Garbage, recycling pickup in Flinton a possibility

Special to The News | May 06, 2020

Addington Highlands Council continued its policy of electronic meetings Tuesday using the Zoom/YouTube format.

The meeting lasted 102 minutes.

First on the agenda was a proposal to provide a garbage pickup service in Flinton from new resident Jason Wallis who owns and operates Quinte Garage Doors.

Roads/waste management Supervisor Brett Reavie said there have been similar proposals in the past.

“It is possible,” Reavie said. “We’d have to get the proper licencing from the MOE but I talked to our consultant and she had no problem with it.

“She suggested that they (the contractor) would have to pick up recycling at the same time and we’d probably have to schedule time for it to be taken to the dump so that it didn’t hamper the regular dump traffic.”

“Who would pay for this service?” said Reeve Henry Hogg.

“The ratepayers who benefit,” said Reavie.

Coun. David Miles said he has spoken to Wallis and indicated that it would be Wallis who would be the contractor who would do the pickup.

“I think it’s a step forward,” said Coun. Helen Yanch.

“He’d have to have insurance,” said Hogg.

“We could probably make it work,” said Reavie. “You just don’t want a big load of garbage coming in to slow down the other traffic but there are afternoons that are slower that it could come in.”

Council passed a motion for Reavie to meet with Wallis for further discussions and bring back a report to Council.

Jewell looking for space

Dep. Reeve Tony Fritsch told Council that Jewell Engineering has been asking about the availability of office space for rent.

“It’s not final from them, they’re just asking if we had space,” Fritsch said. “It would probably just be a couple of Jewell employees and an MTO representative while they look at the repaving of Hwy 41 and the large culvert replacement project from Denbigh to Eganville.”

Fritsch and Reeve Henry Hogg agreed there was vacant space that could be made available but also that it would be inappropriate to discuss rental rates in open Council.

Council passed a resolution that it agrees in principle and to have the CAO and CBO negotiate a market rate that would be fare to both parties.

Budget and cancelled meeting

Council passed its 2020 consolidated budget. It also decided to cancel the scheduled May 19 meeting, which will be replaced with a committee of adjustment meeting to be followed by a short Council meeting at which Council will consider waving late fees and penalties on the June 1 requirement for property taxes.

Building permits

Chief Building Official David Twiddy said he’s been “very busy” with calls from residents wanting to know when they can get their building permits for this year’s projects.

“It’s been everything from sheds to houses to trailers,” Twiddy said. “(But) it’s been more houses than anything.

“Some days, I don’t even get out of the office, I’m so busy on the phone.”

Twiddy said that the value of all the permits waiting is in the neighbourhood of $2 million.

“I’ve been talking with my counterparts in other municipalities and they’re experiencing similar things,” he said. “I think it’s a fear that there will be a second round of coronavirus infection and people want to get their projects up and running before being shut down again.”

Twiddy said his counterparts are also worried that there could be a bottleneck when the Province finally gives the go-ahead (which is expected this week) for building projects.

“But I’m sure that won’t happen here,” he said. “I’ll just stand out on a street corner and hand out permits.

“I’m telling every applicant to get ready because every application is ready to go.”

Energy audit

One topic that received considerable discussion at this meeting was a report from Chief Building Official David Twiddy regarding the Addington Highlands Community Centre in Denbigh.

The report wasn’t asked for by Council, Twiddy just went ahead and did it.

“I had some time on my hands,” he said. “But we’ve had considerations from two engineering firms regarding an energy audit for the building.”

“I’m sure there is huge energy consumption up there,” said Reeve Henry Hogg.

Coun. Kirby Thompson said it might not be a good time to look at it right now with “all the covid things going on.”

“If we start getting into building retrofits, it could be substantial costs,” said Dep. Reeve Tony Fritsch. “But it might be nice if we had an energy audit done in time for next year’s budget discussions.”

Council passed a motion to have Twiddy get back to them in time for the June meeting.

Renovation costs up

The cost of the Municipal Office additions went up by $5,500 as CAO/Clerk/Treasurer Christine Reed convinced Council that it would probably be more costly to add safety/security measures later on than if they did it now.

Reed said the cost would be for a plexiglass screen over the counter and a new full-size door to replace a swinging door currently in the plans.

She said the measures are needed given the current requirements for staff/public safety and that the door represents the bulk of the cost, much of that because it will have to be electrically operated to comply with accessibility rules.

Tag-along trailer

Council approved the purchase of a new Tag-A-Long Trailer for $45,000 plus taxes. Roads/waste management Supervisor Brett Reavie said that they had budgeted $40,000 but even though they sent out five requests for tender, this was the only one they got back.

“But it did have most of what we asked for and will do the job,” he said.