Central Frontenac Council voted 8-1 to have staff prepare a plan for septic re-inspection at its regular meeting Tuesday.

A plan for septic re-inspection presented at the Oct. 24 Council meeting had been defeated.

This time, Councillor Tom Dewey presented a plan using a two-part, 10-year phase-in.

Under Dewey’s plan, all RW (waterfront) properties must be inspected by an approved inspector, authorized by the municipality, within five years of implementation. Phase 2 will include all other properties, which must be inspected within 10 years of the implementation date. All properties will require a 10-year cyclical inspection after that.

Furthermore, staff is directed to develop a list of referred agencies that are available to help with funding for failed systems, which is to be regularly maintained and updated. There will also be a municipal funding program. Staff have been directed to investigate and bring forward rules and procedures for municipal funding assistance for lower income residents.

Councillor Victor Heese, who chaired the committee that brought forth the previous plan, said: “With all due respect, I cannot support this program.

“If I were a cynic, I would say it’s designed to fail because there’s really not enough detail in it.”

Heese said it will cost homeowners $130 for an inspection.

“I can’t say citizens are well served nor will they like this.”

Councillor Bill MacDonald, who also supported the Oct. 24 proposal, said he didn’t agree with waterfront being the biggest issue, citing the hamlets instead and he didn’t like waiting 10 years for every system to be inspected. But he was prepared to support this proposal in order to get a process started.

“Whether or not a person can afford it (a new septic system), we cannot afford to close our eyes to failed systems,” he said.

Deputy Mayor Brent Cameron and Councilor Jamie Riddell, who were the staunchest critics of the previous proposal, both said they supported this one because it had some proposal to assist low-income homeowners.

Oso Hall insulation
The installation of spray-foam insulation at Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake is going well, said Developmental Services Manager Shawn Merriman.

He said when they removed the inside walls, there was very little damage evident.

“There were a couple of little stains from leaks that were quickly repaired,” he said. “I suspect the leaks were from 40 years ago.”

Merriman said he expects to see substantial savings on heating and cooling bills with the addition of the insulation, “due to the fact that there was no insulation before.

“When it’s all finished, the walls will be painted blue-gray and it should be all ready for your Christmas party (Nov. 25).

He said he expects the renovations should be within the budgeted amounts.

Playing well in the sand box

After considerable discussion, Council decided to put boxes of sand outside the gates its two public works yards for residents’ use.

“I haven’t spent this much time on sand since golf season,” said Dep. Mayor Brent Cameron.

Public Works Manager Brad Thake said not only would it be more accessible (“user-friendly”) for residents but would also be safer not having residents go into sand domes to get sand for their roads due to the proximity of heavy equipment, which could also potentially create a liability for the township.

RFCS youth funding approved
Following a presentation from Rural Frontenac Community Services Executive Director Louise Moody, Council approved $15,500 to be included in the 2018 budget for programs for rural youth (the same as last year) to be provided by RFCS.

“It’s good to see we’re doing things for our kids,” said Mayor Frances Smith. “We here around this table tend to think more about roads and waste so it’s good to see we’re looking after our politicians-to-be.”

Moody said her next stop was Plevna for a similar report. North Frontenac usually gives $5,400 to the program, she said.

Readers who get their news from sources other than this one and who have a keen eye for numbers, may notice that we are reporting an increase of 4.5% in the Frontenac County budget, while official releases from the County itself and reports in other papers will peg the increase at 3.9%.

Are we looking at the same documents?

Yes, we are. The numbers we use in the Frontenac News are provided to us by the Frontenac County treasury department and they are the same numbers members of Council see and anyone from the public can see as well by going to the frontenaccounty.ca website and navigating to the council agenda directory.

The difference is one of interpretation. It is our policy to base our budget reporting on the amount of money that will be collected from ratepayers through taxation. This is reported in budgets under the heading Tax Levy. In 2018 that levy (subject to approval this week) is $9,775 million dollars, up from $9.35 million in 2017, a 4.5% increase

There is no disagreement between the News and Frontenac County on that point.

But the Frontenac County treasury department deducted $56,000 from their total, which was enough to bring the increase below 4%.

