On Second Thought...

Council voted 8-1 to temporarily suspend procedural rules, in order to bring back last month’s issue of the snow plowing contract for reconsideration. At that time, after a heated debate they had rejected the low bid, submitted by Mulroney Trucking, because it was not from a ‘local’ contractor. (Bids from Percy Snider of Sydenham and Scott’s snowplowing of Sharbot Lake had been rejected as incomplete.) At that time, Council gave no alternative direction for staff to follow.

In spite of voting against re-opening the motion, Councillor Robinson began the discussion with a strong plea to ‘look after our people and our territory...we were not right: we made a big mistake.”

Councillor York agreed: “When you have a workable solution in your own district, that’s where it should stay.”

Councillor Stowe said he had voted “with my heart’, but had come to realize that because Council had set the procurement policy, and had directed staff to follow it, they had no choice but to follow the policy. Otherwise, Council was risking legal repercussions, and possible difficulty in getting bids for future tender calls.

Councillor Naish agreed, adding that he would be in favour of changing the policy to show preference for local contractors (later, public Works Manager Mark Segsworth noted that agreeing on a definition of ‘local’ could be difficult.)

Councillors McDougal, McPhail and Vandewal agreed: Vandewal said that although he was in favour of hiring local contractors where possible, “If we don’t follow our own rules, there’s no point setting policies.”

Mayor Davison disagreed: “On a technicality, we have made a mistake.”

In the end, Council approved Mulroney Trucking’s bid for snow plowing and sanding/salting for the Township’s arterial roads, with Robinson, York and Davison opposed.

Garbage/Recycling Contracts Extended

Mark Segsworth proposed that the current waste collection contracts, which end this month, be extended until next May.

By that time, Township weigh scales will be in place at Portland waste disposal site, and collection can be tendered by weight, (considered a more accurate measure than the present one of tendering by number of households). Other changes will include moving to same-day collection of garbage and recycling for all households; readjusting the recycling mix to match Kingston’s, so the Township can make use of the city’s advertising and promotions; tendering waste disposal for the southern portion of Storrington, and for roll off bins at the township waste disposal sites. Noting that some of the changes could be accomplished before re-tendering, Council voted to extend the present contracts for longer, two years, until September 2015. By that time, there will be more information available about the actual weight of the waste to be collected.

Budget Direction

In order for staff to begin preparing the 2014 budget, CAO Orr asked Council for a target increase in the Township’s levy. Although the Township’s take from local ratepayers has gone from $10.9 M in 2011 to $12.9 M in 2013, up by over 12% over three years, thanks to property assessment increases the Township’s tax levy was down by -2.05% in ‘11, and up 3.74% last year, and 2.69% this year.

Consensus was to set goal of a 3% increase for 2014.

Wayne Orr listed some of the challenges facing the coming budget: OPP contract renewal and increased salaries, negotiated staff and Council costs/wages, continued reduction of OMPF grants and revenue from the city, deteriorating infrastructure and buildings, rising costs of fuel and materials, and provincial/regulatory pressures. 

When is a well not a well? When the water is not potable water intended for human consumption, is it a well? This question was debated at the Addington Highlands Council meeting in a discussion of a well that serves the washrooms at the Flinton library. The water is taken from the river and is only used to flush the toilets at the library. The question has arisen because the person who has purchased the former United Church, next to the library, wishes to purchase an unused road allowance between the properties to install a septic system, and septic systems must be a certain distance from wells. Council decided to first get a water test done for the well. Reeve Hogg said after the meeting that the well in question is basically just a hose that takes water from the river.

Senior of the Year award: Council received two names from the public to be nominated for a provincial Senior of the Year award: Henry Hogg and Ruby Malcolm. Hogg, who is the reeve of the township, declined the nomination and council will nominate Ruby Malcolm for the award.

