Apologies took up a large amount of South Frontenac Council’s twenty-nine minute meeting, held May 1st. Challenged by Councillors Ron Vandewal and Del Stowe, Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth admitted that, in hindsight, he should have tendered out the electrical work for installing the football field lights. The error came about, he said, as a result of efforts to lower the cost of the work.

Planner Lindsay Mills said that he had failed to inform severance applicants Walter and Cheryl Silver that one of their lot applications was too close to the intersection of road 38, and could not have an entrance permit. The Silvers requested and received full refund of their application fee.

Councillor Naish was on the hot seat because the Storrington recreation committee, of which he is a member, used funds approved for a “storage shed on a base” to purchase a trailer instead. Naish said the change in plans should have been discussed with Central Recreation, but said the trailer was vandal-proof. The purpose of the storage was for storage of horseshoes for the seven rebuilt horseshoe pits.

“Our strength is our community”

Council approved the township’s new motto, “Our strength is our community”, which was chosen over 5 other finalists in a public contest. The motto is to become part of the new coat of arms.

2% more for recycling contractors

On Mark Segsworth’s recommendation, Council agreed to provide an additional 2% on the base contract amount paid recycling contractors Percy Snider and WJS Renovations. This is because of the increase in volume and weight since the introduction of “all plastics” recycling has resulted in additional trips to KARC.

MOE pressing South Frontenac over Portland dump

In response to the Ministry of Environment’s request for an action plan addressing leachate from the Portland Waste site, Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth wrote to the ministry in December. In his letter, he said that the Township was in the process of developing an action plan to address the impacts of leachate on the surrounding surface water.

Segsworth offered to submit this plan by April 30.

This did not wash with the Ministry however.

In an e-mail response received Jan 23, the MOE indicated that this would not be acceptable; they want a plan by the end of January. At a meeting on Tuesday night, council concurred with Segsworth’s decision to ask for a meeting with ministry representatives to clarify exactly what they are asking for.

In a brief interview, Segsworth emphasized the importance of maintaining the Portland waste site, and to work with the MOE to do this in an acceptable, sustainable manner. “What’s better: to monitor and manage our sites so that there is no contamination outside the site’s boundaries, or to ship our waste down the road, where it becomes someone else’s problem?”

“Although there are impacts to surface water quality within the wetland that falls within the boundaries of the site, many years of monitoring have demonstrated that the provincial water standards have consistently been met downstream at the property boundary before entering the Cameron Creek Swamp,” Segsworth said.

He added that the Ministry has recently amended the Certificate of Agreement to require that standards be met at the toe of the slope within the dump site, not, as previously, at the boundary of the approved waste site.

Sydenham Water Litigation Settled

Council passed a resolution to ratify the terms of settlement regarding litigation with the Engineering company that designed and oversaw the construction of the Sydenham water system. The original water purification system was designed to use only chlorine, which in combination with the high levels of organic matter, formed an unacceptable level of trihalomethanes.

A costly upgrade was required in order to achieve the present system, which uses a much lower amount of chlorine, in a process called chloramination and is combined with carbon filtering to deliver completely safe drinking water.

CAO Orr would only say that they had “arrived at a mutually agreed cash settlement that both parties were satisfied with.”

Community Caring to move into Princess Anne Building

Community Caring is a registered charity that collects and sells used clothing, donating all proceeds to families in need and a number of community organizations. For many years, it has rented the old schoolhouse in Hartington from the Township. They have recently negotiated with the Township to move into the neighboring Princess Anne Building.

To address insurance issues, the group will function as a committee of council, and be covered by the township’s insurance.

Councilor Vandewal said that although he fully supports this plan, he feels it’s time for the township to develop standardized guidelines for the increasing number of council committees. The matter has been referred to the Corporate Services Committee for recommendations.

Revision to Private Lane Upgrading Program

At last week’s COW meeting, Stephan Monty, resident living on Osbourne Lane had asked for a reconsideration of the amount of assistance offered by the township for the upgrading done on his lane. Although granular/gravel material is held to be maintenance, and therefore ineligible for the subsidy, Monty argued that a large portion of the gravel applied to Osbourne Lane had been used as road base material, and should be subsidized.

Public Works Manager Segsworth that he had reviewed the program in the light of this argument, and was recommending Council approve greater subsidies to six of the 2011 lane upgrades, including Osbourne, saying, “although it is not the way the Township builds roads, it could be argued that 5/8” granular material can be used as road base.” The revised 2011 total subsidy ($34,409) still falls well under the amount budgeted ($40,000).

