Addington Highlands To Try Evening Meetings For 6 Months

Craig Bakay | Nov 23, 2022

Reeve Henry Hogg began the inaugural meeting of the new Addington Highlands Council meeting Nov. 15 at the Denbigh Community Centre by offering his congratulations to all the new and returning members of Council.

“We will work towards all of the things that were identified during the recent election,” he said.

They did just that.

After naming Council members to the various committees and positions, they proceeded with a rather busy meeting agenda, not the least of which was looking at and rearranging the meeting schedule itself.

In recent years, the first meeting of a given month was generally held in Flinton at 1pm. The second meeting was in Denbigh, generally at 7pm except between November and March, when meetings were held at 1pm in deference to potential winter weather situations.

However, when it came time to pass a new meeting schedule, Coun. Helen Yanch pointed out that the issue did come up during the election campaign.

“I have to think that maybe there were some people who would have liked to run but found it tough to get time off to attend day meetings,” Yanch said.

She suggested trying 6:30pm meetings for a year while monitoring the number of people who attend the meetings as well as those who watch online.

“We haven’t had evening meetings in Denbigh during the winter because of weather concerns,” said Coun. Kirby Thompson. “Perhaps we could try it for six months.”

“By the way, Lennox & Addington is one of the few counties that have night meetings (6:30pm) said Hogg.

“It bothers me a little about the long hours staff has to put in,” said Thompson.

“We used to have night meetings but that wasn’t fair to staff,” said Hogg.

CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed proposed that beginning in January (when there is only one meeting scheduled), they try 6:30pm meetings.

“We’ll bring it back in May and see how it went,” Reed said.

Thompson was the lone ‘no’ vote on the resolution.

Committee appointments

Tony Fritsch was named to the position of Deputy Reeve by virtue of receiving the most votes in Ward 1. In Addington Highlands, the Deputy Reeve must be from the Ward that the Reeve doesn’t reside in. Reeve Henry Hogg lives in Ward 2.

New Coun. Ken Hook was named as the alternate to County Council.

Coun. Helen Yanch and Kirby Thompson were named to the Library Board.

Hogg, Thompson and Hook were named to the Joint Fire Committee with Yanch as alternate.

Yanch was named to the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority.

Thompson volunteered to replace Hogg on the Quinte Conservation Authority.

“I don’t wish to return, I have other things on my mind,” said Hogg.

Fritsch was named to the Renfrew County Veterinary Services Committee.

Former Council member Bill Cox expressed a desire to return to the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance and Council agreed to it.

Yanch and Hook were named to the AHEAD Committee.

Fritsch and Yanch were named to the Properties and Recreation Committee.

Fritsch, Hook and Thompson were named to the Personnel and Finance Committee.

Budget Report

“I think we’re in decent shape,” Manager of Roads and Waste Brett Reavie told Council in presenting his third quarter budget report. “However, we have spent all the fuel we had budgeted for.”

Coun. Ken Hook asked about reserves and CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed responded: “General reserves are quite healthy but (unexpected fuel costs) would put a big dent in it, so we’re hopeful.”

Building report, and the pigeons as well

Building/Bylaw/Facilities Manager David Twiddy reported building permit application numbers continue to slow “but there are a number of applications in the queue requiring further information.”

He said septic applications have continued to come in at a steady pace but as the weather gets cold, they will quickly draw to a close as freezing temperatures will force septic inspections to the spring of 2023.

He said they continue to explore solutions to the pigeon problem at the rink in Flinton.

Hamper subsidy bumped up

Council approved an additional $250 donation to the Land O’Lakes Community Services Hamper Program. Council had already budgeted $500 but at the request of Coun. Helen Yanch, decided to bump it up because of the rise in the cost of food due to inflation.

“There were some grants we had budgeted for but people didn’t request them so we can accommodate this,” said CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed.