Back to HomeFeature Article - August 6, 2009 South Frontenac Councilby Jeff Green

Coming and going - South Frontenac Clerk Administrator Bord Burns(l) will retire at the end of this week after 8 years with the township. Wayne orr (r) will take over his duties next monday. They were both on hand to provide guidance to this week's meeting.

It wasn’t intentional, but South Frontenac Council greeted its new CAO Wayne Orr and said goodbye to its retiring CAO Gord Burns with a three-hour display of internal bickering (most of which was relatively good natured) at their only scheduled August meeting in Sydenham on Tuesday night, August 4.

The meeting started quietly enough. Vicky Leakey from the accounting firm KPMG presented the financial statements for 2008. She concluded, “There are no issues or recommendations that we need to make. We came up with no adjustments, and did not identify any fraudulent or potentially fraudulent or illegal acts. Nothing came to our attention and we did not notice any unusual actions.”

PORTLAND REC COMMITTEE: A request from the Portland District Recreation Committee for an extra $75,000 to complete planned upgrades to facilities in Verona and Harrowsmith was considered.

The 2009 budget included money for work on the Centennial Park Ball diamond, band shell and tennis courts in Harrowsmith and the Verona tennis courts and McMullen Park Waterfront.

The budget that was set for the five projects was $61,000, but when the price estimates came in from contractors the costs were more than twice as high as the amounts budgeted.

The Verona and Centennial Park tennis courts were both budgeted at $12,500 but the estimated cost is now $25,000 each. The Centennial Park Ball Diamond was budgeted at $24,000 and the estimated cost is now listed as “unknown”. The McMullen Park waterfront project, which includes an accessible boardwalk, has swelled to $35,000 although budgeted at $10,000, and the Centennial Park band shell now stands at $6,000 although budgeted at $2,000.

The request was for $75,000 from the Portland Recreation Reserve to complete all the projects in 2009.

“If the roads department came back to us and said their budgets had doubled, we would chastise them and tell them to cut some of their projects. Why should this be any different?” asked Councilor Ron Vandewal.

“Are these new estimated costs based on tenders or are they just a new guess?” asked Councilor David Hahn.

“The tennis courts are based on tenders,” said Portland District Councilor Jim Hicks.

“The waterfront estimate was way out,” said the other Portland Councilor Bill Robinson.

The matter will come back to council in September.

SYDENHAM LIBRARY – Frontenac County submitted a successful grant application for 2/3 funding of the cost of building a new library in Sydenham, which will in turn allow the township to reclaim the existing library space to expand the township office and bring all the departments under one roof.

The county is now seeking a commitment from South Frontenac to cover any overruns in the library construction project.

“They made it very clear to us when we met with them that this was going to be their project; that they could be in charge of it and we would have no say in what happens. My point is - why should we give them a blank cheque? If we have no control over how much money they spend on it, why should we cover any cost overruns?” asked Ron Vandewal.

“There won’t be any cost overruns. Were there cost overruns for Sydenham Water or the tower? No,” said Mayor Gary Davison.

“I’d be willing to do it if we have some approval,” said Councilor David Hahn.

“I agree. We need to sign off on the project as it moves forward,” said Councilor Larry York.

Council agreed to accept responsibility for the overruns provided they have a chance to review every tender related to the project before they are awarded.

TRICKY INTERSECTION TO STAY AS IS: Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth presented a report recommending that $30,600 be spent on a study by AECOM consulting to determine how best to change the intersection of the Colebrook, Wilton, and Ottawa roads and Road 38. “The reality is that 38 is our most heavily traveled road, and this is the most dangerous spot on the road. There haven’t been any accidents there, but there have been a lot of near misses, and with the road getting busier all the time I think we should do something,” Segsworth said.

“Are you talking about a traffic light?” asked Ron Vandewal.

“My mind is open. Other options include a roundabout, or rerouting some roads or doing nothing. I think there is a need to look at this and it is something I can’t do for myself,” Segsworth responded.

“It’s a lot of money for nothing,” said Councilor Bill Robinson. “I’ve lived in that rat race for 40 years and nothing’s ever happened. We don’t need a traffic light. It’s like putting a traffic light in Piccadilly Square in England. I don’t agree with it.”

Council sided with Robinson, and turned down the proposal in a 7-2 vote.

Perth Road assessment approved – Council did approve a proposed $18,000 operational assessment of Perth Road by McIntosh Perry.

The McIntosh Perry proposal was the most expensive response to a request for proposal (RFP) that the township had set out, but Segsworth said their proposal was the only one that was comprehensive, and he knows they have the staff to do the proper traffic counts and analysis. The RFP was awarded to McIntosh Perry.

Road construction update – Mark Segsworth presented an update on road construction.

“There have been cost overruns from what was budgeted, but we have adjusted our program and most likely we will - let me rephrase that - we will remain within the budget …I hope you appreciate what we are doing here. This is no Sleepy Hollow. We are doing $5.9 million in road construction this year.”

Of that total, $4.35 million is coming from the township budget and a further $1.8 million from grant money.

Road that are receiving attention include: Buck Bay, Burridge, Canoe Lake and Wolfe Lake roads in Bedford; Burnett, Graham, Redmond, Verona Sand, Snider, Cross, Long Swamp, Piccadilly, Colebrook and Quinn Roads in Portland; Canoe Lake, Charley Green, Daley, Keeley, Walker, and Orser Roads in Loughborough; 11 roads in Storrington, and 12 Concession, Bear Creek, High Falls Bridge, Loughborough Lake Bridge, Sydenham and Bedford roads among township maintained roads.

South Frontenac Rec. Committee established – Council spent a lot of time figuring out what to do with a proposal to hire Wes Garrod to produce a five-year Recreational Master Plan for the township.

David Hahn wanted to defer the motion to receive more information about Garrod’s work plan and fees, but the motion to defer was defeated. Nonetheless Hahn cast the deciding vote, in favour of hiring Garrod now.

Truck woes - The tender for two ¾ ton and one ½ ton pickup for use in winter maintenance had been awarded to Condie Pontiac, but Condie has informed Segsworth that the vehicles will not be ready until January. Segsworth asked for leave to consider other options, perhaps looking at the number 2 bidder, Revell Ford, if Condie cannot deliver the trucks on time.