Constituency Days: Coming Soon to a Hall Near You?

In order to “enhance Taxpayer communication and education,” Council has agreed to support members of Council in holding an annual Constituency Day, if they choose. Council members will be reimbursed for expenses (refreshments, room rentals, etc) to a maximum of $100/year, but only for the first three years of Council’s terms, and not in the final year of Council’s mandate.

Motto Contest

Council is launching a motto contest (look for the ad on page 9). The Township is in the process of having a Coat of Arms developed, and they need a motto, to be included as part of the design. It should be a short (25 characters or less) descriptive or inspirational saying. Deadline is March 1st, and there will be a $100 prize for the one chosen

Mazinaw-Lanark Forestry to make presentation

In response to a request from North Frontenac Council, Tom Richardson of Mazinaw-Lanark Forest Inc., the agency that manages logging activity on Crown land parcels in the region, offered to come to a council meeting within the next month or so. Although the township was only seeking a short presentation to “explain the process of clear cutting and the reforestation that follows”, Richardson offered to make a 45 to 60-minute presentation on Mazinaw – Lanark’s management and harvest on Crown lands.

The township is also interested in the ownership of timber rights on municipally owned concession road allowances that are located with the Mazinaw-Lanark management zone. Richardson will likely be attending a meeting in March.

MVCA to come to Council - Matt Craig, from the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority, has offered to come to council to talk about the plan of condominium application on Ardoch Lake. A developer has made an application to Frontenac County for what is called a “vacant land condominium” which is similar to a plan of subdivision, for 33 waterfront and 12 land-locked building lots on a 93.6 hectare (230 acre) parcel abutting Ardoch (Green) Lake. Frontenac County is responsible for Plan of Condominium approvals, and the county has announced that it has received a complete application for the project, but the proposal will now be subject to review by a number of parties, including MVCA and the township. As the project proceeds further through the planning process, it will be the subject of a public meeting as well.

Training officer - Denis Bedard has been appointed as the training officer for the North Frontenac Fire Department (excluding Ward 1) at an annual pay rate of $3,000.

Fuel purchases to stay local – Township staff researched the option of joining in a purchasing block with other municipalities through the Local Authority Services Limited (LAS) corporation, which was set up by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. While joining LAS would lead to minor savings in the annual cost of unleaded fuel ($279) and dyed diesel ($51), the cost of clear diesel would be $4,415 higher, and so the township will continue to be supplied by Don Wood’s Fuels Limited.

Mileage rates for staff/council to stay the same – The Township of North Frontenac reimburses for personal use of vehicles for township business. The reimbursement has to be approved in advance by council, the CAO or the appropriate manager, with a mileage per diem. That mileage, or more accurately, kilometrage has been paid at a rate of 47 cents per kilometer. In a staff report, it was recommended that the rate be raised 4 cents, to 51 cents per kilometer, but a motion to that effect was defeated and the rate will remain at 47 cents.

Website visits up – the township website, which has been continually upgraded by IT coordinator Evan Sepa, was visited 33,235 times in 2011, up from 24,487 in 2010.

Central Frontenac Council cuts $400,000 from budget, asks staff to find another $100,000

Central Frontenac Council took another jab at their 2012 budget at their regular meeting on Tuesday night, cutting the increase in their own budget to just under 7%.

When CAO Shawn Trépanier presented the amended budget at the start of the meeting, about $250,000 had already been cut from the first version of the budget, which had been presented a couple of weeks ago. The amended budget still called for $6.16 million in taxation for local services, up from $5.4 million in 2011.

Part of the reason for that increase is a cut in transfer payments from the Province of Ontario in the amount of $200,000 and a $60,000 increase in policing costs, both factors that council cannot control.

The increase in costs for township operations has been set at 1.9%, leaving the capital expenditure portion of the budget, which was up by $300,000 from 2011, as the only place council could really look to for cuts.

They decided to pay for a new document management system and server out of reserve funds, cutting $40,000 out of the levy. They then cut the purchase of one of two tandem trucks out, saving $210,000, and finally decided to pave only 2.5 kilometres of the Arden Road instead of 5 km, saving another $150,000.

Plans to do paving and other work on the Arden bridge, a $178,000 item, remained in the budget, as did $55,000 for work on the new ball field in Mountain Grove and a $100,000 contribution to a reserve fund for a new fire hall in Parham.