Algonquin Land Claim: The Municipality of East Ferris forwarded a resolution saying that their council "does not support the transfer of crown lands to the Algonquin First Nation and that further no crown lands over which individual home owners access their private residences should be transferred to the Algonquins of Ontario". Council voted to support the resolution.

Reeve Hogg reported on attending a public meeting in Madawaska on April 6 that was called by the Township of South Algonquin to give municipalities an opportunity to voice their concerns about the Algonquin Land Claim process. He said that at the meeting there was considerable concern expressed about the ramifications of the Agreement in Principle for the affected municipalities and the lack of consultation with them.

Hogg told his council that it appears the rules that were initially announced for the Agreement in Principle are already changing. He said, "Unless we kick up a fuss now the whole municipality will be penalized."

Council discussed drawing up a resolution but the Township of South Algonquin was also going to draw up a resolution after the April 6 meeting, so Addington Highlands will wait until it is received. They discussed sending their objections to the Ontario chief negotiator, Brian Crane.

When interviewed after the meeting, Reeve Hogg said that among the township’s main concerns are the costs of having to apply zoning to Crown land that is slated to be turned over to the Algonquins. That land would then become privatized and the township could be required to provide services such as fire and ambulance and to maintain roads. He said that the lands are not on main traveled roads; they are undeveloped lands in areas that do not have a big tax base.

A delegation from OPSEU Local 462, which represents paramedics working in Kingston and Frontenac County, attended a meeting of Frontenac County Council on Wednesday morning, April 17.

Before the meeting, Local 462 informed the News that the shop steward, Shauna Dunn, supported by a large contingent of off-duty paramedics, would be urging the county to reconsider its decision to cut a 12-hour day shift from the busiest base in the Frontenac County land ambulance network. The ambulance is based at the Palace Road station near the Kingston Centre, which serves downtown Kingston.

Paramedic service members told the News that by cutting the shift, response times could be affected not only in Kingston, but could have a ripple effect in rural Frontenac County as well. The reason is, according to OPSEU, that when Kingston ambulances are all called out on calls, rural ambulances are pulled in closer to the City to provide standby service. This would affect response times to locations in Frontenac County.

OPSEU Local 462 is asking that the County consider other options to control costs rather than cut service.

The shift cut, which was announced last month, came about after OPSEU launched a grievance against a county plan to cease bringing in replacement workers for paramedics who are off sick, in certain circumstances. This plan, which was designed to save 5,000 hours in labour costs, was pulled as soon as the grievance was launched. The County then announced it was cutting the 12-hour ambulance in Kingston as of May 20 as a cost cutting measure.

Paul Charbonneau, the Chief of Paramedic Services for Frontenac County, said the service will be able to continue to meet their response time targets with one less ambulance on the day shift.

The union immediately expressed its concerns about service cuts and job losses for its members.

CF Council flexes muscles, cancels equipment purchases

It is unusual for a township council to turn down a budgeted equipment purchase at the 11^th hour, particularly when the price is lower than the estimated cost that was originally brought to Council for the item, but that is what happened twice at a meeting of Central Frontenac Council on Tuesday April 9.

First, they told Public Works Manager Mike Richardson to buy only one $186,000 snow plow when Richardson had recommended buying two. Then they rejected the $112,000 purchase of a tractor with a boom flail mower, which was to be used to clear brush from township roadsides.

As Councilor Frances Smith pointed out after the votes had been taken, “One of the problems is with the budget process this year. These discussions should have happened at that time, but we just received the budget requests and did not debate them, so we are debating them now, after Mike has already gotten prices on the machines.”

Rather than working through the budget priorities in detail this year, Council asked the treasurer to consult with staff and bring in a budget that will keep the tax burden from rising over 5%. Further complicating matters is the fact that the budget has still not been approved.

So it wasn’t until the equipment was at the point of being purchased that Council, led by Councilor Jeff Matson, began to debate whether the public works department should spend money on equipment or on more small scale road work.