They did not invent that $56,000. $56,000 is the estimated increase in revenue resulting from property assessment growth in Frontenac County this year

While it is true that assessment growth means there is more collective wealth to tax, that has nothing to do with the budget itself.

In the case of Frontenac County, the money they requisition is charged to the townships, not the ratepayers directly. When the townships complete their own budgets, they add in the county levy and the education levy and come up with a total increase, which is then divided out among taxpayers on the basis of the assessed value of each property.

The whole matter can be very complicated, and for this reason we stay away from it and base our reporting on the bottom line in the budget documents.

As we have said in the past, for local politicians who approve county and township budgets we ask only that they do their best to ensure that the services we pay for are delivered effectively, and that increases in spending are justified based on maintaining service levels or providing new services that are of general benefit to us all.

The question we ask of Frontenac County Council members is the following; are we getting value for the $9,775,000 that we are going to pay in 2018?

There will, after all, be an election before the next county budget is approved.

Ron Higgins sees himself as a kind of hub in the wheel that is rolling towards a major change in the economic and social reality in North Frontenac Township over the next ten years. He is neither and investor nor a proponent for any of the series of projects that are in various stages of development, but he has been at the centre of the effort to put groups and individuals interested in starting new ventures with the governmental and non-governmental agencies that can help make the ventures come to fruition.

Higgins brought the projects together in one package at a special meeting of Council almost two weeks ago. He was seeking Council’s support in principle in order to advance one of the projects, a power generation proposal, which is still in the conceptual stages, but the meeting provided an opportunity to bring forward two other initiative that are at a more advanced stage, even though they do not require council action.

In an interview with the News last Friday (November 19) Higgins took the opportunity to clarify where all of the threads of the complicated set of initiatives are located, both physically and in terms of time frame.

The proposal for a wellness centre, wood shop and apiary is the first that will get underway. It has a location that has already been purchased. Planning is underway now for a renovation to the former Tooley house and 36 acre property which has road frontage in Plevna on Road 506. The property has commercial-residential zoning and starting up the new ventures will not require any planning applications. However renovations to the 2,275 square foot house on the property to create an interim home for the wellness centre will require a building permit, which has not been acquired as of yet. The proposal that was presented to council said that there is potential for the centre to offer the following services: massage, including Reiki, Shiatsu, accupressure and other types, chiropractic services, physiotherapy, First Nations healing or crystal/herbal healing, and primary care services offered by three medical doctors, and the services of a locally based Nurse Practitioner and midwife.

There is a large garage/worskhop on the property, and the plan is to build a canoe this winter to “show the community the quality of canoes that can be made here in North Frontenac. Publicity would be enhanced by raffling off the canoe,” according to the report on the “One Small Town Implementation Plan that Higgins submitted to Council on November 3.

The other project slated to get underway in the near term on the Tooley property is an apiary. All of the projects will be taken on by a co-operative called C&T North Frontenac (C&T stand for Contribute and Thrive). Part of the operating mandate of the co-op is that members who contribute 3 hours per week to one of the projects will receive a share of the benefits. In the case of the canoe factory, if one develops, that would amount to a free canoe.

David Craig, one of the main proponents of the Talking Trees project, which will be discussed below. According to Ron Higgins Craig will be involved in the renovation project in Plevna and will be living and working in North Frontenac this winter. He has been residing near Perth until now.

The second initiative covered in the plan is the Talking Trees Earth Ship project, which has been the subject of articles in the Frontenac News as early as last spring. In its current incarnation, the project envisions constructing 89 Earth Ships, homes built from used tires and concrete, built into the land to make them self sufficient in terms of electrical power and heat/cooling. The land for this project has not been purchased but there are un-comfirmed reports that a property that is suitable for the project has been located to the east of Ompah towards Snow Road, close to Road 509.

Higgins said that this project will require planning approvals from Frontenac County, likely a Plan of Condominium will need to be prepared and approved before lots can be created and construction of the pod based community can get underway.