Councilor Frances Smith then asked that staff come back with cuts of 0.5% in their operating budgets, but Mayor Gutowski said it would be better if staff are given more leeway to find savings in operating or capital expenditures because operating budgets have already been trimmed.

“We don’t want to compromise the level of service we offer to the ratepayers,” Gutowski said.

The 6.8% increase in the taxes Central Frontenac is set to collect from ratepayers will be combined with money they collect for Frontenac County and for Education taxes. Since those rates are not going up as much as the township rate is, the net result to the average Central Frontenac tax bill is an increase of less than 5% at this point. That could drop another percentage point by the time the budget process is complete.

Councilor John Purdon sounded a precautionary note, however.

“Our level of reserve funds has been dropping, from $4 million five years ago to just over $1 million now, even though we have raised taxes over that time by about 7% per year,” he said.

Mark MacDonald to resign as Central Frontenac Fire Chief.

After eight years, Mark MacDonald will stop commuting from Belleville to Sharbot Lake every few days to fulfill his responsibilities as Central Frontenac Fire Chief.

In an emotional statement at the tail end of his report on the last three months' activity of his department, MacDonald, flanked by Deputy Fire Chiefs Art Cowdy and Bill Young, informed Council that he has been promoted to the full time job of deputy fire chief in his home fire department in Belleville, and will be resigning as fire chief in Central Frontenac.

The township would be well served, Mark MacDonald offered, it he were replaced with an internal candidate. “I would endorse one of these two people who are sitting next to me,” MacDonald said.

After thanking his department, the council, and the residents of the township for supporting him over the years, Mark MacDonald talked about what one of the Hinchinbrooke District firefighters said to him the first time he attended a meeting at the District 4 fire hall in Parham.

“'Are you going to stay long enough to have a cup of coffee?' he asked me because at that point there had been three chiefs in a short period of time, and that stuck with me. I thought that this department deserved a longer term commitment than that and I think we have accomplished a lot in eight years.”

Among the improvements that MacDonald referred to were new facilities and equipment (2 fire halls have been built and a number of new vehicles have been purchased), enhanced training, and a third element, working with the department to create the kind of atmosphere at the fire halls so that they became places that firefighters enjoy coming to for training and meetings.

“I have no doubt that my experience here has been instrumental in me receiving a promotion to deputy chief in Belleville,” he said, “I received a great deal more here than I gave, and I will always be grateful for that.”

Although he has tendered his letter of resignation, the exact date when Mark MacDonald will leave has yet to be determined.

Facilities review

Chief Building Official Jeremy Neven presented a 50-page report outlining the state of repair of the 22 buildings that the township owns, including major buildings such as the township office, fire halls, township halls and public works garages, and smaller structures such as change rooms at ice rinks and the band shell at the Sharbot Lake beach.

The report includes details about the type of construction employed in each structure, and heating and plumbing system details.

It also includes the yearly heating and hydro costs associated with each facility as well as recommendations for repairs or upgrades that are required immediately, and within 2, 5 and 10 years.

“In most cases what I recommend in the short run are what you might call ‘low hanging fruit’, measures such as putting in programmable setback thermostats that offer a quick payback of a year of so and will lead to savings in heating costs,” said Neven.

As furnaces and water heaters are replaced, he said that more efficient systems would lead to savings in heat and hydro costs.

The report also included charts that compare the cost per square foot of heating and hydro costs.

Neven pointed out that the former Olden township office in Mountain Grove and the Mountain Grove rink change room have some of the highest costs per square foot to operate, as does the former township garage on Wagner Road near Sharbot Lake.

The report does not include any recommendations regarding the long-term viability of the buildings, but the information it contains can be used by the township to consider mothballing some facilities during a strategic planning process that is slated to be completed by the end of this year.

Mayor facing challenge – After a presentation by Mike Procter about some of the new and returning events at this year’s upcoming Heritage Festival in late February, CAO Shawn Trépanier said he is willing to participate in the Polar Bear Plunge so long as a member of Council will do so as well. Councilor Jeff Matson said he would plunge as long as Mayor Gutowski agreed to be the rose between the two thorns, as it were. The mayor said she might, and as a public service, the News is offering a $100 challenge to other local businesses to match the amount on the condition that the so-called CF3 do indeed take the plunge.

All proceeds from the plunge are going to the Youth Program of Northern Frontenac Community Services.

Council Grinds Away at 2012 Budget

Central Frontenac Council has worked through the public works, fire department and township facilities part of their 2012 budget at meetings last Wednesday (January 11) and this past Tuesday (January 18).

