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

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

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

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

South Frontenac Council decided to re-advertise a public meeting regarding a request to sever a lot on Itinerary Lake in response to an Inverary Lake Association letter at its regular meeting Tuesday night in Sydenham. The proposed severance would create a new non-waterfront lot on Round Lake Road (15 acres) with the retained portion becoming a smaller lakefront lot (37.8 acres with 434 metres water frontage).

Planner Lindsay Mills said the resulting rezoning application could be supported from a planning perspective and both the health unit and conservation authority had no objections. However, in a letter dated Sept. 14, the lake association expressed concerns that proper procedure had not been followed. Mills admitted that the notice placed on the property had the wrong date for the public meeting on it but “when I was notified of this, it was corrected.” Members of the lake association in attendance said this error had not given them sufficient time to prepare for the public meeting. “I wonder if we could postpone this public meeting to give the lake association time to respond,” said Coun. Ross Sutherland. CAO Wayne Orr said that the public meeting would have to be adjourned and re-advertised.

Council passed a resolution to that effect. Mills agreed to respond in writing to the lake association’s concerns. Budget time again It’s not quite budget time but the jockeying for economic positions appears to have begun in earnest. Treasurer Louise Fragnito was at Council asking for direction and to remind Council of the long-range budget plans implemented in 2015. If Council were to strictly adhere to those plans, she said, then taxes would have to increase by 2.2 per cent in order to maintain capital reserves of $10,445,421. If the tax increase were 2.0 per cent (as Council has expressed interest in maintaining), then capital reserves would be at $7,796,901.

“I hate budget time,” said Mayor Ron Vandewal. “Anyways you know I’m going to argue it to death.” From the list of long-term projects Fragnito presented, Vandewal singled out a separate intersections fund (“just a way of increasing the roads budget”), a reserve for new fire halls (“putting aside $1.5 million for a new fire hall every three years is fantasy land”) and a million-dollar reserve for a new library in Verona. Coun. John McDougall said the original plan for libraries was to build a small one in Verona and a new small one in Sydenham. But a grant became available to build a big one in Sydenham and that’s what happened. Still, being a councilor representing Portland District, he wasn’t necessarily opposed to a new library for Verona.

Coun. Ross Sutherland thought there was too much being put away for roads. “There’s no reason roads should increase by five per cent when inflation is two per cent,” he said. “You’ve given us plenty to think about,” said CAO Wayne Orr. “So we’re going to work with a two per cent increase and $10 million in reserves. COW’s staying home next week Council officially cancelled next week’s (Sept. 26) Committee of the Whole meeting as there are no reports forthcoming from senior management in accordance with the unofficial policy adopted at last week’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

On September 1 2017, at approximately 10:45am, Frontenac Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) observed a blue GMC van parked on the shoulder of Bedford Road near Sargent's Lane in Sydenham. After officers spoke with the driver, it was determined that he had been consuming alcohol. As per the investigation, William ORSER, 69 years from the City of Kingston has been charged with Care or Control of a Motor Vehicle over 80 milligrams.
The accused was released on a promise to appear at the Ontario court of Justice in Kingston on October 5.

As a way to commemorate this historic year in Canadian history, the Township of South Frontenac is putting together a time capsule to be buried at Centennial Park in Harrowsmith later this year. The time capsule will be opened in 50 years on Canada’s bicentennial.

Residents of South Frontenac are invited to submit items to be included in the time capsule. Items should be significant to this year in South Frontenac and be around the size of an average adult’s fist. Residents are encouraged to get creative and reflect on highlights of the year.

“This is a great way to engage the entire community for this milestone in our history”, says South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal, contributor to the time capsule project. “In 50 years, the residents of South Frontenac will look back on this moment in time and see the spirit and sense of pride for our community”.

Items like USB sticks will be accepted, although be mindful that in 50 years, that technology maybe obsolete. Photographs, newspaper clippings, local sports memorabilia, diaries, favorite recipes, ticket stubs and similar items are encouraged. Anything organic or that can erode, rubber, metal paper clips, staples and anything with an internal battery that cannot be removed are discouraged. The items need to meet some requirements for preservation purposes and will be returned to the sender if they do not fit the requirements.

Some items that will be buried includes letters from local students taking a guess at what the world will look like in 2067, as well as photos from an aerial photo project happening within all the schools to celebrate Canada150. Mayor Vandewal will be including a letter to the future mayor of South Frontenac, and items from the Canada Day and Road Rally Celebrations will be included, too.

