weekend.

“These are not seasonal residents, they are families coming to fish our lakes, a response to the Fish TV episodes about North Frontenac, I think” said Mayor Bud Clayton.

“I agree, these are not local boats,” said Gerry Martin.

OPP costs may be less than first thought – Clayton

In his role as Frontenac County Warden, Mayor Clayton has learned that changes are being proposed to the OPP billing system that as of this spring was slated to raise North Frontenac's cost from just over $200,000 a year to over $1 million a year.

“They are now looking at a 60/40 split between the fixed asset costs and calls for service,” said Clayton, “as compared to a 73/23 split. And the talk is it will be phased in over four years as well.”

The split is important to North Frontenac because the fixed asset charge is based on the number of dwellings, including seasonal dwellings, which account for most of the dwellings in North Frontenac. Service calls in North Frontenac are historically very low. Council asked staff to prepare a report on the impact of this new scenario on the bill that North Frontenac will likely receive for 2015.

Residents of South Frontenac are lucky in that they are able to drop off hazardous waste materials at no charge and no limit on a weekly basis at a designated site in the township. Residents in Central Frontenac on the other hand are given one free opportunity a year to drop off hazardous waste, which if missed means they have to hang onto the stuff for another long year.

Recognizing a rising demand for such a service, South Frontenac Township staff opened the hazardous waste site, which is located at 2491 Keeley Road, in June 2011. Built using federal gas tax money, numbers from a 2013 report show that the site was well utilized by residents. In 2013 alone a total of 1683 residents used the service. Staff at the township decided to contract out the collection of the hazardous materials to a company called Drain All Ltd., which runs out of Ottawa and Napanee. Drain All staff man the site, which is open to South Frontenac residents every Thursday from April 1 to October 31, 3 to 8pm and every second and fourth Thursday from November 1 to March 31, 3 - 7pm.

Materials that can be dropped off include dry and wet batteries, antifreeze, aerosols, paints and paint-related materials, adhesives and other corrosive liquids, oil, oil filters, fluorescent tubes, fire extinguishers, flammable liquids, pharmaceutical waste, non-refillable propane containers, pesticides and fertilizers, empty oil and antifreeze containers, electronic waste like televisions, fax machines, cell phones and computers, boat and hay bale wrap, small white appliances like toasters, microwaves and bread makers, and also non-recyclable plastic items like lawn furniture and other large plastic items. The site does not accept any metal.

South Frontenac Public Works Manager, Mark Segsworth, seems pleased with the numbers reported in 2013 and said that the service “helps to mitigate the impact of hazardous waste on the environment and on the township's landfills by minimizing the hazardous materials entering the environment through landfill sites.”

Financial Audit Report

Howard Allan, a Chartered Accountant from Perth, reviewed his company’s audit of South Frontenac’s 2013 finances. Mr Allan made it clear that his approach was broader than merely reviewing the financial statements; it included a thorough review of governance policies and administrative and decision-making processes relating to “The orderly and efficient conduct of the Township’s business.”

Although he made a few minor recommendations, Allan’s overall report was very positive. He complimented staff on their cooperation, high level of professionalism and well-maintained records. “The Township’s financial position is strong.”

Development Charges Update

South Frontenac is the only Township in the County that presently levies development charges. A development charge is a fee that may be added to residential building permits, to help offset the increased costs of providing services to the new residents. Although the highest percentage of the charge goes to public works (roads, bridges, equipment), money is also apportioned to fire protection, police services, general government, recreation and libraries. A public meeting to review the Ainsley Group’s background study and recommendations on the Township’s charges drew no comments from the floor. An updated fee schedule will be incorporated into a by-law this fall.

Proposed Signage By-law

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth brought a draft by-law intended to address the proliferation of signs within some of the Township’s road allowances. He said that the question of commercial signage (which includes the blue ‘government-looking’ tourism signs) will need further discussion: should the Township rent road allowance space, or restrict commercial signs to a specific distance from the road?

Long Swamp Bridge to Remain Closed for Now

The roads department has just received a draft version of the Long Swamp bridge assessment, and has not had time to thoroughly review it. The options listed are: 1) do nothing/confirm load posting, 2) remove bridge and close road, 3) strengthen existing bridge, and 4) replace with new structure. Projected costs of these options run from $5,000 to $200,000.