With over $1 million in tax increases sitting in the draft budget, they were looking for items to cut. Department heads made their pitches and went over each and every line in their respective budgets as members of council poked and prodded in search of items to cut.

Public Works Manager Mike Richardson said he will be bringing the idea of building a single, centrally located Public Works Garage to a Strategic Planning process that Council will be undertaking later this year.

In the meantime, Richardson has put $130,000 in the 2012 capital budget for a land purchase in the Parham area for a Public Works headquarters.

“Whether that $130,000 remains in the 2012 budget or not, the idea of a single garage will still be alive. In the long run, and I mean over 20 or 50 years, the decreasing demand on equipment replacement, possible cuts in staffing, and in facility costs, while keeping the level of service the same, makes the concept of a single garage one that is worthy of debate,” Mike Richardson said.

Councilor Tom Dewey wondered if Mike Richardson might consider another option - namely getting the township out of public works altogether by privatizing all the work.

“When you are looking at making changes, why not look at subcontracting out all of the road work and not having a fleet or a garage?” Dewey asked Richardson.

“There are certainly municipalities that have done that. It’s not what I would recommend, but it can be looked at,” replied Richardson.

In the short run, at least in the view of one member of council, the $130,000 for a land purchase can easily be cut from the 2012 budget.

“In my mind, that $130,000 is already gone,” said Councilor Wayne Millar.

Two other major public works items will be harder to dislodge from the budget. One is a $300,000 bridge that is needed on Crow Lake Road and has already been engineered, and another is the purchase of two tandem trucks at a total cost of $420,000.

“The trucks are replacing a ’91 and a ’93. We’ve been told not to being the ’91 back for Safety again, and the ’93 is not far behind,” said Richardson.

“The needed work on Arden Road is missing from this budget again, even though it was identified years ago now,” said Tom Dewey. “It’s one of three major roads into the township. Do you really need the trucks?” Dewey asked Richardson.

“I would prefer to take the money from elsewhere,” Richardson responded.

$50,000 cut from fire budget

When it came to the fire department budget, Fire Chief

Mark MacDonald wanted to keep some increased stipends for firefighters and for mileage, while offering to cut money from the request he had made for equipment purchases.

“We can save $18,000 by buying a used 4x4 to be used by all the stations instead of a new one. We can also pull a thermal imaging machine and an extraction washer from the budget, and we can cut the $6,000 for water source drafting machines to $2,000 by having them built by volunteers,” MacDonald said.

“You just struck off $50,000. I think we should let you go through the Public Works budget now,” said Councilor John Purdon.

A $100,000 contribution to a reserve fund for a new fire hall in the Parham area was left in the budget for now. The township plans to build a new fire hall in about five years, at a cost that will likely exceed $500,000.

Facilities Co-ordinator Crystal Nedow and Chief Building Official Jeremy Neven presented the facilities budgets. One item that was pulled from the budget was a $10,000 request by the Oso Recreation Committee for playground equipment at the Sharbot Lake ball field.

An item that attracted some debate was a $75,000 expense to do some work on the proposed ball field in Mountain Grove.

“If we spend the $75,000, will the ball field be able to open?” asked Mayor Janet Gutowski.

“The total cost of that project is $250,000 to $400,000,” said Chief Administrative Officer Shawn Trépannier. “It is something we are looking at doing over 4 or 5 years.”

Council will meet again this week to look at the corporate budget. When they have gone through all the department budgets, they will make the final cuts to the budget. They are also waiting for the final expenditures from 2011, which will allow Treasurer Michael McGovern to fine tune the budget numbers.

Based on the discussion thus far, it would seem likely that at least half of the $1 million plus budgetary increase will be trimmed from the 2012 township budget.

Other notes from Central Frontenac - Bill Snyder was elected as Deputy Mayor for 2012 at the Central Frontenac regular meeting on January 10. He was also Deputy Mayor in 2007.

Draft budget calling for over $1 million increase in local taxation.

A lot of numbers were presented to members of Central Frontenac Council in their preliminary budget presentation, but the final line of the budget, line 1202, presents the most telling number of all - the total amount to be levied to Central Frontenac taxpayers to cover all of the township’s proposed spending. Last year that number was $5.393 million, and in 2012 it is $6.425 million, an increase of 19%.