The time capsule was custom made by D.M. Welding in Inverary, a large rock will be placed over top to mark the spot with a plaque provided by the Campbell Monument Company. Items will be collected from now until November 1st and can be dropped off at Town Hall in Sydenham in the Recreation Department.

South Frontenac Council expects to have a bylaw concerning outdoor furnaces coming before it at a September meeting following a report from Manager of Development Services Forbes Symon and the testimony of two residents opposed to their neighbor’s furnace. Symon told the regular meeting of Council in Sydenham that the key elements of the bylaw governing Outdoor Solid Fuel Burning Appliances (OSFBA) included:

• Distinction between different types of OSFBA certification — those which are certified as being low particulate matter emitters and those which are certified based on conventional emissions

• Restrictions on where OSFBAs may be located on a lot — side and rear yard only, distances from neighbouring dwellings

• Prohibiting OSFBAs in settlement areas (hamlets, villages, registered plans of subdivision and condominiums)

• Prohibiting OSFBAs from being used for the incineration of waste

• Generally limiting operation of OSFBAs to Oct. 1 to May 1 • Grandfathering existing OSFBAs but requiring replacement units to comply with the bylaw

• Requiring building permits for new OSFBAs

• A statement which gives Council authority to take action against any OSFBA which is deemed by Council to be a public nuisance.

Resident Mary Royer said that she hadn’t been able to open her windows for six months before her neighbour’s furnace was shut down July 17. “It’s in the lawyer’s hands now,” she said. “I couldn’t use my backyard because of the fog,” said resident Jim Varrette. “We’re not going to put up with another winter of delays. “I can’t retire there so I might as well use my retirement money going to court.” Councilors were generally in favour of the bylaw but many felt there was still some tweaking needed. Mayor Ron Vandewal perhaps summed up Council’s concerns best. “I’m looking at condominiums now where we have seven-acre lots,” Vandewal said. “And Battersea to Sunbury is essentially a hamlet but most of it is rural. “I do have some concerns about language and measurement but generally I’m in favour of the bylaw.” Some battle lines may be being drawn. Manager of Development Services Forbes Symon presented two reports that could be opening salvos in a festering jurisdictional squabble between South Frontenac Township and Frontenac County when it comes to the approval of subdivisions and condominiums. The first report was on the subdivision and condominium approval process and the second on monitoring conditions during the approval process for plans of subdivisions and condominium approval. The discussion began as an examination of the flowcharts Symon presented for the process but it wasn’t long before several councilors reiterated dissatisfaction with the County having the final say instead of the Township. The term ‘delegated approval authority’ started to surface shortly after approval authority was transferred to the County from the Province last year. It was back at Tuesday night’s meeting. “We are the closest government level to the constituents and we should be responsible for the approval authority,” said Coun. Mark Schjerning. Coun. Ross Sutherland expressed similar thoughts. However, Mayor Ron Vandewal said he thought the County process has changed somewhat recently and urged a wait-andsee attitude.

“We’re not here looking for money, we’re looking for ways we can help municipalities,” Susan Moore, president of the Friends of the Salmon River told North Frontenac and Central Frontenac Councils recently. Moore and FSR founder/environmental scientist Gray Merriam have been on a mini-tour of watershed municipalities spreading their gospel and offering their assistance in whatever capacity deemed necessary.

“We got a $200,000 grant from Environment Canada for studies that looked at 11 variables,” Moore said. “We didn’t find any problems.”

She then turned the mike over to Merriam.

“From its headwaters in North Frontenac and area, the Salmon River dumps into the Bay of Quinte (at Shannonville),” Merriam said. “We did studies (and) there are places that need work (but) it turns out not many and those are all in the south in areas of intense agriculture.”

And there’s the rub.

“You can’t stir the public to fix something that doesn’t need fixing,” he said. “So we’re trying to encourage people to look after what’s there.

“If you allow it, this could become another Muskoka, a string of time-shares. Lay claim to the riches you have here.”

Merriam urged councils to engage in regional planning and to share information through public meetings, watershed tours, maps, reports, signage.

To that end, the FSR has already published the Salmon River Habitat Strategy and a book, The Salmon River — Jewel of Eastern Ontario.

“Talk to your taxpayers and offer us (FSR) as slaves to do some of the work,” he said. “This land is not ordinary, it’s special.

“I can eat breakfast and watch mink or otter out my window.

“Offer that to people from Western Europe and see what they’d pay for it.”

