Craig Bakay | Sep 02, 2020


Complaints from a few residents about the future of logging and forestry in the Mazinaw-Lanark Forest didn’t sit too well with a couple of councillors at the regular (online) meeting of Addington Highlands Council on Tuesday (September 1).

Both Reeve Henry Hogg and Dep. Reeve Tony Fritsch said they’d received emails concerning the Mazinaw-Lanark Forestry Plan Parts 3 and 4 but they didn’t share those concerns.

“Both Tony and I have received emails about how infringement on people’s cottage enjoyment,” Hogg said. “Some of the emails implied that the Township should have some role in this but we don’t have any control whatsoever on Crown Land.

“Some of the statements I found rather obnoxious I guess, saying loggers had no business harvesting that, and they should find something else to do.”

Dep. Clerk Patricia Gray said she’d looked into the plan (which is currently in Stage 2 of 5 stages) and “this is a Crown Land planning process. The Township has no role in this.”

She said there were concerns expressed about setbacks but as near as she was able to ascertain, the setbacks are yet to be determined.”

“And there were concerns about spraying but there are almost always alternatives to spraying considered.”

She said the MNRF has a mailing list that people can get on for this subject and make their views known.

“Yeah, there were implications that the timber industry is irrelevant in our community which I took objection to,” said Fritsch. “Certainly, the feeling around Buckshot Lake and Ashby Lake was ‘I don’t really want them doing it near my cottage and it had a lot to do with esthetics … some of it did anyways.”

He said in his view, it’s good to see people actually take interest and provide input but there isn’t anything the Township can do.

“There’s a lot of work goes into these plans and these are qualified people who are obviously trying to maintain and develop the forest into something with the right composition so it will be sustainable indefinitely,” he said. “That’s their objective.”

“When I look at the sketches, the first choice for logging didn’t seem to have as big an effect as what the comments seemed to imply,” said Coun. David Miles.

“I don’t know what their current policies are but I know they did used to take sightlines around cottages into concern so they didn’t destroy anybody’s view,” said Hogg. “I don’t think there’s any necessity of us replying to any of this, other than just receiving it for information.”

XTV’s and Argos on township roads

Addington Highlands appears prepared to allow Extreme Terrain Vehicles (XTVs like Argos) and Off-Road Motorcycles (ORMs) on the shoulders of its roads complying with an MTO directive which came into effect July 1, 2020.

Council approved the measure which will now have to be added to its existing bylaw that governs off-road vehicles on highways, which Council instructed staff to prepare.

“I guess we’re just keeping up with what’s happening elsewhere,” said Reeve Henry Hogg.

Buddy Bench

Council gave its approval for the installation of a Mark’s Buddy Bench at the Lakelands Family Clinic in Denbigh.

In a letter to the Township, Tegan MacArthur said “we placed our first bench in the park at the Mayo Community Centre (and) there are 10 more Mark’s Buddy Benches being placed and built.

“We would love to place one in the community where Mark grew up.”

“I don’t have a problem with it,” said Reeve Henry Hogg. “They can pick a suitable place with the proposer.”

Surplus equipment sold off

Roads and Waste supervisor Brett Reavie told Council that they managed to sell three pieces of equipment on Govdeals — the float tractor for $5,500, the float trailer for $32,000 and an old fire truck in Denbigh that had been used as a water truck for $2,000.

He said the money would be put in equipment reserves.

He said they’ve been doing a lot of ditching ang grading in both wards and managed to take advantage of the closure of County Rd. 41 to do some berm removal.

“There tends to be a busy road and so with no traffic, it made it a lot safer for our guys,” he said.

Hall to re-open on October 1st?

North Addington has tentatively set Oct. 1 for the reopening of the Flinton Hall.

CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed said that that will be dependent upon how the move of the Township offices goes into the new addition and on discussions with groups that use the hall.

In person meetings starting in two weeks?

The Township is toying with returning to in-person meetings for its Sept. 15 meeting in Denbigh at 7 p.m.

But whether or not that happens is still up in the air.

“That’s a good question,” said CAO/Clerk-treasurer Christine Reed. “There are still a lot of moving parts.

“If the state of emergency is removed — and a lot of municipalities and the health unit are looking at doing all together, then it could happen.

“But whether it will be a hybrid (in-person and online) will have to be determined and we’ll probably have to change our procedural bylaw.”

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