Council accepted Segsworth’s recommendation that the Long Swamp Road remain temporarily closed until this issue has been resolved. 

After concerns were raised last year about increased absenteeism at both Fairmount Home and Frontenac Paramedic Services, monthly updates were ordered by county council. Five months into 2014, indications are that the rate and costs of absenteeism are down from their historic 2013 highs.

If the rest of 2014 follows the pattern of the first five months, absenteeism at Frontenac Paramedic Services will drop below 19,000 hours for the first time in two years. The total in 2013 was almost 22,000 hours and in 2012 it was over 19,500 hours.

The absenteeism rate at Fairmount Home is down marginally from 2013, but it did drop in 2013 from its historic high of almost 15,000 hours in 2012.

In the County administrative office, the rate doubled in 2013 from 2012, up to almost 1,000 hours. In 2014, only 175 hours have been lost as of the end of May, on pace to drop below the level of 2012.

In terms of cost, because not all hours lost to absenteeism are replaced by replacement workers, indications are that savings of well over $100,000 will be realized in 2014 as compared to 2013 if the pattern of the first five months continues until the end of the year.  

A detailed population, housing and employment projections study, completed by Watson and Associates for the Frontenac County planning department, indicates there will be limited growth in the County over the next 20 years, and that growth will be centered in South Frontenac with most of the new residents living within commuting distance from the City of Kingston.

Although none of the information in the study is new, and there are some projections going forward that reflect some regional and provincial trends, the study does question some of the data that came from the 2011 census, and provides alternative information.

It also provides a 20-year picture of births and deaths in the County, and during the most recent five-year period for which data was available, 2006-2011, more people are dying than are being born in Frontenac County. The numbers, 1,338 births as compared to 1,402 deaths, reflect a gradual change in demograpics. Between 1991 and 1996 there were 1348 births and 884 deaths; between 1996 and 2001, 1044 births and 651 deaths; and between 2001 and 2006 886 babies were born and 823 people died.

Over that 20-year period, the population increase in Frontenac County was mostly due to increased migration to the county from elsewhere, which was responsible for a net increase in population of almost 5,300 residents over that time.

Not surprisingly given these figures, the number of young people in Frontenac County has been on the wane as the older adult and senior population has jumped. In 1981, 33% of the Frontenac County population was under 19, and that percentage has dropped to 22%. Also, in 1981, 22% of the population was between the age of 20 and 34 and that percentage is down to 12%. The percentages are correspondingly higher for those aged 45 to 54 and 55 to 74, which is now the largest group at 29%.

All of this puts talk of the ageing of the baby boom bump and the ageing Tsunami into context.

Based on demographic and economic trends and population, the Watson report projected slow economic and population growth in Frontenac County over the next 22 years.

Growth is projected to increase at a marginal rate of 0.7% per year over that time, with the bulk of the increase (67%) being generated by growth in the Kingston economy and a resulting increase in the commuter population in South Frontenac.

The total population is projected to reach 33,200 by 20136, up from 27,900 currently. When seasonal residents are added to the mix, the projection is a population of 64,200 by 2036, up from 57,500 currently.

Job growth within the county over that time is also projected to be modest, a net increase of only 800 jobs, from 3,900 currently to 4,700 in 2036, but more and more of those jobs will be home-based jobs in the knowledge economy as opposed to jobs in the retail and tourism sectors.

While the projections in the Watson report are clearly subject to revision as time goes on, Joe Gallivan, manager of sustainability planning for Frontenac, said that the study is a valuable tool in the development of a strategy for population and economic growth in the county, and for the development of services geared towards an ageing population,

One aspect of the study that Gallivan will use in the coming months is chapter 7, which deals with future housing possibilities in the county.

“It is anticipated that a significant share of future housing development will occur within the rural area, similar to historic trends” the study says in section 7-4.

“That is why it is important for us to impress upon the Ministry if Municipal Affairs that contrary to what the provincial policy statement says, orienting all housing development into the built-up areas is not a viable option in Frontenac County,” said Gallivan.

South Frontenac Mayor Gary Davison concurred. “Pushing development into hamlets that don’t have water and sewer systems in place is only going to cause more, not less, of an environmental risk,” he said.

Of more than a dozen hamlets in Frontenac, Sydenham is the only one with a water system in place, and even Sydenham does not have a communal sewage system.