“An agreement is an agreement; we should stick with Condie,” said Bill Robinson.

“I won’t do anything until I come back to Council in September,” Segsworth said.

Council agreed to let him work on getting at least two trucks in place before the snow falls. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - July 30, 2009 Central Frontenac Council - Jul 28/09by Jeff Green

Neighbours like green seniors’ complex, but not the location

At a public meeting of Central Frontenac Council on July 28, concerning an application for Official Plan (OP) and Zoning Bylaw amendments to permit a five-unit, not-for-profit seniors’ building to be built on Clement Road, several adjacent homeowners expressed the opinion that Clement Road is the absolutely wrong location for a complex they said they would normally support.

The Official Plan amendment is required because the proposed five-unit (each at 800 sq. feet) building requires a rural, multi-residential zone, which does not exist under the Central Frontenac Official Plan. Once the special zone is created, a zoning amendment will be required to apply it to the property.

North Frontenac Not-For-Profit Housing, the agency that proposes to build the complex using provincial grant money administered by the City of Kingston, has a four-unit townhouse on the 2.89 hectare property, and is seeking a severance to create a new lot for the seniors’ complex.

Township planning consultant Dave Sappleton of Tunnock Consulting said, “The proposed seniors’ complex is an important addition to the supply of affordable housing for a specific age cohort. The subject lands are suitable for the location ... the proposed development is compatible with the surrounding land uses and its energy-efficient design will minimize the environmental impacts on the natural environment.”

Cam Allen, from Alltech Consulting, the project manager for the proposed build, expanded at length about the project design, which he described as ground-breaking. “This will be the first LEED platinum public building in all of Canada,” he said.

LEED, (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a well-established green building rating system that includes an independent third party certification program. LEED points are awarded for various aspects of design and construction, and based on those points buildings can attain several levels of LEED certification.

According to Allen, the K-Rock Centre and the new police headquarters in Kingston both attained LEED silver rating. “Our goal for this project is to surpass LEED silver and LEED gold, and produce a LEED platinum building.”

To do that, the proposed building will have an overall footprint that is 125% of the building’s size, will make use of passive solar energy by virtue of the location of windows, etc., will have an advanced ventilation system, a modern version of a cistern for rain water retention, modular construction using concrete, an air-heated pad, and an advanced septic system.

“It will cost between $25 and $40 per month for light, heat, and hydro for the tenants in these units,” he said.

Allen, who writes a column for Sun Media called “Greentech”, said he will be writing a six-part series about this project, and he and the CBC are planning a documentary on the project as well.

One neighbour, Rick Greenstreet, responded to Sappleton and Allen's presentation by saying, “The project sounds interesting but the property has insufficient road frontage; the entrance is on a blind corner that will make a safety hazard even worse; the population density is high, because of your existing multi-residential home, as well as two group homes and other single family dwellings, which are all located on a ridge that lies between a wetland and a beaver pond.”

Several others, including Roy Sepa, expressed similar concerns. Sepa said he did not want to go into all of the detail that is included in a long, written submission he has made opposing the project, but said “A lot of people from the immediate area have looked carefully at this location, and have serious concerns about this. This location has not been shown to be appropriate by anything I have heard today.”

“Has our planning department considered any alternative locations for this?” asked Councilor Norm Guntensperger.

Jane Drew, the property manager for North Frontenac Not-for-Profit Housing, said, “This was the only potential building lot that our corporation owns, and when we applied for funding, points were awarded for not having to purchase land.”

“We should have a bank of land available for projects that come up,” said Councilor Bob Harvey.

Mayor Janet Gutowski said, “There is a great, immediate need for seniors’ housing in this township, which has been taken up by North Frontenac Not-For-Profit Housing. This will be brought to our next council meeting on August 10. We will consider all submissions.” 

NEW POLICEMEN COME CALLING: Inspector Ray Westgarth, who is replacing Lanark Detachment Commander Gerry Salisbury while he is on assignment to the 2010 G8 summit, along with Inspector Derek Needham (Lanark Detachment) and Sergeant Jim Birch, newly assigned community sergeant for Sharbot Lake, replacing Jeff McCann, all paid a visit to Central Frontenac Council this week.

“I brought with me a sample of the statistics we can provide to you quarterly,” Inspector Westgarth said, “and I want to encourage you to contact us as soon as problems develop so we can act on them rather than being surprised to hear concerns several months after they have occurred.”

In terms of crime, Westgarth said that the incidents of property crime, “not just break and enters but thefts and mischief as well, are up throughout Lanark.”

The township will be considering setting up a policing advisory committee to improve communication with the detachment.

ENERGY FIT PROPOSAL – Glen Moase appeared before council to talk about the possibility of a solar power installation on one of the township buildings that could take advantage of the provincial “feed in tariff” program, which pays 80 cents per kw to subscribers who feed power back into the grid from small systems.

Moase proposed hearing a submission from a professional concerning a suitable project.

Mayor Gutowski said that renewable energy is one of the major components of the Frontenac County Integrated Community Sustainability Plan. “I suggest there is an opportunity to work collectively on this, and seek funding for start up costs,” she said.

“It's been talk, talk, talk about energy for a long time around here. I have problems with waiting for others to act,” said Councilor Frances Smith.

Council agreed to hear a presentation. Moase said the presentation is free by the company he knows about (and he disclosed that he has invested in) but that it might cost $5,000 for engineering a project if council sees fit to do so.

CROW LAKE – A delegation from the Crow Lake Community Association brought an update to council on the activities at the Crow Lake Schoolhouse. Ludwig Ratzinger, the association’s president, said the committee has retired a $9,000 deficit from the hall's rehabilitation project, has installed new fans, and will be installing new siding next month. Events at the schoolhouse have been well attended. He asked that the township put up new signs at either end of the village, and Mayor Gutowski said she would bring this up to the Economic Development Committee.

ROADSIDE MOWING – Councilors were questioning their own decision to do roadside mowing this summer using township equipment and employees, rather than contracting the job out, as was the case last year.

