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Wednesday, 09 November 2016 21:31

South Frontenac Council

The meeting began with a minute of silence for remembrance.

FIT 5.0 Solar Projects

Two proposals were brought to Council hoping for Township endorsement which, although not essential to the final project, can be a help in getting further approval. The Icarus (Rutledge Road) application will come forward to next week’s Council meeting for consideration. The second one, Soventex/Wintergreen, brought by David Hahn, had been turned down by last week’s Council meeting, on the grounds that they had not done the required preparatory presentation. They will therefore have to wait for a formal notice of motion to reopen the matter.

OMB Review

The province is seeking input into their current review of the OMB process. The Association of Municipalities has provided a position paper and a guide to the consultation. Described as “a dense document” by Councillor McDougall, this will be brought back for further discussion and recommendation at the next Committee of the Whole meeting, after Council members have some time to study it. The two core principles of the OMB reform seem to be: a greater role for municipalities, and the establishment of some form of adjudication process.

Committee Chair Term Appointments

Staff requested clarification of the policy that chairs of committees should serve a maximum of two years. The Corporate Services Committee has asked how broadly this policy should apply: what about sub committees? Committees like the Pumpkinfest or the Verona Community Association, which, as Councillor Mcdougall commented, “Aren’t really our business.” After a discussion, council opinion was fairly evenly split. The question will come back to Council next week for a vote.

All-Day Budget Meeting

Council will meet this Saturday beginning at 9:00 to work through the 2017 budget.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

When Frontenac County was defining its brand last year, one of the key insights was that the first group that needed to be the target of a branding campaign were the residents of Frontenac County.

Then, after the new brand was launched this summer, the first job of Alison Vandervelde, who was hired in August on a three-year contract as a field officer for the county’s Economic Development department, was to get out to the key linchpins of the region - local business owners - and convince them to adopt the brand.

Starting just after Labour Day, Vandervelde began contacting businesses, visiting them in the now familiar Frontenac County Smart Car, and adopting them as brand ambassadors. Her goal was to sign up 100 brand ambassadors by the end of 2016.

So far she has signed up 35, including four in one day last week.

“I don't know if we will get to 100 by the end of the year, even though there is no lack of businesses that are interested. It just that now that we are engaged in conversation with so many businesses about how they can use the brand and connect with other businesses, more of my time is taken up,” she said.

The goal of 100 sign ups was only meant as a way to kick-start the program, and the response from the businesses and from the promotional campaign on the County Facebook feed has already shown Vandervelde that there is an appetite among business owners to develop their own brand as a part of something larger.

“A number of businesses are really taking the INFrontenac idea to heart, and are using it in their packaging, on their storefronts, wherever they can,” she said.

Among some of the businesses there is also a feeling of solidarity developing.

“You see a business like Gray's Grocery selling Gilmour's meats; the Cardinal Cafe using Gray's Grocery bread and meat from Seed to Sausage; The Point Restaurant selling Cheesecakerybakery desserts. They are not doing this to promote the In Frontenac brand, but they are businesses that are already working together and want to work together more. They also recognize that the cross-promotion from INFrontenac can only help them,” she said.

One of the other immediate impacts of the brand ambassador program has been to the social media profile of Frontenac County.

Every new brand ambassador is posted on the Frontenac County Facebook page, and since September 1 that page has increased its profile radically in every category.

The number of views for Frontenac County Facebook posts for the three months preceding the brand ambassador campaign (June 1 to August 31) was 65,000. During the same period the number of engagements (likes, shares, comments, or clicks) was 2543.

In September and October, a two-month period (the brand campaign started on September 7), the number of views has jumped to 177,801 and engagements have jumped to 11,558.

“These are large increases, partly because we have joined up with the Facebook profiles of our brand ambassadors, some of whom are pretty adept at marketing through social media. It has also meant that the other messaging on the Frontenac County Facebook page has reached more people because more people like our page,” she said.

The next phase of the brand ambassador campaign started a couple of weeks ago with a bulk email to all the current ambassadors. The goal of the email was to introduce the businesses to each other.

“I hope that you will use this information to connect with each other, as everyone seems very interested in working together … and keep on using the hashtag #infrontenac to help build our online story of adventure and community,” was the message in the email.

One of the benefits of Vandervelde’s new job (she was the communications officer for the County formerly) has been the opportunity to get out and meet people all across the county and see what they are trying to accomplish.