Merriam also extended his advice to lake stewardship.

“Lake capacity is a ’70s model that’s based on phosphorus,” he said. “That’s rapidly becoming outdated by improved septic systems that deal with phosphorus.

“(But) human activity on a lake can’t be dealt with by shoreline management.

“A lot of lakes have reached their capacity through the music of boom boxes, not phosphorus.”

For their part, the councils were quite receptive to the FSR’s message.

“We’ll never become another Muskoka,” vowed North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins.

“We should do this (meet with FSR representatives) every year,” said Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith.

Merriam even had an answer to Coun. Tom Dewey’s question about how to handle “beaver problems.”

“From the beavers’ point of view, they’re doing just fine,” Merriam said.

On the recommendation of its new Chief Building Official, Shawn Merriman, Central Frontenac Council decided at its regular meeting Tuesday night in Mountain Grove not to endorse South Frontenac’s proposal to expand the public notification period for subdivisions and condominiums.

Currently, municipalities are required to give 20 days notice before a public meeting is held in regards to a planned subdivision or condominium complex of more than three units. Under South Frontenac’s proposal, that notification process would expand to six weeks.

The proposal has gone to Frontenac County (who is the approval authority on such projects) and is scheduled to be discussed at an upcoming meeting of the County’s Planning Advisory Committee. Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith is on that committee.

“I fail to see any benefits for or even need for it in Central Frontenac,” said Merriman in his presentation to Council. “And I’ve heard complaints about it that it will add an unnecessary time delay, give more opportunity for mis-steps by staff and create additional costs that will be passed on to the developer.

“Any of these may very well be the final straw that prevents many developments.”

Merriman did say however that the Township should be open to discussion on the topic.

Coun Tom Dewey agreed.

“I agree with Shawn’s recommendation but I also believe that the 20 days time limit was designed with urban municipalities in mind,” Dewey said. “We have a lot of seasonal residents and I think a time of 30-45 days might give them more time to be contacted and make plans to attend a public meeting.”

Dewey and other councillors suggested making such a reduced time suggestion part of the resolution but Smith said no.

“We have to deal with what’s before us today,” the Mayor said. “If there’s room for negotiations, then we’ll deal with that then.”

Clerk Administrator Cathy MacMunn said that the County was only looking for feedback and this response would suffice.

“The Planning Advisory Committee will make the decision,” MacMunn said. “I was speaking with (County Planner) Joe Gallivan and he doesn’t agree with it either.”

Young name Deputy Chief
Council passed a bylaw naming former Fire Chief Bill Young as the new Deputy Fire Chief.

Two Cruisers for the price of one
Coun. Victor Heese asked Fire Chief Greg Robinson if it was standard procedure to have two OPP cruisers respond to a house fire and Robinson replied that it was, in case traffic needed to be stopped at each end of the road. Robinson said there was no extra charge regardless of how many officers responded.

That prompted Coun. Tom Dewey to recall another incident where a large moose was struck and killed in the middle of the road.

“There were five cruisers, two fire trucks and an ambulance responding to that one,” Dewey said.

“And they all had carving knives,” quipped Coun. Bill MacDonald.

Solar profits under the weather, but the sun will shine someday
Dewey also wondered why revenues from Township solar installations were “only” $203.

“Did you put a blanket over it or something?” Dewey asked.

Treasurer Michael McGovern responded that there was a “little problem that needed to be fixed but it hasn’t been the gold mine we thought it would be.”

However, McGovern said that after the 10-year loan was paid off, the Township should start to see revenues increase.

“It’s always that way with these kinds of things,” said MacDonald. “It’s always the back end where you make money.”

“And in the last 10 years, there will be lots more sunshine,” said Smith.

One of the initial insights that analysts looking at the 2016 census data that was released this week was that urban areas are seeing population growth and rural areas are seeing a decline. But the fastest growing areas are not the downtown cores or suburban areas in major cities, but the communities that are located further out in the countryside,

While Kingston is very small by urban standards (too small to be properly considered an urban area), and it saw paltry growth between 2011 and 2016 (0.4%), the pattern of greater growth in the surrounding region did hold true. Not only did South Frontenac do better in percentage terms, (2.9% as compared to the 0.4% for Kingston) in people terms it even out-flanked the City. There are 533 more South Frontenac residents than there were in 2011, and only 435 more residents in the City of Kingston.

Loyalist Township, which encroaches on the western edge of urban Kingston, saw more growth yet. 4.6% in percentage terms, 756 more people.