“I’m not against buying new equipment," Matson said in regards to the proposal to buy two snow plows for $372,000, “but we also need roads. If we don’t do any work on these roads we will have trucks but no roads to drive them on. We can spend $5 or $10 thousand on 30 different small roads for the cost of this truck. $5,000 will do a lot of work to a small road. These are the kind of improvements that make the people who live here stay here. I can support one truck but not two.”
Five members of Council (Frances Smith, Wayne Millar, Bill Snyder, Jeff Matson, and Heather Fox) voted against the two truck purchase and it was defeated. A subsequent motion to buy one snow plow was approved unanimously.

The debate about the tractor centred on the amount of use the township has for the tractor.

Works Manager Mike Richardson said, “The tractor and boom mower will allow us to keep the smaller brush cut more effectively as well as allow us to cut around guard rails. This tractor will also cut grass in the rougher terrain locations and act as a replacement for older grass mowers as required.”

Richardson said that the township has fallen behind in keeping roadside brush at bay and the new piece of equipment, in addition to the larger brush cutter the township owns, will enable crews to catch up over time.

“It is a piece of equipment that is basically to fulfill the level of service that is expected of us,” he said.

Council was not convinced by Richardson’s argument.

“We don’t have the staffing for the equipment we have now,” said Frances Smith. “We need to put money into staffing.

By a vote of 8-1, with Mayor Gutowski being the only member to support the purchase, the tractor was scrapped.

Recyclable hauling contract stays local – Council was faced with a choice between their existing hauler, Scott’s Snow Removal of Sharbot Lake, and the services of Waste Management of Kingston, a division of Waste Management International. They decided to jettison the recommendation by their waste management co-ordinator, Kyle Labbett, and chose Scott’s Snow Removal.

The three-year contract is for hauling new 40 yard containers to a Belleville recycling depot, at an estimated cost of just under $70,000 per year. The two companies submitted very similar bids.

“If somebody were to ask me what the two prices are, I would say they are basically the same,” said Mike Richardson of the bids.

“Scott’s has been doing this job for five years,” said Jeff Matson, “It is also important for me that somebody has a job within the township.”

“I am expecting that the level of service be maintained,” said Mayor Gutowski, “and I would like council to be kept informed if there are problems. Otherwise I’m in agreement that hiring local is preferable.”

Council composition

In a discussion about Council composition, two proposals emerged. The first was a six-member Council, with one member elected in each of the four wards, and the mayor and deputy mayor/county council representative both elected ‘at large’, in township-wide elections.

The alternative proposal, which also received significant support, was the status quo: a nine-member Council with two members from each ward and the mayor elected in a township-wide vote.

The matter will come back to Council, before a proposal or two are ready to be presented to the public. Any change must be approved by the end of 2013 in order to take effect in the 2014 election.

Bridgen’s Island

Council approved in principle a site plan agreement for seasonal residents of Bridgen’s Island on Eagle Lake. Planning Consultant Glenn Tunnock said that a ten-year exercise in bringing the Bridgens Islanders into compliance with the Ontario Municipal Act should be completed by this fall.

Council reinstates Free Amnesty Load program

Following a motion put forth by Councilor Wayne Millar to reconsider a motion passed by council at a previous meeting on March 12 to end the free amnesty load program, council debated the pros and cons of ending the program.

Councilor Norm Guntensperger, who was absent when the motion was passed on March 12, said: “When I read it in the paper I thought “people will not like this' and I would not have supported the motion.

Wayne Millar said he received emails about it from constituents saying the program is “one small thing that makes voters happy” and agreed that it should be reinstated.

Tom Dewey supported reinstating the program and also suggested having staff re-evaluate the program after this year. Frances Smith was also in favour of re-instating the program.

“We want to encourage people to clean up their properties and by offering one free load we will encourage people to do that.”

Councilor John Purdon disagreed and supported his view with facts he garnered from the 1998 bylaw, noting that at that time people had to pay to have tires, large appliances such as fridges, freezers, BBQs and other e-waste items accepted at the township's waste sites. “Now that is not the case. The majority of these items can now be recycled for free. People may not realize this. I think we should stand our ground.”