“I don’t think the process will create the same amount of controversy among neighbours as a proposal to create 20 or more waterfront lots would,” Higgins said, comparing the Talking Trees initiative with the Ardoch Lake Plan of subdivision, a project in North Frontenac that is being opposed by neighbouring property owners. In the plan that was presented to Council, construction on the Talking Trees project is slated to begin in late 2018, although Higgins said he does understand that may be an overly optimistic given the land has not been purchased and planning processes in Frontenac County tend to be slow.

The longest term plan is the proposal for electrical generation and aquaculture projects, which will require some land that includes waterfront because the generating process requires water to be drawn from a water source, processed and then returned to the water source. A second factor about site selection for this project is proximity to the electrical grid to feed power into the hydro system. The aquaculture project will be energy intensive and will require the electrical generation to help it remain competitive in the market place. The municipality will need to be the owners of the power project, but Higgins said that Langenburg, the company that has expressed interest in building the project, is prepared to cover all the costs in exchange for the profits that will be generated, making North Frontenac a power producer in name only.

There is no time frame set out for this part of the One Small Town initiative.

Outdoor Furnace Issue
Neighbours Mary Royer and Jim Varrette made presentations about their neighbour’s outdoor furnace, which Royer says has caused her ongoing health and comfort problems with its smoke. She uses an inhaler and sometimes a mask, cannot open her windows, and has had her indoor smoke alert set off. Varrette, who lives on the other side of the furnace, although aware of the smoke, says he’s upwind of it much of the time. Royer asked why Council couldn’t enforce its recent bylaw which forbids operation of an outdoor furnace which interferes with ‘any reasonable enjoyment of the environment.’

Mayor Vandewal called on Councillor McDougall, who said that he had talked numerous times with the furnace owner, and felt the man had tried hard to minimize emissions: “The furnace is small, very efficient, and he uses wood that’s dry, well-seasoned,” said McDougall, recommending that Council continue to monitor and assess the situation. Considerable discussion followed.

Councillor Revill said they needed to set specific time limits on any expectation of improvement. Although all agreed that an objective assessment of the problem would need to be made, no one had a concrete suggestion of how to measure, on a 24-hour basis, the frequency and density of the emissions. It would also be necessary to be able to establish and then measure an unacceptable level of smoke.

CAO Orr added that as long as the furnace owner was making serious efforts to improve the situation, it would be legally difficult to shut the furnace down.

Council will seek further information and agreed to try to find a way to resolve the problem. Orr added that if something was deemed to be “a public nuisance,” there is a process to address it, but the process must be able to be seen as fair and transparent.

Budget Delegations
Although Council had invited public delegations to address issues related to the township’s 2018 budget planning, only one delegate appeared: Jeff Peters read a letter from the chair of the Inverary Lake association, asking Council to grant them $15,000 toward the cost of preparing a lake assessment study of Inverary Lake. In reply to the letter’s reference to the Sydenham Lake Association’s study completed this year, Councillor Schjerning said that there had been no cost to the Township: the study had been heavily funding through the Source Water Protection program, because the lake is a reservoir for the Sydenham water system.

CAO Orr confirmed that the Township has never given money to any of the local Lake Assessments. Mayor Vandewal added that the studies for Buck and 14 Island Lakes had cost $80.000 or more, and all the area lake studies done so far have shown a drop in phosphate levels. There was a brief informal exchange about the recent rise in algae growth in some area lakes.

McFadden Subdivision Draft Plan Changes
Planner Mills recommended two minor changes to a draft plan which has already been submitted to the County for approval. The subdivision proposal in question is located near Perth Road on McFadden Road, between Norway Road and the Cataraqui Trail. A recent letter from the CRCA has asked that no direct accesses be provided to the Trail, as there are already two access points reasonably nearby. (Councillor Sutherland said he felt this was an unfortunate request, for it meant residents would have to go by road to get on the trail.) However, a 1-foot reserve is to be placed along the rear portions of the two lots that abut the trail. Also, a provision for widening McFadden Road needs to be added, for the current roadway is only 9 metres wide at one point, instead of the required 20 metres.