“It's not working; it's very bad this year,” said Councilor Frances Smith, “my car is covered in seeds after driving on the Burke Settlement Road.”

Chief Administrative Officer John Duchene said he has received “a number of complaints”.

“At the start of it, you need someone on the mower who knows what a mowing machine is. You bought a sickle mower when you should have bought a flail mower, and the operator doesn't know how to mow in the first place. It's just a disgrace. I knew it was going to happen, and it's a waste of taxpayers’ money,” said Councilor Bill Snyder.

“There's a lot of sweet clover this year,” said Councilor Jeff Matson, “that's what's growing over the road, but Bill is right about the mower. It should have been a flail mower.”

TRAILS COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO RETURN? Deputy Mayor Gary Smith recently resigned from the Frontenac County Trails Committee over the actions of county staff along with Deputy Mayor Jim Beam from North Frontenac and Councilor Dennis Doyle from Frontenac Islands.

He hinted that a rapprochement was in the works, telling Mayor Gutowski that she will be receiving a letter from Doyle in the near future after county council made a gesture towards the three members at their most recent meeting by rescinding a contentious motion.

“Does that mean you will be rejoining the committee?” asked Councilor John Purdon.

Smith just smiled. 

Back to HomeEditorial - July 30, 2009 Frontenac County and the gas taxEditorial by Jeff Green

Frontenac County council is in a state of disarray. At their latest meeting the four-member council was not even able to approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

This is a fitting illustration of the state of dysfunction to which county council has sunk.

Pressure is mounting on the county from the four lower- tier townships (North, Central, and South Frontenac and the Frontenac Islands) to expand county council and improve its fractured relationship with the lower tier.

Aside from governance, other issues dog the county. Three of four township council representatives on the trails committee have resigned over county actions; rural ambulance service to the north is in flux; and Fairmount Home needs to cut costs.

Among unresolved questions at the county is how to allocate a federal gas tax rebate that the county receives. Gas tax money has been flowing to the county for several years now, a total of over $1 million, and $1 million a year will be arriving for the next five years.

The money is so-called infrastructure money, what used to be called “road and bridge” money. Since the county does not own roads, bridges, waste sites, or water treatment plants, it has had a problem deciding what to do with the money

Proposals to pass it over to the lower tier, who do have lots of infrastructure costs (crumbling bridges, cracked pavement, salt domes, waste sites that need attention, etc.) were deemed as premature by County Chief Administrative Officer Elizabeth Savill when they were brought forward by county councillors two and three years ago.

Hastings County, which also has no county roads system, distributed their gas tax money to the lower-tier municipalities, but Hastings County has an Official Plan document, and Savill told county council that without an Official Plan, Frontenac County cannot distribute the funds to its constituent townships.

She said that it would be sufficient, however, for Frontenac County to develop an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) in place of an Official Plan, and once that happened county council could have a debate about how to distribute the funds.

In 2008, a request came to the county from Central Frontenac Council for county gas tax funds to pay for a salt dome, but the proposal was never even considered by county. The ICSP had to come first.

As the ICSP was being developed, a shift took place. The ICSP was to be more than a planning document; it was also to be the vehicle for spending the gas tax money.

Volunteers who participated in the ICSP process from community groups, not-for-profit corporations, social service agencies, the business community, etc., were told by the consultants, who had been hired by the county, that the projects they identified would be eligible for gas tax funding.

This plan of action is acceptable to the federal government and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, (AMO), which administers these funds.

And the projects may have merit. But, Frontenac County council has never, as a body, made an explicit decision to use the ICSP as a vehicle to spend all of their gas tax money.

County council was told that the question of what should be done with gas tax money would take place after the ICSP is in place. The ICSP was submitted to county council in June, where it was received “for information purposes only” so that is could be read by council members and debated at a subsequent meeting.

A report presented to county council last week by Elizabeth Savill acknowledges this. The report then goes on to outline 10 projects that were identified under the “sustainable actions” section of the ICSP, and recommends that staff be authorized to “immediately commence work” on them. All of the money for these projects is to come from gas tax funding.

Time is running out, Savill's report says. According to the gas tax rules, $300,000 must be spent by the end of this year.

These projects include the following: Inventory of community assets ($50,000), Integrated GIS mapping ($140,000), Local Food Summit ($5,000), Support for Smaller Scale Community Sustainability Initiatives ($5,000), Salt Management Plan ($50,000), The Naturally Rich Frontenacs Booklet ($9,150), Assessment of Renewable Energy Management Plan for All Five Municipalities ($100,000), County-Wide Solid Waste Management Plan ($75,000).

County council deferred moving on these recommendations until their next meeting on August 12, when they will also consider governance.

At that time, they might think about a few things. Somehow, gas tax money can now go towards a salt management plan, but it cannot be spent on salt management itself (i.e. a salt dome).

Solid Waste Management has been worked on by each municipal council. They answer directly to the Minister of the Environment and it is hard to see how a county-wide plan will help anyone.

Further, while funding for county costs will be provided by gas tax money, some of these studies will take up a lot of time for the public works managers in each township, and that cost will come from the budgets of those townships. So instead of lowering local taxes, gas tax funding will end up increasing property taxes.

But never mind the detail. These projects may indeed be well justified and good ways to spend public money, for all I know.

The problem is we have a democratically elected council that has not yet made a decision about whether the ICSP should be adopted. It has never made a decision about whether the ICSP should be the vehicle for distributing gas tax money. It has never even debated whether gas tax money would be better used by lower-tier municipalities which, one way or another, will have to fund road and bridge work and dump closure plans and salt domes and even water treatment.

The gas tax money to Frontenac County will be $1 million per year for 5 years.

County council needs to put their differences aside and make a collective decision about that money.

Should it all go to planning at the county level? Should it all go to hard infrastructure? Or a combination of the two?

This is a political decision that must be made by a political body. County staff can advise, but the council should stand up for itself and put some muscle to the wheel on this.

If they keep fighting about approving the minutes from earlier meetings instead, $5 million will be gone and local taxes will have to cover it all. 

Budget meeting and othere items from Council

Central Frontenac Council made short work of their line-by-line consideration of the 2014 township budget on Monday afternoon.