“That's the real bonus of this job,” she said.

Last week in North Frontenac was a great example of that. Among the four businesses she visited was the Polished Spa. “Holly Labow aims to exceed the typical spa experience in her elegant, private spa room at Polished Spa on Brown’s Lane off Ardoch Road. It's such a beautiful spot and a unique building. She sees value in the brand ambassador program,” said Vandervelde.

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY

As the leader of a revolution, North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins has turned out to be a little gun shy.

At the regular meeting of Frontenac County Council in Sharbot Lake on October 19, Higgins put forward a notice of motion to suspend the hiring process for a new economic development officer for the county, even though the job had been advertised and a short list of candidates had even been selected.

The county’s current economic development officer, Anne Marie Young, will be retiring at the end of the year. She recently received the award for Developer of the Year by the Ontario East Economic Development Commission, and just this week she accepted an award in Saskatoon on behalf of the county from the Economic Developers Association of Canada for the #INFrontenac brand that was introduced this past July.

Higgins’ notice of motion led to a special meeting to be called this week, on November 2, to discuss the economic development officer position and the possibility of contracting out the functions of the office instead of hiring a new person.

Higgins was not alone in questioning the new position. Earlier in that October 19 meeting, both Deputy Warden Ron Vandewal and Frontenac Islands Councilor Natalie Nossal talked about contracting out economic development in the context of a debate about providing an emergency grant to help the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation (FCFDC).

Nossal and Vandewal voted against the grant, not because they do not support the FCFDC, but because they thought it might be better to contract out economic development to the FCFDC, thus providing a boost to the agency and saving the county the need to hire a new person to run the department.

Ron Higgins is a former member of the board of directors of the FCFDC, an unpaid position.

However, this week, Higgins said in an interview with Elliot Ferguson of the Whig Standard that his “concerns were addressed after talking with [Frontenac County CAO Kelly] Pender and seeing the external job posting for the position.”

He also indicated that he probably would support the position when it comes to a vote.

CAO Pender prepared a report for that special meeting, and included the job description for the economic development officer.

In his report, Pender noted that earlier in her tenure, Anne Marie Young spent as much as 50% of her time working on bringing the K&P Trail project to fruition, and also spent a lot of time supporting sustainability initiatives, including community engagement, following the release of the Directions for Our Future document. He also said that working on trail development has decreased to 25% of Young's time in the past 18 months as the project nears completion, and work on sustainability initiatives has decreased with the folding of the county sustainability committee and the transfer of 100% of federal gas tax funds to member municipalities.

Focus for the role has shifted to the development and implementation of a new economic charter, working with businesses and local and regional governments on economic development initiatives, and other related tasks.

Pender’s report also provided a comparison between the contracting out model and an in-house hire for the position.

The comparison came out strongly in favour of the in-house model in terms of direct oversight and transparency, although it provided no detail to support some of its assertions. For example, Pender’s report said that the contracting model would result in “no direct reporting to the council or the public” and that “grants to individual businesses can be made discretion of the board” of the contracting agency.

(For the results of the vote on contracting out of economic development services, which took place on November 2, look to Frontenacnews.ca or our Facebook or Twitter feeds)

Update - By a vote of 5 to 2, Council supported a motion to proceed with hiring an Economic Development Officer. Ron Vandewal cast both the nay votes (He has two votes on council by virtue of being the Mayor of South Frontenac, which contributes 70% of county taxes.)

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY
Wednesday, 02 November 2016 23:08

South Frontenac Council - Nov 1/16

Willowbank Subdivision

Inverary Council approved the amount of $3,364 for the required cash-in-lieu of parkland for Phase 1 of this subdivision which is located on Perth Road near Davison Road.

Right-of-Way Closure

Storrington In a close vote, Council agreed to reduce the costs for the sale of a portion of Township-owned road allowance to Ron Campbell, to match the selling price of a neighbouring piece. Deputy Mayor Sutherland objected, on the grounds that this seemed to amount to a double standard in regard to others who had been charged higher amounts. Sleeth referred to the property as “a worthless strip.” Vandewal reminded Council that the wording of the policy gives Council the option to reduce costs if deemed reasonable to do so.

Fence Viewers

Council agreed to appoint the two Township by-law officers as fence viewers, a role that is separate from their job in bylaw enforcement. Together with the currently available viewer, Tasha Lloyd, this will provide the three fence viewers needed by the planning department. The remuneration will be increased from $75. to $200. per day, and will include mileage.