Accessibility Presentation
Jannette Amini presented the annual Accessibility Advisory Committee report from the County. Among South Frontenac’s accomplishments, she noted the accessible features incorporated into the upgrade of facilities at the Point Park, the Sydenham boat launch ramp and planned for the new Perth Road Fire Hall. Councillor McDougall thanked Amini for keeping the Frontenacs informed of accessibility requirements and encouraging councils and businesses to continue making their facilities more accessible to all.

Cataraqui Trail Video
Council enjoyed a six-minute video produced by the CRCA about the Cat Trail from Sydenham to the Opinicon. It began with a great series of archival photos taken when the rail section near the Opinicon was first constructed, then moved into drone videos taken this September along the present-day trail.

No Council Meeting Next Week ..
but Saturday’s special budget meeting’s still on, beginning at 8 am!

Orr asked Council’s permission to cancel the November 21 Council meeting, because there is nothing on the agenda. Councillor Revill’s suggestion that they could “get together for tea and cookies” had no takers.

At the request of Addington Highlands Council, Napanee OPP detachment commander Insp. Pat Finnegan and SSgt. Dawn Ferguson were at Council’s regular meeting in Flinton Monday to discuss a number of Township concerns.
First up was the legalization of marijuana.

“Police aren’t ready for this,” said Finnegan. “We don’t even have a roadside device (for detecting the presence of marijuana in a person’s bloodstream).
“The one we thought we’d be using was giving false positives.”

Finnegan went through the various aspects of the Cannabis Act — possession of up to 30 grams by those 19 or older (in Ontario, the federal age is 18), cultivation of up to four plants and where it can be legally sold.
“It’s my understanding that you will be able to buy it online until government dispensaries are open,” he said. “Current illegal outlets will still be illegal.
“I don’t think you’ll have a government outlet in Addington Highlands, the closest one will probably be Kingston but I don’t think you’ll get Air Miles there.”
When it came to police vehicles travelling at excessive speed when responding to calls, Finnegan said: “We stress the ‘arrive alive’ mantra.

“If you don’t get there safely, you can’t assist anyone at the emergency and if you become involved in a collision, emergency services are then required in two locations.”
He said that in his 10 years as inspector “we haven’t had anybody hurt” and that when estimating speeds without the use of a speed measuring device “the rate of speed is always perceived to be higher than it actually is.”
He also said that all OPP vehicles are equipped with GPS and monitored. If a vehicle is seen to be going over 150 kph, the vehicle is flagged on the computer and officers are accountable for their driving decisions,
Ferguson said that billable calls for service hours are down, with the exception of mental health calls which increased. However, she said much of that increase (12 of 26 calls) were due to one elderly female resident.
A question of a refund due to decreased billable hours by Coun. Bill Cox was met with silence.

Chief Building Official Ken Buxton said that they’re looking into a solution for the water pooling problem on the roof of the Denbigh Medical Centre and roads supervisor Brett Reavie said that it’s time to spend the money that’s been set aside ($6,000) for a water tank at the Denbigh rink to compensate for the well’s low flow rate.

Council gave final reading to a passed both its waste disposal and orderly addressing of properties/appropriate naming of roads bylaws.

Council will respond to the North Frontenac Development Task Force’s request for an information kiosk at the Northbrook Garage property.
“I think it’s a good idea but we don’t really want people stopping there,” said Coun. Bill Cox. “Perhaps somewhere in the hamlet.”

Newspapers don’t often do advance stories for local council meetings but in this case, North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins is scheduled to present his vision for a self-sustaining community at a special Council meeting following North Frontenac’s regular meeting at the Ompah Community Hall this Friday at 1 p.m.
The agendas for both meetings are on the Township’s website.

Higgins has been working on his presentation for months now.

“The special meeting is to introduce North Frontenac’s One Small Town project to move North Frontenac into becoming a self-sustainable municipality at some point in the future,” Higgins said. “This project is literally a world first.”
And indeed it is.