In a recorded vote to reconsider the previously approved motion, which requires a two thirds majority to pass, six councillors voted in favour of reconsidering the motion to end the program. Mayor Gutowski and Councilors Purdon and Matson voted against reconsidering it. Following that vote council put forth a new motion to reinstate the program and direct staff to re-evaluate the program in another year's time.

CF Mayor Gutowski awarded Diamond Jubilee medal

Councilor Tom Dewey relayed to council that “our own Iron Lady of Central Frontenac, Mayor Janet Gutowski” was awarded the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee medal for her contributions and service to the country at the municipal level for ten years of service in Central Frontenac and for six years of service prior to that in Thorold, Ontario.

She was selected by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities as one of 60,000 Canadian recipients to receive a medal. The mayor will officially be presented with the medal at the Sharbot Lake Legion annual awards banquet on Saturday April 13.

At their meeting next week, Frontenac County Council will be considering a bylaw to limit the term of county warden to one year.

If the bylaw is approved - and all indications are that it will be - it will not take effect until after the next municipal election in the fall of 2014.

The current warden, Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski, is free to remain in the post until that election, unless she chooses to resign.

The request to prepare this bylaw came from North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton in December of last year, at the same time that the majority of the membership of the council expressed non-confidence in Warden Gutowski and asked her to resign. Until this year, the accepted practice, for 146 years, had been for the warden to resign after one year, even though the appointment has always officially been for a four-year term. The two adjacent counties, Lanark and Lennox and Addington, change their warden each year,

The preamble to Clayton’s formal request that a bylaw be prepared expresses the frustration felt by members of the council at Gutowski’s decision to stay on as warden after her year was up:

“Mayor Gutowski is not prepared to step down after the first year of her term, even though she has agreed to and honoured this practice in the past. With County Council appointing a warden to a fixed term, County Council does not have leave to revoke that appointment.

“… County Council (with the exception of Warden Gutowski) does not agree with and/or does not support the warden’s decision and requests that this be documented in the minutes … “

Once a public meeting is held at the county office in Glenburnie next Wednesday, April 17, at 1 pm, the bylaw will come forward at a county meeting. Each of the Frontenac townships will also be asked to pass a resolution consenting to the bylaw.

The "Gutowski" bylaw will then be in effect as of December 1, 2014. The bylaw will not prohibit an individual from seeking the warden’s job in consecutive years, but they will have to face an election by council each year.

North Frontenac Council questions government’s commitment to fight contraband tobacco

Members of North Frontenac Council expressed support for the Ontario Convenience Stores Association's (OCSA) initiative to pressure the Ontario Government to enact amendments to the Tobacco Act that are designed to “eradicate contraband tobacco”.

But they are not convinced that the federal and provincial governments are really serious about the issue.

In a letter to Ontario municipalities, OCSA said the following:

“In its 2012 budget, the Ontario government introduced a variety of measures that will help eradicate contraband tobacco, including more power for law enforcement, tougher fines for violators, and working with other jurisdictions to eliminate this serious problem. These will be enforced through the Tobacco Tax Act and Bill 186.

We are asking for municipal governments and community leaders to take action by passing a supportive motion at their local councils. Specifically, we’re requesting the Mayor of a municipality to write a letter to the Ontario Minister of Finance in support of the Ontario Government’s anti-contraband commitments, in an effort to eliminate contraband tobacco.”

While North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton had no objection to sending a letter, he said, “There seems to be a real disconnect between the federal and provincial governments when it comes to contraband tobacco. They keep bumping it over between the OPP and the RCMP.”

“The smoke shops on Highway 7 continue to operate, so what is the story with that?” said Councilor Lonnie Watkins.

“It will continue until somebody does something about it,” said Mayor Clayton. “MPs and MPPs say that each letter represents 50 people’s opinions, so if 10 letters go out complaining about what is going on, they will start to take notice.”