Sydenham Walking Tour to Go Online Soon

Council made a motion to ask the County’s mapping services to develop a digitalized version of the self-guided historical walking tour of Sydenham, which was published several years ago. It could then be placed on the County and Township websites so it will be readily available to cellphone users.

Park Model Trailers

Councillor Revill introduced a motion to to request a report from the Planning Department confirming amendments required to the Zoning By-law to prohibit park model units in the Recreational Resort Commercial Zone. These park model units do not conform in size and construction to the intent of trailers being either transient or seasonal.

Financial Policy:

Budget Management Since May, the CAO, Treasurer, Public Works Manager and supervisors have been meeting monthly to review year-to-date financials. Council approved a formal policy for continuing this process, with the goal of “addressing the need for flexibility to respond to unforeseen demands or unexpected opportunities, while balancing the need to ensure that budgets are adhered to and the direction of Council is not altered.”

Glendower Hall, Front Entrance

Council agreed to release $5,000 from the capital budget for the design and engineering of a new accessible front entrance for Glendower Hall, in Bedford.

Community Caring: Quietly Effective

Commenting on Community Caring’s annual financial report, Council Liaison John McDougall called them “A quiet group that goes about the job with no fuss.” Run by volunteers, the group rents space in the Princess Anne Building from the Township for $2400 a year. They collect, sort and sell donated clothing and small household items for $5.00 a large plastic bag, thus providing many customers with good affordable clothing, and donating their profits back into the community. Last year, they gave almost $30,000 to a variety of social service related groups. ($9,000 went to SFCSC, $7,000 to the South Frontenac food bank, $4,000 to New Leaf Link, $4,000 to Almost Home, $2,000 to Interval House.)  

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 26 October 2016 23:49

Old friends meet at wardens' dinner

Frances Smith hosted the Frontenac County wardens' dinner last week at the St. James Catholic Church Hall in her home township of Central Frontenac. The meal was also locally catered by Tim Cota of Cota's Mobile Catering of Tichborne.

The evening provided an opportunity for politicians from Frontenac and surrounding municipalities, volunteer committee members, and leaders from groups and associations to get together over a meal. It was a chance to reminisce about the previous year, and talk about the future.

For Frances Smith it marked one of the final acts of her year as warden. It is the second time she has served in that office, the last time being 20 years earlier in 1996, when she was the reeve of Oso Township.

Isabel Turner served as warden while she was the reeve of the former Kingston Township, and later served as mayor of Kingston between 2000 and 2003, after Kingston Township was amalgamated into the City of Kingston. When she found out that Don Lee, the 97-year-old former warden from the former Hinchinbrooke Township was also at the dinner, she and her husband John bolted from their chairs and went to find him and have a chat.

When it came time to gather all the former wardens for a photo, they all gathered around Turner and Lee, who were still deep in conversation.

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY

$35,000 allocated in County budget for FCFDC

Frontenac County Council has defied the advice of their Chief Administrative Officer, Kelly Pender, by tentatively placing a $35,000 grant in their 2017 budget to help the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation (FCFDC) cover its operating costs.

Anne Prichard, executive director of the FCFDC, made a pitch to the council last month. She pointed out that her agency, which is a federally funded not-for-profit corporation, has run into difficulty covering administrative costs because of structural under-funding.

The FCFDC provides support for businesses in Frontenac County in the form of advice and workshops on various topics as well as providing loans and overseeing federal grant programs. A funding cut several years ago eliminated one position in the now three-person operation. In order to balance the books, Prichard has been using a portion of the interest earned on loans to cover operating costs, which is permitted under the agency’s operating guidelines from the FEDNOR, the federal agency that funds it.

However, as Prichard pointed out to Frontenac County in September, the loan portfolio of the FCFDC has increased as new businesses have come on stream in Frontenac County and existing businesses contemplate expansion.

“You are essentially a victim of your own success,” said North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins, after Prichard made her pitch in September.

“To an extent,” Prichard said, adding that new funding is being determined by FEDNOR, which could alleviate or eliminate the problem.

“We are the youngest and one of the smallest of the CFDCs in Ontario, and that has made it difficult under the current funding formula. We have made FEDNOR aware of this and we hope that is reflected in the new formula,” Prichard said.