Without getting into too many spoilers, here are a few things you might want to know about the concept.
A big part of it is based on ‘contribution’ from its residents whereby community members provide three hours a week (strictly voluntary) in return for benefits like free electricity.
Some of the contributions could be:

• Apiary (bee keeping): This could include the obvious honey production as well as wax for candle making, queen husbandry and starter hives.
“We would identify how much honey our community needs for those who contribute their three hours a week,” the implementation plan says. “Once we know how much honey our community needs for those who contribute their three hours a week, we triple that amount.
“The other two-thirds would be sold within and outside the community at a slightly higher price than it cost to produce but substantially lower than market prices due to a lack of significant labour related costs.
“Once the initial investment is paid off, the full two-thirds will go into the sustainability fund, which will be used to fund new projects.”

• Forest products manufacturing: Three areas have been identified in the plan — canoe making, furniture and wood pellet manufacturing.
“Over the winter of 2018 a canoe will be built in the recently acquired Plevna facility,” the plan said. “This canoe will be made to show the community the quality of canoes that can be made (and) publicity would be enhanced by raffling off the canoe.
“Once an adequate facility is in place, canoe making will become a new project and applying the contributionism model will allow free canoes for those who contribute.”
Two other proposals include furniture making once a facility has been established and pellets for pellet stoves manufacturing.
“This item (pellet manufacturing) has been talked about before and one of the restrictions to starting up was the upfront costs,” the plan said. “By building our sustainability fund, we will eventually be in a position to establish a facility within North Frontenac.”

• Aquatic and agricultural food production: The production will be based on a food requirement assessment to be conducted in early 2018.
Other areas in the planning stages include a health and wellness centre, a First Nations centre (tanning, crafts, education) and eco-tourism.
One of the more intriguing aspects of the proposal is a partnership of sorts with Langenburg Technologies from Eugene, Oregon, who use water systems to generate electricity. Under the proposal, Langenburg would install approximately $20 million worth of equipment and recover their investment by selling power into the grid. To do this, they would require an electrical infrastructure assessment that would cost $280,000 but Higgins has said he’s had discussions with an Ontario Electricity Distributors representative who suggested this project could “probably get full funding.”
If the electrical generation aspect works, then providing free electricity to the various contribution activities should provide an aspect that has been an impediment for many would-be startups in the past.
“As an example if we were to mass produce tilapia (the common name for almost a hundred species of cichlid fish that are increasing in importance in aquaculture and aquaponics) there would be about four harvests per year with a capacity to produce about 240 tons per year with a yield of 35 per cent to produce fillets,” the plan said. “the required total installed electrical effect is about 200kW for the fish farming equipment and the average effect during normal operation will be 100-120kW.”

If Council approves the plan, the first step would be to get funding in place for the electricity infrastructure assessment, Higgins’ presentation concludes.
Council will be presented with three options ranging from accepting the report for information purposes only to authorizing the Mayor to supporting implementation of the plan.

It looks like there will be some action on Fermoy Hall this year after all. On the advice of Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth, Council decided at its regular meeting Tuesday night in Sydenham to begin work with asbestos removal and whatever else they can get done with the $30,000 earmarked for building upgrades in the 2017 capital budget. It was a complete 180 for Segsworth, but those Bedford folks can be quite persuasive when it comes to their history. On July 11, a report was presented to Council outlining the costs associated with asbestos removal and other environmental cleanup costs. At that time, the recommendation was that no further action be taken.

“In hindsight, we probably should have recommended the money then that we’re recommending now,” Segsworth said. “but we met with the Bedford Rec Committee and there is a lot of passion regarding that hall. “And whatever we do, the asbestos needs to be cleaned up.” “It was built as a municipal hall in 1855,” said Coun. Pat Barr, who represents Bedford. “There was a well drilled in 1971. “But even if you demolished it, you’d have to dispose of the contaminated material and we’ve applied for a Trillium grant and there are people prepared to do fundraising.” Segsworth said the hall is unusable right now, and not just for the asbestos. “It will take another $50,000 at least for structural integrity of the foundation, walls and the chimney,” Segsworth said. “Also, there’s no water and outdoor facilities. “But it’s a diamond in the rough, the windows have all been replaced and there was new siding put on about nine years ago.”