A number of factors led to these numbers, including a projected decrease in provincial transfer payments for infrastructure of about $128,000; an increase in policing costs of about $60,000; $100,000 to be put in reserves for a new fire hall in Parham (up from $15,000 last year); some significant increases in fuel and insurance costs; cost of living increases; and an increase of over $450,000 in the capital budget.

The proposed capital budget includes $300,000 for a bridge on Crow Lake Road; $178,000 for paving Arden Road from Anne to Queen Street; $118,000 for improvements to Armstrong and Cross Road; $18,000 for 2 thermal imaging cameras; $420,000 for 2 tandem trucks with snow plows; $11,000 for a phone system upgrade; and $25,000 for a document management system.

In speaking to the budget, Chief Administrative Officer Shawn Trépannier said that if the township does not start to act now to make improvements to its fixed infrastructure, particularly roads and bridges, “it will face much higher costs in the future”.

In response, Councilor Frances Smith said, “There is no way we can increase taxes this much. Staff have to go back and sharpen their pencils. Our ratepayers can’t afford this kind of increases in municipal taxes.”

As it stands, the current numbers, when bundled with a relatively modest increase in the proposed levy from Frontenac County, and a 0% increase in the education rate, would bring a net increase in taxation in Central Frontenac to about 15%.

Township staff also estimated about a 1% increase in property assessment this year that can be attributed to growth, so taxes are slated to go up 14% for the average ratepayer in the township.

The Central Frontenac budget will undergo intensive scrutiny by Council at meetings scheduled over the next two weeks.

Ratepayers can expect the increase to be reined in by that process.

Habitat for Humanity looking to build in CF

CEO John Alkenbrack and Board Chairman Ron Darling of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Kingston and Frontenac came to Central Frontenac Council on Tuesday to talk about their plans to build a Habitat home in the township.

The mission of Habitat for Humanity is to break the cycle of poverty through providing home ownership with partnered low income families. They do so by seeking donations of land, monies, gifts in kind, donated trade services and volunteers to build houses, which upon completion are appraised at fair market value and sold to low income families.

Habitat Kingston Frontenac has built ten homes in the city of Kingston since 1995, the first eight on purchased land and two on lands donated by the City of Kingston.

Describing themselves as an organization that offers a “hand up” rather than a hand out, the organization carries the mortgage of the new home at zero interest with no down payment required and the family makes monthly mortgage payments set at approximately a quarter of their monthly income. The mortgage payments received are then deposited in a revolving mortgage fund to help fund the next home build.

In his presentation Mr. Alkenbrack said, “We are here tonight because our board of directors believe that the time is right to reach out and build in smaller communities outside of the city. A donation of land in Central Frontenac would not only help us to accomplish our goals, which is to build a minimum of eight homes in the next five years but will also help to establish the organization in this community for future builds. While our first choice would be a donation of land we are also considering the possible purchase of a property for a reasonable price.”

Following the presentation Councilor Guntensperger asked Alkenbrack if council could specify that the beneficiary of the new home be a resident of the township.

“Yes,” said Alkenbrack, “we would stress to our social workers to search the area for a family that would meet the necessary requirements, which include being of low income.”

Following the presentation council unanimously passed a motion directing staff to meet with representatives to determine an appropriate piece of municipal property to be used for a Habitat home build.

Heritage Railway Society seeks approval for mural project

Sally Angle and Ann Walsh of the Central Frontenac Railway Heritage Society (CFRHS) made a presentation to council seeking support in principle for a project that would see a free-standing 36 foot long and 12 foot high, roofed, double-sided placed at a permanent location in the area of the Frontenac Railway Heritage Park. The mural would highlight the history of the K & P railway line, which reached Sharbot Lake in 1876.

They presented a model of the mural that has been worked up by sign maker Rodger MacMunn, who said the project would cost approximately $30,000.

The mock up features a picture of the old K&P train with a history of its use in Sharbot Lake on one side. On the other side it commemorates a special excursion train that carried King George Vl (of The King’s Speech fame) and his wife Queen Elizabeth (familiarly known in modern times as the Queen Mother) from Renfrew to Kingston in 1939, during the first ever visit to Canada by British ruling monarchs.

The CFRHS needed support in principle for the project so they can apply for funding from sources related to the celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.

The township will not be asked to contribute financially to the project.

Council Goes Solar, in Principal

North Frontenac Council has decided, in principle, to pursue a ground-mounted solar MicroFIT project. The decision came about when council was considering one in a long string of communiques from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario about the opportunity for municipalities to join property owners from across rural Ontario who have invested in small-scale solar power production.