When Prichard asked for support from Frontenac County, she presented two options: $35,000 for operational support, or $30,000 to support one of the FCFDC initiative, the Food and Beverage (FAB) region project it has undertaken with L&A and Hastings Counties.

In his report on the requests, CAO Kelly Pender said the $35,000 request to support day-to-day operations was not something he could recommend.

“Operating costs are very seldom, if ever, funded by a granting agency to any organisation. It is not known if this is a one-time cost or if it is a request for an on-going grant request. $35,000 represents a 0.41% levy [to Frontenac ratepayers],” he said in a report to a budget meeting that preceded the regular meeting of council last Wednesday, October 19.

Pender did support option 2, which would see Frontenac County joining with two other neighbouring counties in funding a specific project. He added the proviso that the FCFDC provide a report on expenditures and on the impact of the project, and asked for confirmation of the continued involvement of Lennox and Addington and Hastings counties.

However, when the matter came before Council, the argument was made that Frontenac County should provide direct support to the FCFDC, and option 1 was proposed and voted on. The result was a 5-3 vote in favour.

Of the opposition votes, two were cast by South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal. Vandewal has two votes because he is the mayor of the largest township in the county - 18,000 of the approximately 27,000 residents live in South Frontenac.

During a break in the meeting Vandewal said that he did not vote against the motion because he doesn’t support the FCFDC.

“I support them and I voted that way because I think the county should look at contracting out economic development to the FCFDC. Our economic development officer is about to retire and rather than giving them a band-aid we should consider contracting out the service to them,” he said.

Later meeting, North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins put forward a notice of motion to suspend the hiring process for a new Economic Development Officer until a discussion can take place about the potential for contracting out the service.

CAO Kelly Pender said a short list of candidates have been developed but interviews have not yet begun to fill the position.

In order to have a discussion before the position is filled, a special was called for November 2nd to fully air the issue.

The purpose of the meeting is to “evaluate the position of the Manager of Economic Development and to discuss options for the implementation of the county’s Economic Development Strategy,” said a notice that was posted on the Frontenac County website this week.

Anne Marie Young is the current economic development officer for Frontenac County. She is retiring at the end of 2016. Her tenure in the post has been marked by efforts to complete the K&P Trail; an increased profile for the county in the Eastern Ontario region; and the recent branding initiative. She was the 2016 recipient of the Economic Developer of the Year award at the annual Ontario East Economic Development conference in August.  

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY
Wednesday, 26 October 2016 23:32

Farm Assessments Raise Eyebrows and Taxes

Waterfront property owners in this region have seen their property values decrease ever so slightly since 2012, but there is another category of rural property that has seen an increase - farmland.

According to the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), the value of farmland in Ontario has increased by 16% since 2012. MPAC provides property assessment to municipalities in Ontario, which are then used to determine how much tax each property owner must pay.

This contrasts sharply with other categories in the region. In Frontenac County, residential properties are up an average of 1% or less and waterfront properties are down by less than 1%.

The new assessments will be implemented over the next four years. They were mailed out on the week that started on October 10, and arrived at most farm properties late last week.

MPP Randy Hillier has received about a half a dozen complaints from farmers in Frontenac and Lanark County since then about the assessments going up by large amounts, 50% or more in a couple of cases, according to his executive assistant, David Shostal.

“MPAC says these increases are the result of market trends, but I’m not aware of any trends that warrant spikes like we’re seeing,” Hillier said in a release that came out over the weekend. “You can appeal your assessment,” he added, “but there is a deadline for filing a Request for Reconsideration (RfR), so if you want to appeal, you need to get your RfR application in to MPAC as soon as you can.”

One of the farm owners who contacted Hillier was Steve Leonard from Hartington.

“The farm part of my property has gone from $171,600 in 2012 to $347,700 in 2016,” he said in a phone interview on Monday night, October 24.

Leonard owns a 94-acre farm, which happens to be located next to the grant subdivision proposal that has been the centre of controversy within the hamlet and is going to a hearing of the Ontario Municipal Board in May.

The land has been in the Leonard family since the 1840s. Leonard, who is a mason by trade, used to run a cow/calf operation on the property, but now uses his land for hay production (30 acres) and for a small hog farming operation. He recently began growing strawberries and raspberries but did not get a crop this year due to lack of rain.