They had met twice the previous week to hear management-level staff go over their respective budgets, but did not make any changes to the overall document.

When they met on Monday afternoon, Treasurer Michael McGovern brought some good news. A misplaced decimal place had the figure for interest earned from late tax payments at $7,200 instead of $72,000 in the initial draft budget.

Simply by correcting that error, the increase in the levy to ratepayers dropped from 8.15% to 7.26%.

Over the course of the three-hour meeting, council found some more savings, and the budget was down to a 6.36% increase, just under $400,000.

Inflation accounts for just under 1% of that increase, and according to Treasurer McGovern, the township experienced assessment growth due to new construction of about the same amount.

Faced with the increase, Councilor Frances Smith said, “I still think we are asking too much from our ratepayers. I'd like to see us bring it down to 2 or 3%."

“I partially agree with Councilor Smith,” said Councilor John Purdon. “When I look at the budgets we have passed since 2006, when I first came to Council, we have had an average increase of 7.2% per year. Over that time we have raised taxes by 50%. I think we can accomplish our goals this year with a 5% increase.”

Mayor Janet Gutowski asked Michael McGovern how much the budget needs to be cut to bring the increase down to 5% and he said $90,000.

“How about this?” said Gutowski. “Let's ask staff to find $90,000 in cuts, and then we'll look at what they come up with and we can make our decisions then.”

There was general agreement among Council and the directive was issued. There are no more special budget meetings scheduled, and Council will likely receive a budget that includes an increase of just under $300,000 in the levy at their regular meeting on February 11.

(Council met again on Tuesday (January 28) for a regular meeting. In order to get a head start on construction projects, they pre-approved a number of major items in the 2014 budget, including $1 million in road and bridge projects and $210,000 for the purchase of a tandem truck)

Do we need a fleet this big?

Even though he will not be retiring until later this summer, it was almost as if Central Frontenac Public Works Manager Mike Richardson was making comments as he was walking out the door, when he answered a question about the size of the fleet of loaders, graders, and other trucks that the township has at its disposal.

The question was posed during budget talks by Councilor Jeff Matson, and it cut to the heart of the direction Richardson has taken the public works department during his five-year tenure as public works manager.

“I have been maintaining a fleet, and I have been maintaining, not growing the fleet. If you want to keep the service level you have now you have to maintain the fleet and staffing levels that you have. If you want to reduce the service level, you can make cuts, but I wouldn't recommend that you go that route,” Richardson said.

Richardson was talking to Council on Monday afternoon, a day that had started with a surprise load of snow on township roads.

“The time it took for a clean-up today, basically a day's work for the crews and a bit more - that shows you pretty well where you are. The service level is perhaps a little higher than I have seen in other townships but this is a very difficult township. I look at some of the more remote roads in Kennebec and it becomes very difficult to say we should take two more hours to get their roads cleared,” he said. “People can't wait for that much longer for their roads to be cleared.”

Under Richardson, the township has embarked on a 10-year plan to replace a number of older vehicles with new ones, and the benefits are to come with lower maintenance costs and a budgetary benefit in future years. Rather than replacing vehicles on an ad-hoc basis as they break down, Richardson has implemented a long-term plan in which money is put aside each year for the eventual replacement of equipment.

“I am pleased with this,” said Mayor Janet Gutowski, “I support keeping our equipment up top snuff. And we are starting to see savings in repairs, $20,000 this year and more in the future, plus we are seeing less down time for staff.”

Good news and bad news

Chief Administrative Officer Larry Donaldson brought some good news to Central Frontenac Council at their meeting on Tuesday (January 27). The township's insurance company will pay the full replacement value for a truck that slid into a ditch and flipped over during an ice storm in January.

He also had some bad news.

“I just found out this afternoon that another truck was in an accident today. I don’t know the details because it just happened today,” he said.

The truck involved in Tuesday’s accident was built in the 1990s.

Questioning Hillier’s numbers

Councilor John Purdon had a point to make about a letter to Council from MPP Randy Hillier.

The letter came about in response to Council’s attempt to sway Hillier towards supporting Bill 91 Waste Reduction Act which, if passed, will transfer the burden of paying for recycling towards the manufacturers who produce the material that ends up in the recycling stream. Municipalities have been supportive of the bill because it would alleviate the costs they currently pay to cover recycling.

In his response Hiller said he felt “it is important to share some of my reservations I have regarding Bill 91.”

Hillier noted that Food and Consumer Products of Canada, said “Bill 91 is poorly thought out and a huge risk to their competitiveness and survival”

Sony Canada also opposes the bill, Hillier wrote.

He also said that the Ontario government “had a goal of 60% diversion by 2008, but has never surpassed 23%”

It is on this point that John Purdon took issue.

“Waste Diversion Ontario calculated a diversion rate of 32% in 2007 and 47.2% currently,” Purdon said. “Those are the rates for consumers of the end products. Mr. Hillier is using numbers that include the industrial sector, the very group that is lobbying the government to not bring in the Waste Reduction Act.”

Treasurer identifies potential cuts to cover the increase

In the preamble to the draft 2014 Frontenac County budget, Treasurer Marian VanBruinessen referred to a directive that Council passed in December. The directive asked her to present two alternative budget scenarios, one with a 1% increase in taxation and another with a 1% decrease in taxation. The directive also said that the practice of using reserve funds to offset taxation should end. In 2013, $150,000 (which translates to 1.86% of the budget) was transferred from reserves to offset taxation.

Describing the directive as “not clear in its wording,” VanBruinessen said that “as the strategies required to bring forward budget scenarios in line with Council’s direction involve substantial policy decisions, staff has provided discussion items for consideration … directions for discussion will provide strategies that might be pursued by Council to move towards the 1% reduction or 1% increase."

The draft budget that is being debated by Council this week provides for a requisition of $8.48 million, an increase of $316,000 (3.88%) over last year.

VanBruinessen also pointed to items that could be trimmed from the budget. The total value of those items is just under $300,000, which would cover almost all of the increase.