“We in the township have been skirting this issue for years,” said North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton. “Do we want a ground or rooftop mounted MicroFIT or do we not want one? There is no point going into any of the details until we settle that question.”

“I don't think a rooftop installation would be a good idea because there are too many unknowns,” said Councilor Gerry Martin.

A motion proposing that council approve in principle a ground-mounted solar project was then prepared, and all councilors save for Lonnie Watkins voted in favour.

Township staff have been directed to prepare a preliminary application for a project, to be located at the Ompah helipad.

“There has to be an address included in any application, but that can be changed later,” said Councilor John Inglis.

“This will have to come back to council at budget time,” said CAO/Treasurer Cheryl Robson.

According to Mayor Clayton, the cost of a 10 kilowatt solar array has come down since the MicroFIT program, which has resulted in solar panels dotting the rural landscape, was initiated a few years ago. Typically, the initial investment has been up to $75,000 but Clayton said it can be as little as $60,000 today.

MicroFIT systems function as investment vehicles for private landowners and municipalities, with the initial investment being paid back in less than 10 years, followed by 10 years of profit because the price for the power that is produced is fixed for 20 years.

The program has come under criticism, with opponents claiming it is responsible for increases in hydro rates.

Several years ago now, members of Frontenac County Council, in an effort to demonstrate their commitment to renewable energy, committed to bringing at least one municipally owned MicroFIT program to each municipality, and if a project goes ahead in North Frontenac, the township will join South and Central Frontenac and the County itself in having one up and running.

Because the project would generate revenue in the long run, any budgetary impacts in 2012 would be mitigated by future profit.

Septic inspection report:

Eric Kohlsmith of the Mississippi-Rideau Septic System Office office (MRSSO) reported to Council on the results of the 2011 voluntary septic re-inspection project. Due, in part, to the timing of a national mail strike last June, Kohlsmith said that the inspection program fell short of its goal of completing 100 inspections in 2011. In the end 81 inspections were completed on the following lakes: Big Gull, Brule, Buckshot, Canonto, Kashwakamak, Mackie, Marble, Mazinaw, Sand, and Shabomeka.

269 information packages were sent out to property owners, most of whom had already been approached in the last 1 – 3 years, and the 30% response rate is rather low, according to Kohlsmith. He recommended that the township consider changing tack in 2012, and moving from the voluntary program that has been in place for a number of years to what is called a “discretionary” program.

“For the upcoming 2012 season, the MRSSO recommends that a Discretionary Septic System Maintenance Inspection Program be implemented. The discretionary program has mandatory inspections, which would allow for the inspection of non-responding properties,” he said.

Kingston Frontenac Public Health, the agency that currently does septic inspections in the township for new construction, will be appearing before council next month to talk about a re-inspection program, so Mayor Clayton said the township would wait for that before deciding what to do in the coming year.

CAO Robson said that one thing council will have to look at is the cost to property owners under a mandatory system. The voluntary system is paid for by the municipality, at a cost of $8,000 per year but a mandatory system would involve direct billing to property owners, at a higher price per inspection.

In looking at the results from this year's program, Eric Kohlsmith said that of the 81 systems that were inspected, 36 were done on water access properties.

Of the 81 systems, inspectors found that 29% had no issues for remediation, while 52% required at least some remedial work, ranging from a pump out to repairs to a tank or a septic field. In six cases (7%), the systems were deemed to be substandard and “posed or could pose a risk to human health or the environment”. These were reported to Kingston Frontenac Public Health for enforcement.

“Do you do any follow up to see if any enforcement takes place?” asked Bud Clayton of Kohlsmith.

“No,” said Kohlsmith, “since we do not have the authority for enforcement, once we report it to Public Health we step back and leave it to them,” he said.

No winter interments – In preparing a cemeteries bylaw for the township, it was determined that winter interments are done in Barrie ward, but not in the others, a hangover from pre-amalgamation days. Staff presented a bylaw to council with two options: allow winter burials throughout the township or forbid them. Winter is defined in the bylaw as December 1 to March 31. Delaying burial until the spring can cause emotional and logistical strain for families. On the other hand the potential for disturbing neighboring plots by bringing in equipment in the winter is significant, and in the past the township has had to cover costs for repairing plots and headstones. Council decided to ban winter burials.