Mayor Ron Vandewal suggested waiting until a decision on the Trillium grant came through in a couple of weeks but Barr was having none of that. “If we get the grant or not, there’s too much chance that the cleanup won’t get done if we don’t do it now,” she said. Sydenham water metres Council approved new metres for Sydenham water on the recommendation of Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth at a cost of $470 per metre for replacements and new installations. Segsworth said the current metres are old technology and just don’t work right in many instances. He said there would be $50,000 in the 2018 for metres so that half of the metres can be brought up to current standards. Coun. Ross Sutherland proposed a motion that stated the costs would not be passed on to residents which carried. However, Sutherland and fellow Loughborough Coun. Mark Schjerning voted against the original motion to replace metres in the first place.

Public Works to cover Point field over runs Spurred by a rare coalition between Mayor Ron Vandewal and Dep. Mayor Norm Roberts, Council voted to pay for a cost overrun on the football field and track in Sydenham out of the Public Works Budget, rather than the Parks Reserve Fund as suggested by the Public Works Manager. St. Paul United to become three dwellings Council approved a zoning change that will allow three housing units in the old St. Paul United Church in Harrowsmith. An old unused road allowance was stopped up to provide the necessary acreage to allow septic for the residences (one in the rectory and two in the church). Originally the plan had been to use the buildings for a Montessori training centre.

Central Frontenac Council gave its approval to a revised proposal from the District 3 Rec committee for a canteen at Oliver Scott Memorial Park in Sharbot Lake at its regular meeting Tuesday afternoon in Oso Hall. (The meeting had been scheduled for Piccadilly Hall but because of the heat and fact that Pic Hall has no air conditioning, the meeting was moved. The Oct. 10 meeting will now be held in Pic Hall.)
At the Sept. 12 meeting, a proposal for a new canteen with accessible washrooms, storage and warming area, complete with well and septic at a cost between $100,000 and $125,000 was defeated prompting Mayor Frances Smith to ask “what do we do now?” (The well and septic is already in place.)

District 3 Rec Committee chair Lesley Smith-Merrigan presented Council with a new plan, whereby:
• $30,000 that has been allotted for new washrooms still be earmarked for the build
• the Township takes the money for the well and septic (about $20,000) out of reserves instead of out of the aforementioned $30,000
• the Township allows the committee to act as contractor with John Neven, Robyn Gould and Justin Riddell as project managers
• the cost of the building permit refunded to the Rec Committee
• in the event that this portion of the building exceeds the $30,000 the Township has, the Rec Committee will temporarily use funds from its own account to complete the project to a maximum of $15,000.

Smith-Merrigan said the Rec Committee wasn’t really surprised the Sept. 12 proposal was defeated given the costs involved.
“So we discussed it and came up with this alternative proposal,” she said.
Coun. Jamie Riddell said he was prepared to support this proposal.
“I voted against last time but this is more like what I was looking for,” Riddell said.
“This building will allow us to continue fundraising,” Smith-Merrigan said. “It will allow us to attract more teams and events.”
SLPOA urges septic inspection.

Representing the Sharbot Lake Property Association, Bill Wilson made a presentation in favour of mandatory septic inspection.
Mayor Frances Smith said the matter is slated to come before Council Oct. 24 when they expect to issue direction to staff.

There was no other discussion.

Fire Chief says changes needed in department
Fire Chief Greg Robinson told Council that “many organizational and operational changes need to be made, however, we have only made changes that are absolutely required now” and other changes will be pending when he completes Phase 2 of his Operational/Organizational Review.
“The review has been delayed due to having no or very poor records regarding training, emergency responses, attendance, fire investigation reports, fire loss data, fire inspections, fire prevention, public safety, personal protective equipment, personnel personal information, equipment inventory and a general lack of established programs, policies and procedures,” Robinson said in his report.

He said it is his intention to present the Phase 2 review to Council at the first meeting in November.
He said he has been responding to emergency incidents and some burn complaints.
“A number of follow-ups have been required for burning complaints and illegal burning,” he said.