Among the discussions items are the elimination of $5,200 for council attendance at conferences and $7,500 for the end of term warden’s reception. A $10,000 increase in the annual grant to Frontenac Transportation Service is also on the chopping block. As well, the possibility of slowly weaning the budget from a dependence on reserve transfers could be considered. If $50,000 is taken from reserves it would still represent a 2/3 decrease while helping to balance the budget.

Another $220,280 in savings was identified in three different items that Council can only discuss in closed session because they “have contract implications”.

Taken together, these options would save $295,000.

The budget also includes a cost of $1.62 million to county ratepayers for the operation of Frontenac Paramedic Services, a 4.59% increase over 2013; $1.03 million to Fairmount Home, an increase of 2.12% over 2013; and $142,500 for economic development, an increase of 10%.

Frontenac County Council has two blocks of time set aside this week to discuss the budget. If necessary, they will meet again in early February with a view towards approving the budget at their regular monthly meeting on February 19

Addington Highlands Council has accepted the bid from Task Force Engineering of Belleville for the construction of a four-bay fire hall on a township-owned lot on Hwy. 41, about two kilometres south of Northbrook.

Reeve Henry Hogg said that construction is set to start in the spring.

The building will be a rigid frame steel structure building. Although the final costs of the contract are still being worked out, Hogg said the project will easily cost over $1 million. Once the land and pre-engineering costs are factored in the total price could approach $1.5 million.

The township has been setting aside money for the new fire hall for three years, and will continue to pay for the project into the future, well after the building is completed.

“If we tried to pay for that in one year we would have to put in a 20% tax increase,” said Hogg, “but since we have already built a contribution towards the building into our budgets it will not have a significant impact on the tax rate this year.”

The township had originally planned to build a fire hall/township office on the site, but when faced with daunting costs they decided to build a stand-alone fire hall and leave open the option to build onto the end of the building or to build a stand-alone office on the site sometime in the future.

Back to HomeFeature Article - July 23, 2009 North Frontenac Council -Jul 16/09By Jeff Green

North Frontenac pushing broadband project

At their meeting last week (July 16), North Frontenac Council did what it could to fast track its project to bring broadband to portions of the township now that a $335,000 grant from the provincial government has been announced.

Even before the grant was received, the township put out a request for proposal for a provider to build the necessary infrastructure for wireless broadband service in the township, and has decided to work with Omniglobe, the same company that has provided limited service from towers located at the schools in Plevna and Cloyne.

At the meeting, they passed a bylaw entering into an agreement with Actionable Intelligence to oversee the project. Actionable Intelligence is the same consulting company that both the township and Frontenac County have employed over the past year in their bids to receive broadband grants from the province.

While the details are still being worked out with Omniglobe, the rough sketch of where the main towers and repeater towers are planned to be located has been completed.

New towers are planned for the village of Ompah and Gull Lake, and repeater towers for Canonto, Mosque, and Shabomeka Lakes. The TVO tower, a 250-foot tower located north of Cloyne, is slated to be upgraded and have new equipment installed to expand upon the service already offered in Cloyne by Omniglobe from the tower at North Addington Education Centre.

Both Cory Klatt from the North Frontenac Township office, and Maureen O'Higgins from Actionable Intelligence were quick to point out in telephone interviews this week, that the precise locations of the towers have yet to be determined, and will require proximity to hydro, and agreements with landowners if located on private land.

A planned launch meeting for the project, which was slated for August 15, has been pushed back to the fall. O'Higgins said that before going to the general public, “We will be consulting with the lake associations concerning any of the lakeside tower locations.”

O'Higgins said she is hoping that more than one suitable location can be found for most of the towers, to give more options before a final location is chosen.

The decision to approach lake associations first is, in part, a response to the public reaction that Maureen O'Higgins was subject to at a public meeting in Central Frontenac Township in June.

In that case, another provider, Barret Xplore Inc., was planning to construct a tower near Big Clear Lake in Arden, and a delegation of Big Clear Lake residents, including the lake association’s president, showed up to complain that the chosen location was unacceptable to people on the lake who did not want the tower in the western sky.

As a result of the objections, and upon realising that two other planned towers in Central Frontenac, one in Parham and one in Crow Lake, would be providing broadband service where it is already provided by North Frontenac Telephone Company, Barret Xplore's plans for the northern end of Central Frontenac were put on hold.

This week, Frontenac County and Barrett Xplore issued a joint press release announcing that service will be coming to under-served areas north of Verona and south of Parham, such as Oak Flats, Piccadilly, Cole Lake, Glendower, Bedford Mills and Perth Road.

There is no direct mention of the Arden or Mountain Grove area, with the exception of the following statement: “To ensure high speed internet is available to all interested Frontenac residents and businesses regardless of their location, Xplore will also offer affordable satellite packages for more remote areas of the County.”

Until now, satellite internet has not been of sufficient speed and reliability to be considered high speed, according to the parameters of the provincial government grant that the county received for Central and South Frontenac townships.

Maureen O'Higgins said this week that it might take time, “but we will find a viable solution for Arden.”

In the meantime, North Frontenac is finalising its contract with Omniglobe and will be actively seeking locations for towers over the summer.

They are hoping to begin constructing towers before the end of the year.

The crucial question of who will and who won't be able to access service through the new towers will not be answered until after the towers are constructed and the equipment installed. 

North Frontenac Waste Management Plan

Guy Laporte, from AECOM Engineering, presented a township-wide waste management plan that has been in the works for over a year to a North Frontenac council meeting on July 16.

AECOM has been working under the direction of council’s Waste Management Committee, and has brought periodic updates to council. Some of those updates have already been acted upon, so the final plan is more of a description of an ongoing process than a prescription for change.

For example, this past spring Laporte recommended the purchase of a compactor to extend waste site life, and council approved the purchase of a used compactor in this year’s budget.

There are 35 recommendations in the plan, all intended to accomplish three overall goals: 1) to endeavour to divert 50% of the waste stream from landfill; 2) that waste generated in North Frontenac should be land filled in North Frontenac; and 3) that ongoing efforts to assess, monitor and manage landfills should continue.