According to a report provided by the OCSA to the municipalities, smoke shacks are a major concern in Ontario.

“Contraband cigarettes are typically manufactured in illegal facilities on First Nations reserves in both Canada and the US. These products are sold and distributed via 350 smoke shacks in Ontario and Quebec, which sell baggies of 200 contraband cigarettes for as little as $10 - $15 per baggie, putting local communities at risk,” said the report.

“Contraband products are not subject to all levels of taxation and can be purchased at a much lower cost to consumers than legal products, resulting in lost revenue from taxes. This adds up to millions of dollars annually that could be used towards alternative government spending, including municipal funding. It also results in less sales for convenience stores, ultimately leading to store closures,” the report concludes.

Votes lost – Council received a request from a resident from Gull Lake Estates Lane that the township assume responsibility for Kashwakamak Lake Lane. The resident said that over 100 shoreline property owners use the lane, and given the amount of tax revenue that township receives from those properties, minimal maintenance in the form of some “tree clearing and 20 loads of gravel” is warranted. The resident wrote that they will “not vote for you unless there is progress.”

In keeping with a long standing policy never to assume any financial responsibility for private lanes, Council unanimously rejected the request.

Raise for firefighters – Council accepted the recommendation from Fire Chief Steve Riddell that crew members who are called upon to work for longer than three hours on a call, a relatively rare event, be paid $18.12 for any hour over three hours. They had been receiving $12.50.

Ompah fire hall renovation task force - A three-member task force (Volunteer Project Manager Steve Sunderland, Councilor John Inglis, and CAO Cheryl Robson) has been given three months to hire a design consultant, prepare a final design and specifications for the building, prepare and submit tenders for construction, and award a tender for construction.

The task force is to have this accomplished by June 19. $180,000 has been budgeted to renovate the fire hall, incorporating the current Ompah Community Hall, which is located in the same building as the fire hall, as a training room/public space.

Sydenham Water: still $1 million short – a primer

Treasurer Louise Fragnito came to South Frontenac Committee of the Whole to ask for direction in addressing three financial questions related to the Sydenham water treatment plant: unfunded liability, user rates and the need to build a reserve fund for future capital replacement.

As of the end of 2012, $1,018,886 remains unpaid, or in 'treasurer-speak' an un-funded liability, while the projected reserve funds which were to have come from user fees have been largely eaten away by the escalating operating costs of the plant.

The Unfunded Liability

This has two parts: A) from the beginning, the Township agreed to temporarily carry $530,550, an amount projected to be paid off as new connections, such as subdivisions, are created. This year, a new subdivision within the Sydenham area is projected to contribute $155,330, which would reduce this portion of the debt to $375,220. Utilities Kingston, in cooperation with the Township's Public Works

Department, is conducting a capacity study to confirm the system has sufficient growth capacity to eventually pay off the remainder.

B) is the township's portion of the nearly $1 ½ million cost of the plant upgrade, to improve the treatment process. (This was necessary because the combination of chlorine and organic matter that passed through the filters in the original design led to the development of potentially dangerous chemical by-products.) The federal and provincial governments each covered one-third of the upgrade, but the remaining third was a township responsibility.

There was a lawsuit, presumably against the original designers of the system, which the township won. However the details of this have never been made public, and $488,336 remains outstanding.

Previous councils have always been very clear that the price of Sydenham water treatment is a Sydenham, not a township responsibility. Sydenham presently has 174 active water users: the remaining 104 are not connected to the system, but are required to also pay the basic mandatory user fee of $41 a month, the cost of 18 cubic metres of water. Fragnito could not say what actual volume of water the average household currently uses, but she has agreed to provide that information.

The township has an Investing in Ontario reserve of $300,698, which could possibly be indirectly used to help pay down a large part of the township's portion of the upgrade.

However, this is money that would otherwise be available for projects in other parts of the township.