Council lukewarm to Isaacs' proposal

Denbigh resident Paul Isaacs has been looking into some of the items in the Addington Highlands budget. One of the things that he has discovered is that the costs associated with the environmental monitoring of waste sites within the township have risen dramatically over the last eight years.

In 2005 the township spent $5,414 on monitoring, but over the last three years the average cost has been almost $75,000 per year.

According to Isaacs, the reason for the large increase is the increasingly onerous demands made by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) on local municipalities. He suggested that the township send a letter of complaint to the province, and provided a sample letter for council's consideration.

Planning plan irks Davison

It seems everyone at Frontenac County Council is happy to have the County planning department provide planning services to the lower tier townships at a discount rate.

Everyone, that is, except for the representatives from the largest of the local townships, South Frontenac, which is large enough to have its own two-member planning department to handle as much as $30 million in annual development in the township.

In a report from Joe Gallivan, Manager of Planning for the County, a proposed contract to provide planning services for Central Frontenac Township was described. The contract is identical to the one that is in place with the Township of Frontenac Islands, which provides cost-free service for the townships' own planning needs, although private applicants and developers continue to be charged for planning permits and approvals.

“There would be no charges for any planning questions or consultation with a citizen, developer, or township staff. We will also offer to meet at the township office for face to face meetings at no charge, and to attend any meeting where a planning issue is being reviewed … no charges for any township-initiated planning project such as an Official Plan update or a revised Zoning By-law or any other township planning requirement."

Before County Council rubber-stamped the terms of the contract, which has already been accepted by Central Frontenac Council, South Frontenac Mayor Gary Davison took issue with the deal.

“I find this amazing. I think planning is a local responsibility. I don’t think the county, all these people here, should be supporting your planning,” he said to the representatives from Central Frontenac.

Joe Gallivan said that there is excess capacity in his department to take on the work, and because fees will be charged for service to the public, there will be savings realised in his department’s budget.

“To me, unless all the costs are charged back to the lower tier, the county is subsidizing planning for those municipalities, and since South Frontenac pays 60% of the budget, that means South Frontenac ratepayers are paying for their own planning and the planning in the other townships as well. To me that is not cost recovery; that is not a business plan. If you want my support for this, 
I need to see full cost recovery, including salary, travel time; everything that is done must be paid for,” said Davison.

Frontenac Islands Mayor Dennis Doyle said, “The services the county has offered to us have been excellent. I want to say that. Perhaps we can look at the costs, but in reality it is a win-win for all of us. These people are here anyway; we are not talking about reducing staff.”

“Maybe you aren’t, but I am,” said Davison.

Warden Janet Gutowski removed herself from her position as meeting chair in order to comment on the matter from the perspective of Central Frontenac.

“There is an aspect beyond the financial one for us. In terms of inviting business to our community it is very different calling in a consultant,” she said.

Davison moved that the matter be deferred until full cost recovery could be included in the contract with Central Frontenac, but that was not supported by Council.

“I think we should go ahead and make adjustments as we go along,” said Central Frontenac Councilor John Purdon.

“I certainly can provide details about cost recovery if Council wishes,” said Joe Gallivan.

In the end the proposed contract with Central Frontenac was approved in its original form.

The vote on the motion was passed by 5 votes to 4.

The councilors from North and Central Frontenac (four in total) all supported it as did Mayor Doyle from South Frontenac.

Gary Davison (who as mayor of South Frontenac has two votes) as well as John McDougall (South Frontenac) and David Jones (Frontenac Islands) voted against it.

Managers to hold ship steady as County seeks new CAO - Council bickers but adopts staff plan

In the aftermath of the unexpected resignation of Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk Liz Savill, Frontenac County Council has adopted a plan put forward by members of the county's management team.

Treasurer Marian VanBruinessen will add the CAO's duties to her treasurer's responsibilities and Deputy Clerk Jeanette Annini will handle the role of county clerk. Angelique Tamblyn, the executive assistant to the CAO, will take on the deputy clerk role.

In a report prepared by Human Resources Specialist Colleen Hickey in consultation with VanBruinessen, Fairmount Home Administrator Julie Shillington and Chief of Paramedic Services Paul Charbonneau, the hiring process for a permanent replacement for Savill was also discussed.

The report recommended that the firm KPMG, which is currently conducting a Service Delivery Review for the County, be asked to expedite aspects of their review that relate directly the role of the CAO/Clerk. That way a search for a new CAO, which will involve hiring an executive search firm, can commence within the next few weeks.

The search, which will ultimately result in an interview process overseen by a three-member council committee and a final decision by the entire council, is expected to take several months.