Highlights of the recommendations include: continuing the practice of requiring residents to purchase bag tags; continuing to “incentivise” recycling by allowing one free bag of garbage with one container of recycling, and offering backyard composters at subsidized prices; not initiating curb side pick up; continuing to offer household hazardous waste pickup at one site in each district; investigating new recycling opportunities and ways to divert bulky waste from sites; and continuing the ongoing monitoring program of landfill site impacts.

The plan concludes that the township has 21 years of landfill life at current fill rates, but by following some of the practices that are already underway or contemplated it can extend this timeline.

One site, the Mississippi site, can possibly be enlarged if necessary, but it is not recommended that this be contemplated in the near future.

Public comments following the presentation focussed on the difficulties that commercial businesses have in adhering to recycling policies that are often designed for private homeowners, and Mayor Maguire said, “That is an important point. We need to design systems that work for our tourist businesses and lodges.”

POSITIVE NOISES OVER EMERGENCY SERVICES – Chief Administrative Officer Cheryl Robson made a verbal report to council concerning a meeting she attended with Fire Chief Steve Riddell and Paul Charbonneau and Dave Gemmill from Frontenac County Emergency Services.

“The meeting was very positive,” she said, “and covered a lot of ground.”

Among the items covered were the rural defibrillator program, which is on track to be completed by the end of August so that defibrillators will be available at halls throughout the township and perhaps at Bon Echo Park during the summer months.

Frontenac Paramedics will be participating in the Cloyne 150th Anniversary celebrations.

On the issue of the recent report on rural ambulance service in the county, which has caused much concern in North Frontenac, Robson reported that meetings have begun between Frontenac County and Lennox and Addington County on the cross-border service issue, which is crucial to any solution for service in the northern regions of the two counties.

She said that Paul Charbonneau, the County Emergency Services manager, intends to prepare a response to the ambulance report in the coming months, and if he gets approval from the county’s chief administrative officer, will come to North Frontenac Council to consult before bringing his report to Frontenac County Council.

“It was a great meeting, very co-operative,” Robson said, “and they did not object to our ideas about co-locating an ambulance base with a fire hall.”

BEARS – In the event of an incident where there is potential danger from bears on township property and the MNR or OPP are not able to respond in a timely manner, the township has appointed employees John Ibey, Greg Wise, and Steve Riddell “to deal with aggressive bears” using their own weapons if necessary.

Council also endorsed a motion calling on the province to reinstate the Spring Bear Hunt.

LAND CLAIM MEETING – Mayor Maguire reported that he has received a communication from Michael Johnston, community liaison for the Algonquin Land Claim, which said there would be a meeting to update municipal officials on the progress of talks “sometime soon.”

OMI MEETING – Mayor Maguire also reported that a developer has expressed interest in a commercial venture related to the One Metre Initiative, a planned observatory at Mallory Hill in the Vennachar area. He said a meeting has taken place with local Algonquins, who “have said they do not want the land claims process to be an impediment to economic development”.

PINE LAKE CUTTING – Councilor Lonnie Watkins told council that some trees have been removed in the vicinity of the Pine Lake boat launch, the site chosen by the Ardoch Algonquins for a Pow Wow grounds and band office. This is the first activity at the site in a couple of years. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - July 16, 2009 Central Frontenac CouncilBy Jeff Green

Gutowski softens on county governance

Frontenac County Warden (and mayor of Central Frontenac Township) Janet Gutowski said she would support a proposal by the Township of Frontenac Islands that would double the size of Frontenac County Council. The four Frontenac mayors would remain on the council, and they would be joined by a second appointee from each township after municipal elections next year.

The proposal also includes a weighted voting system, with the mayor of South Frontenac, by far the largest township in the county with 58% of the population, effectively carrying two votes. “Looking at the challenges facing the county, I feel we have to move on this,” Gutowski told a meeting of Central Frontenac Council this week

Earlier this spring, Gutowski had been the strongest advocate for direct public elections for new members to county council, which had been called for by a $35,000 consultant’s report the county commissioned last fall.

That proposal was soundly rejected in a straw vote at a meeting in May that was attended by 18 of the 30 township councilors from the vast county, which stretches from the middle of Lake Ontario to the Madawaska Highlands.

“As much as I thought direct election is the best way to go because the members would have been accountable to the public, it is not going to go through and I have to be realistic,” Gutowski said this week. “Overall this proposal doesn't increase the number of politicians we have, and with a population of 30,000 in the county, we already have 30 politicians. How many more do we need?”

Gutowski said she still has reservations about the proposed change, because the deputy mayors of the four townships, who are the likely source for the second members on county council, are only themselves elected as councilors by a fraction of township electors.

“That may be something we have to consider in our own townships as we go forward” she said, “perhaps a township-wide election for deputy mayor should be looked at.”

Gutowski said she would try to place this matter on the county agenda for a county meeting that had been scheduled for next week, July 22, but she added that the meeting might be postponed because South Frontenac Mayor Gary Davison is unable to attend.

“We may have to meet in August instead,” she said, “although there are time-sensitive issues that we need to deal with.”

County Council, which generally meets only once during the summer, had originally been scheduled to meet on July 15, but that was changed to accommodate the schedule of Frontenac Islands Mayor Jim Vanden Hoek.

“This only illustrates the problem with a four-member council,” said Gutowski. “When one member can't attend we are hindered in what we can do at a meeting because an entire township is un-represented.” 

Planned “get-together” not about county bashing, Gary Smith says

Central Frontenac Council will invite representatives from North Frontenac, South Frontenac, and Frontenac Islands councils to a meeting in September to discuss potential cooperation on various issues.

The meeting was proposed by Central Frontenac Deputy Mayor Gary Smith

“I hope the meeting doesn't turn into a meeting about county bashing,” said Councilor Frances Smith.

“That's not the idea,” said Gary Smith, “this is merely an attempt to work together. Let's take an easy example. We contract line painting on Road 38 and South Frontenac contracts line painting on Road 38. If we had one contract for both, it might be more efficient. It's that sort of thing I'm talking about. It’s a get-together, sort of like when the provinces meet just with each other without the federal government running the show.”

That being said, Gary Smith had harsh words for how joint meetings are conducted by Frontenac County.