User Rates and Capital Replacement Reserve

The news only gets worse: the current operation of the plant is not generating sufficient funds to both cover operating costs and build a reserve for future capital costs to replace/repair plant parts as they wear out.

Where Next?

Public Works and Utilities Kingston are working on a new water rate financial plan to bring to Council later this year, which will take into account projected capital replacement costs, present and projected operating costs, and inflation.

As for the nearly half a million upgrade, Council had no easy answers. Councilor McPhail made a notice of motion to come to the next Council meeting, directing staff to look into the possibility of reopening negotiations with the School Board, which made a substantial one-time payment toward the original cost of the water system, but does not pay any ongoing user fees.

And The Good News

Sydenham water remains free of harmful by-products, no longer smells or tastes of chlorine, and is reasonably soft, therefore much easier than local well-water on taps and appliances.

Major Changes Coming to Local Waste Sites

When it comes to garbage, South Frontenac is facing some big challenges:

• The provincial government is continuing to tighten its rules around waste site capacity and management (they're not pleased that Portland's once reassuringly large capacity is mostly in the swamp),
• It costs a lot to keep five waste sites open and staffed for a total of 87 hours a week,
• We - all of us - are producing more and more waste every year,
• South Frontenac residents do not recycle/divert nearly as much waste as they could, or as many other municipalities do, in spite of weekly curbside blue-box pick-up.

In February, Council approved a new waste disposal operational plan intended to address some of these issues. As of May 1st,

• Portland and Loughborough will be open two, not three days a week; Salem, Bradshaw and Green Bay one day a week each, with some of Bradshaw's summer hours moved to Sunday,
• Salem, Bradshaw and Green Bay will accept no waste other than tagged household garbage (Portland and Loughborough will accept neither of these.)
• Portland will take large articles, mixed loads, brush, shingles and construction waste,
• Keeley Road (household hazardous waste) is the only site for small appliances, e-waste, hard plastics, bale/boat wrap and hazardous waste,
• Loughborough will accept large articles (furniture) and construction waste.
• A weigh scale will be installed at Portland, and tipping fees have been raised to more closely match those of neighbouring municipalities.

Implementing these measures, with residents' cooperation, should extend the township's landfill capacity until 2032, and result in a savings of more than $7 million over twenty years.

With full awareness that change is never easy, and that some of these changes will be controversial, the Public Works Department has set up two public information sessions next week: Wed. April 17 at Bedford Hall,1381 Westport Rd, from 7 - 9pm, and Thurs April 18, Verona Lions Club, 4504 Sand Road, 7 - 9pm.

Long wait for a bathroom break:

Paul Orser, who purchased the former United Church in Flinton and has been seeking leave to put in a septic system for nine months, will have to wait a few months longer. Orser intends to purchase part of a road allowance next to his property in order to have enough land to put an approved septic system in place, and Addington Highlands Council has indicated it is willing to sell. However, this cannot happen overnight.

Reeve Henry Hogg told Orser that Council must first declare the land surplus; there also must be a survey done, and then the land can be put up for sale, which requires public notice.

“It will take at least three months, as much as six,” said Clerk Jack Pauhl.

“It’s very complicated, and I’m afraid I haven’t explained it very well, “ said Reeve Hogg.

A rather bewildered Paul Orser, who has been using a rented porta-potty ever since taking possession of his property, said, “It’s very complicated for someone who just wants to go to the bathroom. So the minimum is three months - I’m sure you can understand my frustration.”

Council did take the next step in the process, by declaring the land surplus and approving its sale in principle. The motion passed by a 4-1 margin. Councilor Snider opposed it.

“Now what do I have to do?” asked Orser.

“Wait” advised Deputy Reeve Bill Cox.

Denbigh stage cannot be moved: Council considered a request to rent out a semi-portable stage that was constructed out of a converted tractor trailer and is on more or less permanent loan from the township to the Denbigh Recreation committee. Councilor Tony Fritsch said that a tractor is used to move the stage park in Denbigh for different uses from time to time, but it never goes more than 100 or 200 feet and never on a roadway.