Frontenac County Council has developed an obsession with finding a home for $3.5 million in reserve funds that had been accumulating in their working fund reserve, which in the municipal world is the equivalent of a checking account.

Early this year, based on advice from a consultant, the council determined that this money could be put to other uses, and some members of council argued that the money should be simply transferred to the local townships to help cover the cost of road and bridge repairs.

However, at a Committee of the Whole meeting in May, the council decided instead to divvy up almost all of the money into several different pots, for use on future projects.

When those allocations were brought forward to the formal council meeting for ratification a couple of weeks later, some council members objected, arguing that not enough discussion had taken place.

The matter was deferred a month, and during last week's monthly council meeting (June 18) a further Committee of the Whole session was scheduled to tackle the matter.

This time, each of the allocations was discussed and voted on. The result was the same as in May and the decisions will again be sent to the formal council for ratification, this time in July.

CAO Kelly Pender, using the example of the largest pot of money, $1.5 million for seniors’ housing, outlined the kind of financial model that would be required before any of that money would actually be spent.

The proposed reserve allocations are as follows: $1.5 million to seniors’ projects; $100,000 for waste management planning; $500,000 to economic development; $200,000 to capital asset management requirements; $340,000 for capital commitments under cost sharing agreements; $380,000 for Frontenac Renovates (a program to help residents in older homes); $30,000 for land acquisition – trails; $154,000 for future Community Improvement Plans; $100,000 for an energy retrofit project.

While it would seem that the decision of the Committee of the Whole would be replicated at Council since they have the same makeup, a quirk of voting may come into play.

At Council, South Frontenac Mayor Gary Davison has two votes since he represents the most populous township, but he only has one vote at the Committee of the Whole.

Votes at the Committee of the Whole on a couple of the proposals, including the $500,000 for Economic Development, were close and might have been different if Davison had two votes, so the votes might go differently at Council in July.

Fire Services Save Life

South Frontenac resident Randy King spoke to Council of his heartfelt thanks to Fire Chief Chesebrough and the volunteers of South Frontenac Fire Department. He described how their prompt and appropriate intervention saved his life during a sudden health crisis in early June.

Speakers Series Proposed

Geoff Sandiford of the Frontenac County Sustainability Advisory Committee introduced the committee’s new chair, Tracy John. He then spoke of their proposal to set up a series of speakers this fall to address ‘subjects that matter’ to residents of each of the Townships. He said they wanted to know what topics Council felt would be relevant to their local communities. Councillor McDougall said that at the annual meetings the Township had held with local Lake Associations, there seemed ongoing confusion about the roles of the Stewardship Committee, the Conservation Authorities, and the Ministry of Natural Resources; perhaps an evening that included representatives from each of these agencies would be useful for the lake associations.

The rest of Council agreed: no one offered any other suggestions, although Sandiford had listed a number of potential topics including: car share programs, volunteering, solar hot water heaters, septic alternatives, seed banks, environmentally conscious movie nights, and community revitalization. Mayor Davison thanked them for coming, and said they ‘had planted the seeds’ of a number of ideas for engaging the residents in our communities.

New CAO

County Warden Bud Clayton introduced Kelly Pender, new CAO for Frontenac County. Pender spoke of the importance of the County and the Townships working together in partnership.

Request to Lease Township Property

A resident of Harrowsmith has asked Council to consider leasing, with an option to purchase, a small parcel of Township land in the village of Harrowsmith. He says he is renting a neighbouring apartment, and would like to park his RV on the property. After a brief discussion, Council agreed unanimously that they intended to retain the land in question, would not consider leasing it, and if they should at some time decide to sell it, they would contact adjoining landowners to see if they had any interest in the parcel as a lot addition, for it is too small to be considered a separate property.

Chip Wagons

Further to recently expressed concerns about the chip wagon bylaw, the Corporate Services Committee has recommended three changes to clarify the bylaw: 1) specify that licenses are issued by the Building Inspector, not Council; 2) state that chip wagons should not be located within 500 meters of a business where similar products are sold unless there is written consent from the permanent business, and 3) eliminate the suggestion that any vendor can simply make application to Council for an exemption from any provision of the bylaw. These recommendations will be brought to Council as part of a consolidated bylaw, and once passed, a copy will be issued to all current license holders.