“Let's put the cards on the table. When township representatives are called down to county meetings, the meetings become a farce in terms of having meaningful discussion between the lower tier and upper tier,” he said.

Smith also expressed scepticism about any possible overtures towards convincing himself, and his colleagues Jim Beam (North Frontenac) and Dennis Doyle (Frontenac Islands) to rejoin a county trails committee after they all resigned in late May.

A draft county trails master plan was presented to county council by county staff, bypassing the committee, in Smith's view. To add insult to injury, the report was then sent directly back to staff for implementation, without direct reference to the committee.

Mayor Gutowski said there were extenuating circumstances in the case, and staff were stretched by the need to answer the call for a flurry of federal grant applications.

She also said the role of the committee had been unclear since its inception and perhaps if the terms of reference were clarified the three representatives might consider returning to the fold. “In retrospect the county council should have made a formal committee and struck terms of reference, so the relationship between staff and politicians would be clear,” Gutowski said.

Gary Smith wasn't buying this explanation, however.

“It was a political committee from the start,” he said. “We [the politicians] chaired the meetings; we were out front in facing the public on this. As you know there are many ratepayers who do not want to see trails at all, so this a political issue. The politicians worked quickly and well on this committee.

“Then, at the last minute, there was a direction given to staff to take this away from politicians. For this whole thing to turn around, it has to be made clear that the political side of the house is running the show. That's the only way.” 

Councilors wary of building project

Construction of a 1500 sq. ft. extension to the Central Frontenac Township office, which was included in the 2009 township budget and for which Central Frontenac has also received a grant from the provincial and federal governments, is still opposed by some members of council.

“My only concern is if we are going to use the building for a period of time, we should have an idea of what we are going to do. I know we have a need, but I'd like to see some sort of plan,” said Councilor Bob Harvey when council was presented with a draft sketch of the extension.

The office expansion was initially proposed by CAO John Duchene in order to deal with a chronic shortage of office space, which has led to the public works department being housed in portables located in the parking lot near the building.

“I share Councilor Harvey's concerns,” said Councilor Norm Guntensperger, “we seem to be rushing into something when more thorough planning would be more helpful to the township in the long run.”

“I think council is aware of this,” said Mayor Gutowski, “that is why we have planned visioning sessions. This modest expansion is designed to carry us over until then, and we will always have a use for the space. There will be a full opportunity to discuss this at the next meeting.”

The draft plans for the building are slated for debate at the council meeting on July 28. CAO Duchene said he hopes to be able to put out a “Request for Proposal” for the project after the plan is debated, should it be approved.

Ridge Runners – A request by the Ridge Runner Snowmobile Club to use an unopened road allowance to access Horseshoe Lake near Arden as part of their snowmobile trail network, was deferred by council.

Deputy Mayor Gary Smith said the objections by some adjacent landowners should be included in the information package that is presented to council when the matter comes back for a decision, and he suggested that the Ridge Runners attend the Horseshoe Lake Association meeting in August to try to persuade neighbouring property owners to support the proposal.

A staff report on the proposal did not include a recommended course of action.

Fire Master Plan – Fire Chief Mark MacDonald is expected to present a Fire Master Plan to the township later this year, and Councilor Guntensperger asked whether an update about the plan’s progress could be brought to the next meeting.

“The Fire Master Plan has already been deferred a couple of times. I would like to see a short status report. The training station at the Olden Hall is one thing we have been waiting to see progress on.”

“I'll certainly try to get the fire chief to the next council meeting, or certainly the one after that,” said CAO John Duchene.

“As long as it's a brief update; we don't want him to stop working on the Master Plan in order to prepare the update,” said Councilor Frances Smith.

“That's what I had in mind,” said Guntensperger.

PARC concerns – Council once again expressed a concern that the Program and Accommodation Review Committee (PARC) of the Limestone District School Board that is looking at the Sharbot Lake Family of Schools, could ultimately lead to school closings in one or two communities.

Deputy Mayor Smith said that he presented a Council resolution, which said that all of the schools should remain open, to a meeting of the PARC on July 6, “but no one really spoke about to it. There was some feeling that it was a political manoeuvre by Council.”

“It certainly will have an effect on young families if schools close,” said Mayor Gutowski.

“The problem is that the money being committed by the province for new schools requires school closings. It seems to me that we should be able to affect the way that money is spent,” said Gary Smith.

Council prepared a further motion, this time destined for the Ministry of Education, asking for flexibility in the way funding is divvied up for new school construction.

In the meantime, Gary Smith, who is the Council rep to the PARC process, said, “Will all of you leave this in my hands.”

“Provided you keep all the schools open, get all the funding, and build a nice new school, we will,” replied Frances Smith. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - July 9, 2009 South Frontenac Council – July 7/09By Wilma Kenny

Bag tags and township wide landfill access to residents

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth presented a report on waste management that had been discussed earlier at a meeting of the Committee of the Whole.

The key issue was the method by which residents should receive bag tags: Option A would require residents to purchase tags as needed from an expanded network of retailers, and Option B would have the township distribute 50 tags a year to each household.

Segsworth had recommended Option A at the Committee of the Whole meeting (June 28). At the time, he noted that the cost of garbage collection is common to all districts but Bedford, and as such could paid through general taxes for those three areas.

Garbage disposal could then be largely funded through the sale of bag tags. This form of user pay would have several advantages: residents would be able to control how much they spent on that portion of their waste disposal. They would be encouraged to produce less waste and recycle more, and there would be no more perceived waste of unused bag tags. As well, if the township no longer had to issue bag tags, they would save in administration costs.

Arguing against this option, Councilors Bill Robinson and John Fillion expressed the concern that this user-pay system would lead to an increase in illegal dumping as people tried to avoid fees. They were also concerned that it might create a hardship for residents, especially seniors, to have to get transportation to a retail outlet to purchase bag tags.

Option B, which council chose, is to have the township provide all households with 50 bag tags for 2010. Any additional tags will have to be purchased, with details regarding the cost of such tags to be discussed by the Sustainability Committee.

The existing system will remain in place for the rest of 2009: residents received bag tags for Sept-Dec with their recent tax bills, and any additional tags for 2009 will still cost $3.00 each.