“I think we should just say no to this request,” said Councilor Snider, and the rest of Council agreed.

Support for community efforts: Council agreed to waive waste site fees for the Skootmatta District Ratepayers Association annual clean up in August. It will also donate a number of clear logo bags to the Conservationists of Frontenac Addington for use during their annual fundraising BBQ on April 27.

The Denbigh hall rental fee has been waived for a Relay for Life fundraiser.

Fire Hall project still in limbo – Fire Chief Casey Cuddy asked Council if a decision is pending on whether to go with a design-build contract for the planned fire hall in Northbrook or to put out a tender for an architect to design the building.

“That decision will have to wait until budget deliberations,” said Reeve Hogg. Council will be discussing the 2013 budget next Tues. April 9 at 9 am.

Fixing potholes and sweeping up

Public Works Manager Royce Rosenblath said crews have been grading some roads on warmer days, but those days have been followed by freeze ups so it has felt more like one step forward two steps backward. "Once we get a run of warm days we'll be able to get all the roads in reasonable shape" he said, "and next will be dust on paved roads."

"Don't tell them in Northbrook, but they were sweeping when I was in Roblin the other day," said Reeve Hogg.

Public cheers as CF Council votes to remain as is

Cheers and applause echoed through Oso Hall as a motley crew of attendees at a public meeting on Tuesday night, September 10, showed their support for Central Frontenac council's final decision to keep the council “as is”.

Before the vote, members of the public who were in attendance weighed heavily on the side of maintaining the status quo. Prior to the public having their say, CAO Larry Donaldson had outlined a KPMG service review report that recommended that council reduce its size to achieve a savings of $25,000 per year. Donaldson listed a number of options to reduce council's size either to a seven, six or five-member council, with the mayor being elected at large (i.e. by the entire electorate) and the councilors either being elected by ward or at large.

Upholding democracy was one reason given by many members of the public who spoke at the meeting who wanted to see council remain as nine members with councilors elected by ward.

Logan Murray, a former Kennebec councilor and mayoralty candidate, said he was amazed at how our democratic institutions are deteriorating.

“It used to be that when a council wanted to do this kind of thing, it has to be put on a ballot. This is a foolish idea and it is much more about eliminating opposition than saving money. It is not going to save any money; it's going to reduce people's democratic access to their representatives," Murray said.

Central Frontenac resident Lynn Shwadchuck agreed with Murray.

“I have wondered at times if electing councilors at large might be a better way to go but now I think otherwise. We need representation for everyone, everywhere.” Resident Justin Gray agreed as well and added, “If you want to save money look at the roads and get it right the first time. I agree that we should uphold the status quo and keep council as is.”

Former Central Frontenac Councilor Phillip Smith spoke from his own experience, stating that the size of the council should remain as it is due to amount of work required and said councilors should continue being elected by ward.

After addressing a number of questions from the public regarding specific details about the report, Councilor Norm Guntensperger took the bull by the horns and put forth a motion that was seconded by Councilor Wayne Millar to uphold the status quo and keep council as it is. Councilor Heather Fox stated that she was not prepared to vote on a motion at that time and she put forth a motion to defer, which was seconded by Councilor Jeff Matson. Councilor Bill Snyder requested a recorded vote. Councilors Snyder, Dewey, Smith, Guntensperger and Millar voted not to defer. This forced council to vote on Guntensperger’s motion to uphold the status quo. In a second recorded vote Councilor Fox stated that she was opposed, and councilors Matson and Mayor Gutowski also voted no. The others voted to uphold the status quo and those members of the public who spoke at the meeting left feeling that they got exactly what they had come out for.

The decision to keep the same council structure in Central Frontenac echoes the decisions made by both North and South Frontenac over the summer. For the 2014 municipal election, all of the townships will maintain a ward system with two representatives elected in each ward and a mayor elected through an at-large vote by electors in all of the wards.