Although his farmland is ranked as Class 1, he does not see how the increased assessment can be justified based on the productive value of his property.

“They said in my assessment notice that the assessment was based on sales of comparable properties, but when I looked it up I didn't find any examples of sales, so I can't see where they got the value they used,” he said.

Farm properties pay a tax rate that is 25% of the residential rate, so the $370,600 farm property will pay the same tax as an $85,150 valued home, which will be in addition to the tax Leonard pays for his house and 1 acre of land that is taxed at the residential rate. All in all he is looking at a major increase this year, since the assessed value of his house went up as well.

“Farming is hard enough without this kind of stuff,” he said.

Leonard said that he intends to appeal his assessment.

There is another option that is available, and that is to lobby the local government.

The Township of South Frontenac and/or Frontenac County, which both collect taxes on farm property, have the discretionary authority to charge less than 25% of the residential rate to farm properties within their jurisdiction.

Steve Leonard said his first idea is to challenge the value that MPAC has placed on his 94-acre farm.

Published in General Interest
Wednesday, 26 October 2016 23:29

South Frontenac Council

New Planning Fees Proposed

Planner Lindsay Mills presented the committee a proposal for a revised fee structure for planning applications. The intent is to bring these fees more into line with the actual cost of processing applications for development-related services such as Zoning and Official Plan amendments, site plan agreements, etc. Council showed general acceptance of the proposal: it will come before next week’s Council meeting for official approval.

Fence Viewers: where are they when we need them??

Every new Council appoints three official Township “fence viewers”. South Frontenac’s current fence viewers were appointed in 2015. Their role is to resolve line fencing disputes between neighbours regarding who pays for what, and what kind of fencing material should be used. They do not resolve property boundary issues; those are the responsibility of the property owners. Lindsay Mills reported that he has had to call on the fence viewers’ services only three times in the past 13 years. Until recently. With a deadline of thirty days to resolve an evidently tense fence-related standoff in the Township, Mills is becoming desperate. Only one of the SF viewers has agreed to step up. Mills needs three. He has contacted all appointed viewers in Central and North Frontenac, but none of them are available. Mills said he has heard “the full range of excuses.” “Perhaps,” he suggested, “seventy-five dollars a day is no longer enough.” He suggested Council consider increasing compensation, and perhaps appointing a couple of staff members (without remuneration) to the office. Mayor Vandewal said it wasn’t healthy for staff to get involved in this sort of dispute between neighbours, and suggested that it might be more appropriate to use by-law officers for the job. There was general agreement around the table, but no specific direction to Mills concerning the current problem.

Public Works 2017 BudgetPublic Works Manager Segsworth presented the proposed 2017 budget for his department, under the headings of: Facilities ($1,287,512); Transportation ($970,000); Equipment Replacement ($538,500); Environmental Services ($145,000) and Roads and Bridges ($10,000,000). Nearly half of this last figure is earmarked for the Sunbury Road, which is an emergency detour route for the 401. It’s hoped that provincial or federal funding may be available to help with this project, though so far the Township grant applications have been unsuccessful. There was considerable discussion about ways Council might bring this issue more strongly to the attention of the upper levels of government.

Budgeting for the Next Steps of Organizational Review

Mayor Vandewal recommended not budgeting for the Clerk/CAO position split in the coming year, to give two new staff members (soon to be announced) time to settle in.

These two positions should change the workload greatly.”

Councilor McDougall suggested setting aside a three or six-month budget line for the new Clerk position in 2017.

Councilor Schjerning said perhaps the Fire Prevention/Education Officer positioncould be moved up into next year’s budget. There was general agreement about going ahead to establish a Development Services Committee.

2017 budget discussions will be a primary feature of the November Council and Committee of the Whole meetings.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 26 October 2016 23:26

Central Frontenac Council - Oct 25/16

The old Train Whistle Blues haunt Central Frontenac Council

“In my 30 years on council, this is the first time anyone has brought the train whistle at Crow Lake to the township's attention,” said Mayor Frances Smith in the face of a request by Cecilia and Donald Lafleur of Anderson Road that the township explore the possibility of requesting CP Rail to stop its trains from whistling as they cross Crow Lake Road near Crow Lake Village.

Lafleur sent the township a copy of the petition he has been circulating among neighbours, along with a document that outlines the procedure that a municipality can follow for “eliminating whistling at public grade crossings”.