Bag tags are available at the two township offices, and retail outlets in all major villages except Sydenham.

Councilor Del Stowe thanked the Sustainability Committee for its hard work and patience.

At Councilor Ron Vandewal's request, council then considered a resolution to allow residents to take their garbage to any township landfill as long as a proper bag tag was applied, or the required tipping fee paid, and adequate proof of residence (i.e. tax bill) was provided to the landfill attendant.

Councilor Robinson asked for an amendment, which would also require photo ID. Council defeated the amendment, but approved the original resolution, with only Councilors Robinson and Hicks voting against it.

Other items at the July 7 meeting

Trailer bylaw: Mayor Davison reminded council that the trailer by-law would soon be coming up for review. This will be a contentious issue that council will need to be prepared to discuss.

Festivals and fireworks: Council granted a special events permit for a guitar festival at 3060 Sydenham Road over the July 31-Aug 3 weekend.

Mayor Davison noted that a number of people had commended the Township, the Harrowsmith S&A Club, and the Loughborough Recreation Committee on the excellence of the Canada Day celebrations, and the quality of the fireworks displays in both Sydenham and Harrowsmith. He also said an extra person had been hired to regularly clean up the goose droppings at the Point.

Yurts on Devil Lake: Council approved a zone change that will permit an eleven-acre property on Devil Lake adjoining Frontenac Park to accommodate the installation of five yurts and a privy for holiday rental purposes. The yurts will have a 50-metre setback from the water.

Sydenham water: Council agreed to accept the recommendation from the Sydenham Water Advisory Committee that XCG Consultants be requested to prepare the following reports: 1) A report regarding the preferred option to deal with the trihalomethane issue; 2) More accurate costing of the preferred option proposal; 3) Timelines for the completion of the various stages of the project. (CAO Burns noted that the grant stipulates the project upgrade must be completed by March 2010.)

Councilor Vandewal said that XCG plans to continue water testing throughout the summer, and is prepared to attend to any concerns that may come up during the ongoing testing.

Special Council meeting re Water Plant, Library, and Property Acquisition:

A special meeting of council was convened on June 28.

The meeting included a motion to hire consultant Bill Hargreaves at the rate of $195./hr. to do a peer review of XCG's recommendations on upgrading the Sydenham Water plant.

After a series of amendments, two more motions were passed: there was unanimous agreement "to expend funds for the development of a library in Sydenham."

The third motion passed was: "to purchase part of lot 6, concession 6, Storrington District, with the amendment that said purchase be conditional on two points: that a permit can be obtained for a boat ramp, and that adequate and suitable parking can be developed." Councilor Hahn voted against the property acquisition.

Back to HomeFeature Article - July 9, 2009 Addington Highlands Council - Jul 6-09by Jeff Green

Island owners ordered to remove structures

Frank Smith, the co-owner of a very small island on Weslemkoon Lake, appeared at the request of council to discuss some of the construction projects that have been undertaken on the island. At the request of their building inspector, Ed Sheppey, the township passed a motion on June 1 ordering the removal of some cupboards and a roof that has been constructed over a deck that is located on the island.

The island is considerably smaller than the minimum lot size in Addington Highlands. The owners have constructed docks around the island as well, which are not a concern of the township as they are regulated by the Quinte Conservation Authority for the Ministry of Natural Resources.

“The MNR is happy with the docks,” said Smith, “and the previous building inspector said everything we were doing was ok. The roof is less than 108 square feet.”

Eric Sheppey said that the roof is connected by posts to an existing structure, making the total greater than 108 square feet.

“You can't build a shed one year, and another shed the next year, and then connect them up,” said Reeve Henry Hogg. “Our building inspector says that what you have there is not in compliance with our bylaws.”

“We are not asking to build anything more there, and if you don’t like what's there, let's go to the OMB [Ontario Municipal Board] and settle this there. I’d rather not do that; I'd rather that the township give a little,” Smith said.

“I think you need to give a little,” said Councilor Louise Scott.

After Smith left, Henry Hogg asked Eric Sheppey if Smith “has anything to stand on with the OMB.”

“I don't think so,” said Sheppey.

“I think we should stand by our motion of June 1,” said Louise Scott.

Council agreed, and confirmed their motion of June 1 demanding that the structures be removed. Council also passed a motion requesting staff to contact the appropriate authority to determine if the docks on the island have indeed been approved.

Concerns over activities on Crown Land – Individuals who make use of Crown land near Skootamatta Lake have come to the attention of the Skootmatta Ratepayers’ Association because of the amount of garbage they have been leaving behind. Bill Garnish from the association approached council with a proposal that the association clean up the mess and bring the garbage to the township dump for disposal. The township accepted the proposal.

The land in question is under the purview of the Ministry of Natural Resources, which will be coming on July 10 to look at the activities that have taken place there, including the removal of trees, etc.

Clear bag system coming on stream at dumps – Clear bags are now available at township dumpsites, at a cost of $2 each. For now, residents can supply their own clear bags and affix dump tags to them. Once the dump tags are used up, only township-circulated clear bags will be acceptable.

Flooring debacle – Councilor Janice Kerr expressed a concern over the refinishing of floors in township halls.

“I worked for a year and half to get a company in to do the floors at the Denbigh hall, and the company was promised a day and a half’s work doing the Flinton hall, but when they went to the Flinton hall they were turned away by the Flinton Recreation Committee.”

“I would like to have a clarification over who has the ruling over these people coming here. It should not be any committee making this kind of decision,” said Deputy Reeve Helen Yanch.

“It was all set up with [Deputy Clerk] Christine Reed,” said Reeve Hogg. “This should not be Janice’s problem.”

“The issue was about food being served,” said Councilor Louise Scott.

“There was plenty of time before the next dinner,” said Henry Hogg. “I think that somehow there needs to be a clarification here. It was kind of frustrating for you last week, Janice. I can appreciate that.”

“Frustrating wasn't really the right idea,” Janice Kerr said.

Family Health Team – A proposal to establish a Family Health Team at the Northbrook Medical Centre is due at the Ministry of Health next week, and required a motion of support from council. A motion was proposed and passed.