The mayors will automatically sit on Frontenac County Council, as they do now, and the second County representative for each township will be chosen by each township council at their first meeting following the election.

Seeking $1 million in damages

Back in May, David Jones, a member of Frontenac County Council from Frontenac Islands, put forward an unusual motion.

The motion claimed that Janet Gutowski, the county warden, had breached her oath of office by “uttering promises and rewards in an effort to conspire with Staff to move County Councillors to vote ‘in a biased, corrupt, or any other improper manner’”.

The motion then resolved that county council “rescind all the privileges of the office immediately”.

It also directed that “Councillor Gutowski’s peddling of political favours” be referred to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, and asked the Township of Central Frontenac to appoint a replacement “as soon as possible”

In speaking to his motion, Jones said that the influence peddling he was referring to took place earlier this spring, after council had rejected the 2013 County budget in April by a 6-3 vote.

Jones said that he received an email from a “member of council” (later confirmed to have been North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton) and that in the email it was asserted that Warden Gutowski offered to cut the Fairmount Home budget by $130,000 and would step down as warden in exchange for a yes vote by Clayton.

For his part, Clayton later told the News that Gutowski had never promised him that the Fairmount budget would be cut, although Clayton did meet with Fairmount Home staff in April to talk about their budget, a meeting that Gutowski attended via teleconference. Clayton did vote in favour of the 2013 budget on May 2, which was approved in a 7-2 vote.

“At that point, I thought we needed to get a budget passed,” he told the News later.

Even though Clayton’s account of the contents of his email differed from that of Jones, Bud Clayton, along with Jones, Dennis Doyle and John McDougall all supported motion by Jones on May 15 .

When the motion was approved, Janet Gutowski did not vacate the chambers. Instead she carried on chairing the meeting.

As CAO Liz Savill explained to Jones when he asked why this was happening, under the Municipal Act Council does not have the jurisdiction to remove one of their fellow councilors. She said she would follow through with the referral to the minister.

For her part, Gutowski said she would be consulting her lawyer

A month later, a lawyer’s letter was sent to the four councilors who had supported the ‘influence peddling’ motion, asking them to apologize and rescind the motion, and saying if they did not, legal action would be taken.

Last week, as Council was about to meet in a Committee of the Whole session in order to hear a presentation about a Council Code of Conduct, three of those in attendance, Frontenac Islands Mayor Doyle, John McDougall from South Frontenac, and Bud Clayton, were presented with brown paper envelopes that contained a notice of claim issued by the Registrar of the Ottawa Court House. David Jones was not at the meeting and was subsequently served at his home.

The claim, which was submitted by an Ottawa lawyer, Keith MacLaren, calls for “General and Special Damages for defamation in the amount of $1,000,000".

It says that the defendants “accused the Plaintiff publicly of peddling political favours” and that those “defamatory words demean the Plaintiff in her profession or calling.”

It also says that the “Defendants knew, at the time the defamatory words were spoken, that the words were untrue”, and that the defendants “acted in bad faith, with malice aforethought.”

While members of Council are protected against libel laws when speaking at council meetings by virtue of what is called “qualified privilege”, which applies during council meetings, the claim says “The Defendants are not entitled to claim qualified privilege in all of the circumstances. The defendants were not acting in furtherance of their duties as public officials.”

In justifying the call for a such a large payment, the claim says the “defamatory words” were calculated to injure Gutowski and “and she has been injured in her credit, character and reputation by way of the profession as a politician”. It goes so far as to say it could cause her the “loss of political office and the loss of employment opportunities in the future.”

The defendants were granted 20 days to file a statement of defence, which can be stretched to 30 days.

Neither Janet Gutowski or any of the defendants in the case whom we contacted were willing to speak publicly about the case. It is still to be determined if the defendants will appeal for county funds to cover some, or all, of their legal fees.