North Frontenac Council decided at its regular meeting Friday in Ompah that it was sometimes OK to have two cottages on a property temporarily, as long as the original one is slated for demolition. In 2011, Sarah Whittaker bought a property with and old cottage on it which she wanted to demolish once a new cottage was built. Whittaker currently teaches in Dubai and wanted to get started on the new cottage but was told recently that she couldn’t get a building permit until the old cottage came down. Charlene Cottle represented Whittaker (who is in Dubai) and told Council this presented several hardships for Whittaker. “She’s already hired a contractor and they want to lay the foundation this fall,” Cottle said. “They’d also like to house the workers in the current cottage to keep costs lower and Whittaker would like to live in it next spring while the new cottage is being built. “She has nowhere else to live in Canada.”

Cottle said it was her understanding that this isn’t the first time this sort of arrangement has been done in the Township. “The contractors said there has been no problems with doing this in the past,” she said. “I know in the past it’s been common practice,” said Coun. Vernon Hermer. “I think it’s a difference of opinion between building inspectors,” said Mayor Ron Higgins. “The current inspector was following the letter of the law.” CAO Cheryl Robson said such things are due to be covered when the Zoning Bylaw is updated but for now a temporary use agreement would be issued. “That should cover us for now,” she said. Furniture to be debated on its own A fair amount of debate at Friday’s meeting was devoted to furniture for the new Council Chambers at the renovated Township Hall. CAO Cheryl Robson said she was hopeful the Council Chambers would be ready for the first meeting in January 2018. But first they need to decide on furniture. “I’m in favour of modular,” said Mayor Ron Higgins. “It’s versatile.” “I’d like something more permanent,” said Coun. Denis Bedard. “Something we can be proud of for 20 years.” “To me, it stands with function,” said Coun. John Inglis. “I don’t even know how long the room is.”

Council decided they needed a special meeting to discuss furniture and set the date of Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. in the Plevna firehal Hedgerow and home for telescope at Vewing pad In a brief interview before the meeting, Mayor Ron Higgins acknowledged that plans for a hedgerow or similar structure to block out headlights at the Star Gazing Pad on 506 hadn’t been brought to fruition but added “nothing’s been brought to Council for approval.” However, Higgins also acknowledged the Pad is “getting more popular and people are coming in from outside the Township.” He said he hoped the issue would be addressed when they decide on a building to house the telescope that’s been donated to the site. “We have an agreement with the building inspector,” he said.

Addington Highlands is still tinkering with its waste disposal (tipping) fees but Council did instruct staff at its regular meeting Tuesday afternoon to bring back another draft schedule to a future meeting. Council did seemingly establish some parameters, for example eliminating the distinct between compact and full-size pick-up trucks as well as the number of axles on trailers, but actual charges are yet to be determined. “If you’ve got a small truck, you just pile it higher,” said Reeve Henry Hogg. There was general agreement that the charge to dispose of a single mattress should conceivably be less than that for a queen size but again the actual charge has yet to be determined. In fact, most fees are still under discussion.

“I don’t know anywhere you can dump a dual axle for 20 bucks,” said Coun. Bill Cox. “We charge $30 for a mattress whether it’s twin or queen,” said CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed. “Currently, we’re charging more for a mattress than a truck load.” “There are so many variations,” said Coun. Tony Fritsch. “Unless you’ve got a weigh scale and taking tonnage, it’s hard to determine,” said Hogg. “If we knew how to make it easy, we’d do it.” “Well, we’ve got to establish something,” said Cox. “We’ve only got two years left at the Kaladar site.” “Some of this may just be temporary,” said Hogg. “the province passed the Waste-Free Ontario Act which puts the onus on producers to dispose of their products.”

Post Office Closure - Following a presentation from Diane Mitchell, national coordinator for the Save Canada Post Campaign that featured 45 recommendations, Council voted to support the Campaign by signing and mailing a sample letter provided by Mitchell. Mitchell said the Post Office in Cloyne is on a list the Campaign is asking for a moratorium on closure for but the outlet in Flinton is not. Coun. Bill Cox pointed that the Flinton operation is an “outlet” as opposed to the Cloyne Post Office.

Salvage Yards - Council passed Bylaw 0504/2017 being a bylaw to regulate and govern any business carried on within the Township and for prohibiting or regulating and the use of any land and structures for storing used motor vehicles for the purpose of wrecking or dismantling them or for salvaging parts thereof for sale or other disposal. There was no discussion of the bylaw before passage. ■