The document says that a municipal council can issue a public notice of its intention and then consult with the railroad operator to determine if a “cessation of whistling” can be accomplished within the regulations that govern safety at rail crossings. If that can be done, the township can pass a resolution banning the whistle, and the railroad would then have 30 days to provide for alternate safety measures, such as lights, bells and/or gates. Then the whistling would stop.

Deputy Mayor Bill MacDonald said the “first question here is, do we agree that the whistling should stop, and I don't agree that the whistling should stop.”

Other members of council were worried about the potential liability that could accrue to the township if there were an accident at the crossing after whistling had ceased.

“I wouldn't want to do anything that can create even the impression that safety was compromised,” said Councilor Jamie Riddell.

“The process is laid out in the document,” said Councilor Sherry Whan. “It really wouldn't be up to us.”

“The train has been whistling at that crossing for a long time,” said Councilor Brent Cameron.

Mayor Smith said that she did not know how often the train passes through the crossing and speculated that a staff member might be given the task of monitoring the crossing over a 36-hour period.

But it did not come to that, as Council, having exhausted the topic, voted to simply receive the correspondence from the Lafleurs without taking any action.

Icarus Power turned away

Perhaps it was an omen that the Oso hall, where Tuesday afternoon's Central Frontenac Council meeting took place, had lost power due to an isolated outage that hit only one block in Sharbot Lake.

Representatives from Icarus Power intended to ask for municipal support for five Micro-Fit solar projects in Hinchinbrooke District. However, since they were not listed as a delegation on the agenda for the meeting, Council had the option of hearing them or not. A vote to accept a delegation on the spot required a 2/3 majority vote.

Mayor Smith was about to call a vote on the matter, when Councilor Victor Heese interjected.

“I don't see how we can act on whatever they are going to request of us without a staff report,” he said. “I suggest they go to staff first and then we can hear the presentation once.”

A discussion ensued and eventually the vote to accept the delegation was defeated.

As they left the building, the representatives from Icarus said they were disappointed because the window for provincial approval for these small hydro generation projects opens on October 31, and the first projects that are submitted have an advantage over those that are submitted afterwards.

“Municipal support is very important,” one of them said, adding that although Icarus was late in approaching the township they did contact staff a week before the meeting. He said they had met with all the neighbours, who had signed petitions supporting the projects as well.

A number of Micro-Fit projects, proposed by Abundant Solar, were supported by motions of Council earlier this month.

“Cautiously optimistic” says McGovern about 'budget to actuals' for 2016

Treasurer Michael McGovern said that even though a lot of information is still coming in, he is optimistic that township spending in 2016 will fit within the confines of the township's budget for the year.

Treasure Trunk moving; asks township to place bin in parking lot.

The Treasure Trunk will be moving its not-for-profit used clothing, household items and furniture store out of Sharbot Lake to a new, larger location on Road 38 south of Sharbot Lake in late November. Janet Barr, the store manager, requested that the township allow a bin to be placed at the corner of its parking lot to hold donations. She said that the bin would be emptied on a daily basis.

The township approved the request and Mayor Smith said staff from the township and Community Living, the agency that runs the store, will work to make sure the location of the bin is appropriate.

Accessibility Advisory Committee

Janette Amini, the clerk and manager of Legislative Services for Frontenac County, made a presentation to Council about the activities of the Accessibility Advisory Committee of Frontenac County in 2016.

The committee, which includes Kurt Halliday as a citizen representative from Central Frontenac, along with Councilor Tom Dewey, has been involved in a county effort to obtain a grant for the development of an Age-Friendly Community Action Plan this year. They also provided input regarding changes to the county policy on customer service and other legislated requirements; and provided input and recommendations on public parks, chip trucks, accessible parking and boat ramps.

In Central Frontenac, the staff co-ordinator for accessibility, Donna Longmire, reported that accessibility played a role in the development of the library and fire hall in Parham, which was constructed level with the ground; in the installation of accessible playground equipment at the Parham fair grounds; and in the plans, as yet not acted upon, for an accessibility upgrade to the township office.

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 19 October 2016 21:28

Addington Highlands Council - Oct 17/16

L&A looking for new location for Denbigh ambulance base

Reeve Henry Hogg told members of Addington Highland's Council that Lennox and Addington County will be initiating a search for a location for a new ambulance base in Denbigh.