Mandatory septic inspections on the Central Frontenac agenda

Since February a committee of volunteers, Councilor Jeff Matson, and staff from the septic office of Kingston Frontenac Public Health have been meeting regularly to talk about how to set up a program to inspect all 4,000 or so private septic systems in Central Frontenac over a 10-year period.

John Duchene, retired township Chief Administrative Officer and Kennebec Lake resident, presented an interim report from the committee at the council meeting this week (June 24).

Duchene said that the committee looked at a number of other jurisdictions who have implemented similar programs, which have become permissible with changed in provincial legislation in recent years.

Currently the township employs the Mississippi-Rideau septic office to conduct voluntary inspections, and Duchene said, “Really we see this as an extension of that process.”

The first step in establishing a program would be an information gathering process, updating information about systems that are over 15 years old.

“Public Health has good data for those systems that were installed in the last 15 years, but the data deteriorates for the period before that," said Duchene, “so finding out what is out there is a big first step.”

Even though the program, as envisioned by the committee, would include all systems in the township, priority would be given to those systems over 20 years old, systems within the vicinity of lakes, and systems in built up areas where contamination of the groundwater could have the greatest effect on neighbours.

Inspections will likely cost $140 on average and Duchene said there are many ways to finance them, either through a direct charge to ratepayers, through a septic levy on the tax bill, or by some other means.

Duchene suggested that the committee will bring more details to council about what they will be proposing in the coming months.

In response to the report, a number of councillors raised issues.

Councilor John Purdon said that in Tay Valley, only properties on highly sensitive lakes are included.

Councilor Tom Dewey suggested that the septic pumping contractors could also have the job of inspecting systems.

Councilor Norman Guntensperger then said, “I have to say I am sitting here wondering if anybody else is feeling uncomfortable about a lot of what is happening today … enforcement is not a minor thing. We are talking about families potentially losing their homes.”

Gord Mitchell, from KFL&A Public Health said, “In 29 years that I’ve been involved with this, not one person has been forced out of their home. There are ways to mitigate the impacts and to work with people. That is normally how it is handled.”

“For myself I am also concerned about the vulnerable people but I am also concerned that we must find a way to ensure that the systems are all safe,” said Mayor Janet Gutowski.

“Are we required by any law to do this?” asked Guntensperger.

“Not at this point,” said Gutowski.

The report from the committee was received for information.

Kids of Steel a go despite council concerns

Greg Kealey of the Ottawa Triathlon Club came to council seeking permission for intermittent road closures of Road 38 during the cycling portion of a planned Kids of Steel Triathlon in Shabot Lake on Sunday morning, July 27.

The Triathlon is to be part of a five-race competitive series called the Triathlon Ontario Youth Cup. The Sharbot Lake site was used last year by the same group, and is well known in Ontario Triathlon circles for Kids of Steel races that took place there in the 1980s and 1990s.

One hundred and fifty kids between the age of 6 and 15 took part last year and Kealey expects more in 2014.

“We made mistakes last year by going to the County, which we thought was the right place to go, but now we know we need to come to the township for permission.”

The primary objective of the triathlon is to promote physical activity among children, and efforts will be made to recruit local children for the event, Kealey added.

A number of councilors expressed concerns about the road closure, and made suggestions about seeking an alternative route, for the cycling to be done on trails, etc.

Greg Kealey said that he is willing to look at alternatives, but if none can be found he did need to know if the road closure would be permitted because if not he would seek a new site.

“I can’t take a chance on finding out we can’t hold it here once we get close to race day and I will have to cancel the race entirely, cutting the race series down from five to four at the last minute,” he said. “Overall I felt we had a good response last year from the local community.”

Other races in the series are scheduled for Ottawa, Guelph, Dunrobin, and Lakeside.

“Given the history of this location, and the ideal layout, we are keen to hold this one here,” Kealey said.

Mayor Janet Gutowski said, “I feel I have to point out I did receive complaints last year, including from the restaurant at the beach about access being closed off for customers, and the township was never informed. I also heard from people who loved it, I should point out.”

In the end the road closure was approved, with Kealey promising to seek an alternative route if possible and committing to putting up signage about the road closing well in advance of the race.

For more information about the race, go to www.bytowntriathlon.com or call Greg at 613-323-5255.