In discussing the proposals in Hickey’s report, members of Council expressed relative degrees of unease.

North Frontenac Councilor John Inglis said, “My concern is simply with the role of council in this process. My own experience is that I have had no input, and in a case where I am an employer that makes me uncomfortable.”

Warden Gutowski then said, “This is the first meeting since we learned about this, and this is your opportunity for input.”

She added that staff making recommendations for Council’s consideration is the normal process, is covered under the Municipal Act, and “has been the tradition in Frontenac County for 150 years.”

Inglis said, “I thank you for putting me in my place once again, Warden Gutowski.”

“When you were schooling John Inglis there, I thought you might burst into flames,” South Frontenac Mayor Gary Davison then said to Warden Gutowski. "That analogy about 150 years reminds me of another tradition that you didn’t see fit to follow yourself.”

Aside from the sniping that has been the hallmark of Frontenac County Council, the only alternative proposal to the staff plan came from Frontenac Islands Mayor Dennis Doyle.

He suggested that, in order to ease the burden, particularly on the treasurer, an interim CAO be sought to cover the post until the search for a full time person can be completed.

Colleen Hickey said that it would take 8-12 weeks to find an interim person, time that might be better spent focussing on a permanent solution.

David Jones, councilor from Frontenac Islands, said he “did not think it would be wise to pursue an interim CAO. I think we would be going backwards. I should point out, however, that it surprises me that just months ago we were being told that everyone was overworked and we needed to hire more people, and now there is enough labour capacity to cover for the CAO.”

South Frontenac Mayor Gary Davison agreed with Jones, but to Dennis Doyle’s point he said, “I do believe we may need to put a temp person forward for the finance department. More support staff will be needed.”

In the end, by a vote of 8-1, the staff proposal was accepted by Council. Dennis Doyle entered the only nay vote.

South Frontenac starts talking budget

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth presented the 2014 capital budget for public works, which includes roads and transportation, water, waste management/environmental services, township buildings and recreational facilities, to a Committeee of thje Whole meeting on Tuesday Night (October 22)

The proposed capital budget runs to almost $10 million.

The most debated item was a relatively small one, the $100,000 earmarked in the budget Sydenham’s Point Park football field upgrades.

Township CAO Wayne Orr noted that this was not tax money, but money being held in parkland reserves. Several councillors expressed frustration that in spite of negotiations, there still has been no commitment from the Limestone School Board to share the cost of this upgrading.

Council seemed to agree that until they had reached an understanding about sharing costs with the school board, the township should not move forward on the field upgrades.

Turning to the budget as a whole, Councillor Ron Vandewal said he didn’t like seeing so many projects carried forward from previous years.

“Either do them, or take them out of the budget,” he said.

Many of the carry-forwards related to recreation. Mayor Davison told Council that recreation still was not fully amalgamated. He also pointed out that the recently hired services manager has been needed for issues related to waste management and sanitation. Next year, Davison said, he will be able to allot more time to coordinating recreation issues.

Council meeting

Following the COW, Council reconvened for a brief Council meeting, to endorse a proposal from Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth about the submission of an expression of interest for a provincial funding program. (As usual, the time between announcement of the program and deadline for submission is short.)

If successful, the Township would receive $1million toward next year’s planned upgrading of Rutledge Road through the village of Sydenham: of particular concern are health and safety issues in the area near the schools, and between Sydenham High School and the Hillcrest plaza where there is an additional school-related program.

In the area of the schools, there are safety concerns regarding the configuration of the intersection, pedestrian traffic, poor sight lines, collisions, cycling safety, accessibility and parking.

Budget Continued Next Week

Committee of the Whole will meet next week to continue discussion of the capital budget, including a review of the Sydenham water and Township reserves. Open to the public: it’s your money they’re talking about.

Development Near Water

Township planner Lindsay Mills proposed a text change in the Official Plan which would address frequent minor variance applications to reduce the 30 metre setback from the highwater mark, usually on existing undersized lots with limited potential for development. The unstated expectation has been that if development is closer to the water, it should also be smaller. Mills suggested adding the sentence: “Furthermore, the closer the development would be to the highwater mark within the thirty metre setback area, the smaller the development would be expected to be and the smaller the habitable area should be.” There was some discussion as to whether a basement or a second story should be permitted, in such a situation. Mayor Davison asked why there was no mention of similar restrictions applying to commercial development. The change in wording will come to next week’s council meeting to be formalized.