“That's the best news we've heard about ambulance service in Denbigh from them,” said Councilor Kirby Thompson.

“Are they serious about this?” asked Councilor Tony Fritsch.

“The [L&A County] Council is supportive of this,” said Hogg.

A report from Lennox and Addington Chief of Emergency Services, Mark Schjerning, was presented to a working meeting of L&A County Council on October 12. The report talked about setting up a process to find suitable land for new ambulances bases in Stone Mills and Loyalist townships by hiring the same consulting firm that was used to purchase the property where the Northbrook ambulance was built in 2013.

When a member of L&A Council asked at the October 12 meeting about what was happening with the Denbigh base, which is in a rental space and requires an upgrade in order for continued service at that location to be viable, it resulted in an ad-hoc debate over the future of the Denbigh service.

A motion to close the Denbigh base and cut the 12-hour a day service was proposed, and defeated. A subsequent motion to add Denbigh to the list of communities listed in the Schjerning report was approved by L&A Council in a unanimous vote.

“I think we should take a role in this,” said Councilor Tony Fritsch.

“It needs to be a location on a provincial highway, because there needs to be 24-hour road clearing, so along Highway 41 or 28 is what we are looking for,” said Hogg.

Council passed a motion encouraging Denbigh residents to come forward with suitable properties. Council members will also be working the phones to find a location and forward it to the consultants.

“This is our best chance to secure ambulance service for Denbigh for the future,” said Hogg, “so we need to jump on it.”

More support for Abundant Solar FIT projects

Council provided support for four more ground mount solar projects that Abundant Solar is planning to submit to the Independent Electricity Service Operator (IESO) for consideration in the FIT5 procurement process.

The projects would all be located on leased private land. Two of them are located in Ward 2 (former township of Abinger) and two in Ward 1 (former township of Kaladar)

Changes coming at waste sites

A number of proposals for changes to the operating procedures and fees at township waste sites came out of an October 6 meeting of the Roads, Bridges and Waste Committee.

Among them was a proposal to control access to waste sites, which council approved and will take effect on March 31, 2017.

Another proposal was to limit the dumping of construction materials to a single yard (1' x 4' x 8'). All other construction materials will have to be dumped at commercial sites outside of the township.

Council also decided that the offer of one free clear bag of waste for every bin of recycling is too generous and will be changing the offer to one free clear bag for every two bins of recycling. Paper products, including cardboard and newsprint, will no longer be included in the exchange for free clear bags.

Finally, overall tipping fees are changing as well. In addition to limiting construction waste to one yard for a $15 fee, $30 will be charged for spring mattresses, sofas and chairs, appliances, and carpets.

HVAC issues at Northbrook Medical Centre

When the township took ownership of the medical center in Northbrook in order to establish a family health team, they also took on two oil furnaces, a propane furnace, and the requirement for space heaters in back offices on the east side of the building and in the pharmacy.

“The building has had numerous additions over the years, leading to a pretty inefficient and complicated heating and cooling system,” said Councilor Tony Fritsch.

Robert Bosley of Bosley Heating and Cooling met with Fritsch at the medical center to look at what was there and he sent a letter outlining three options for the township to consider.

Option 2, which Bosley described as the “proper way to correct the issues here and be done properly”, would be to remove everything that is there and install a fully engineered brand-new heating and cooling system with new ducts. The price for that is “in excess of $200,000.”

Option 1 is to put in smaller systems for the east side of the building and the pharmacy at a cost of $60,000.

Option 3 is to put in “ductless split heat pump units to the areas that need heat in winter and cooling in summer.” He said six of these units would be required at a price of $5,000 each.

“With this kind of expense, this will have to go to our 2017 budget deliberations,” said Councilor Bill Cox.

Tony Fristch said that the two worst locations, the pharmacy and the east corner, need to be addressed more quickly.

“I don't know how they work there,” said Fritsch. “I think we need to deal with those right away. I propose we buy two of these units, for $10,000 and see how they work, and look at the rest of it for the budget.

Council agreed and passed a motion allocating $10,000 from reserves.

Meeting times to change

Reeve Hogg presented a Notice of Motion, to be dealt with on November 7, to change the meeting time for the second council meeting of the month, which is held in Denbigh, to 1 pm from the current time of 7 pm. This change would be in place from November until March, to cut down on long night drives during the winter months for staff who live away from the township.

Published in ADDINGTON HIGHLANDS
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