The permanent resident population in South Frontenac is 18,646, up from 18,113.

As a whole, Frontenac County saw an increase of only 1.1%, 287 people, because of population declines in Central Frontenac and Frontenac Islands and very modest growth in North Frontenac

In Central Frontenac the population has dropped by 183 to 4,373 in 2016 from 4,556 in 2011 (-4%).

North Frontenac is up by 41 , (+2.2%) from 1,857 in 2011 to 1,898 in 2016.

In Frontenac Islands the population has dropped by 104 to 1,760 from 1,864 in 2011 (-5.6%)

Kingston and Frontenac County are pared together as census division, and in that division the population is up by 0.5%, an increase of 722 souls.

Addington Highlands saw a decline in population as well. There were 2,373 permanent residents on census day in 2016, down from 2,516 in 2011 (-7.7%).

Over in Lanark County Tay Valley has seen a small increase, at 5,665 as compared to 5,571 in 2011 (+1.7%) and Lanark Highlands is up by more, to 5,338 from 5,128 (+4.1%). Lanark County as a whole saw a healthy increase of 4.6%, mostly from increases in population for areas within the Ottawa nexus. The town of Perth saw an increase of only 90 people (1.5%) and Smiths Falls saw a decline (-2.2%), but Carleton Place is up by 9%, well above the national average.

The information in the census report will be used by municipalities as they plan for the future. The results, except perhaps in North Frontenac, are not surprising. Even in North Frontenac the numbers are so small that they would be highly influenced by any error either in the 2011 or 2016 count and might not indicate a trend of any kind.

South Frontenac has been concerned in recent years with managing growth and the other Frontenac Townships and Addington Highlands have been trying to retain the existing population and encourage growth where possible. On the whole, the census numbers indicate those concerns will still be with us over the next 5-10 years.

As a whole, the region is not growing at anywhere near the national average of 5%.

Hastings County is up by same percentage as Frontenac County, 1.1%, and Lennox and Addington is up by 2.6%.

Most of the property owners receiving notices of assessment this week from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) will be getting good news, at least as far as the impact of their assessment on the property taxes they will be paying over the next four years is concerned.

In South, Central, and North Frontenac, and Tay Valley, the average property will see less than a 1% increase in assessment each year between 2017 and 2020. As well, unlike in previous four-year assessment cycles, waterfront ratepayers are seeing about the same increase as the rest of the homeowners.

In some jurisdictions, waterfront values have even dropped between December of 2011 when the previous assessment was done and the end of 2015 when the new assessment was done.

In Central Frontenac, for example, the overall change that will be applied in 2017 is an increase of less than 1%. Waterfront assessments are flat, whereas the non-waterfront values have risen by 4%, meaning assessments for the average non-waterfront properties will rise by 1% each year for the next four years.

The net effect will be a flattening out or even a slight reversal of the trend of the last decade or more, which saw waterfront ratepayers assuming an ever-increasing share of the tax burden. Waterfront property values in Central Frontenac are, on average, about twice those of non-waterfront properties.

The average value of a waterfront residence in Central Frontenac is now $239,500, and the other residences have an average value of $141,000.

In South Frontenac, where the overall average increase is also less than 1% per year for four years, the assessment is about the same for waterfront and non-waterfront residences. The average value of a waterfront residence in South Frontenac is now $298,000 and the average value of off-water residences is about 10% less, $262,000.

In North Frontenac, where the overall average increase in assessment is also under 1% per year for four years, waterfront assessments seem to be up a little bit whereas non-waterfront residences have been dropping in value.

Decreases in assessment are treated differently by MPAC than increases are treated. While increases are phased in to flatten out their impact in the first year or two, decreases are applied in their entirety to bring all the tax savings to the ratepayer in the first year.

The average waterfront residence in North Frontenac is valued at $261,000 and the non-waterfront average is $118,000.

In Tay Valley, particularly in the Maberly/Brooke Valley region where the Frontenac News is distributed, the increase of 1% per year is shared more or less equally by waterfront and non-waterfront values. The average waterfront home in Tay Valley is assessed at $388,500 and the average non-waterfront home is assessed at $216,000, less than half.

In Lanark Highlands, while the overall average increase is 1.3% per year for four years, in the Elphin/McDonalds Corners region, where the News is distributed, values have dropped by about 5%, which will have a moderated effect on taxation in that region. The average waterfront residence in Lanark Highlands is valued at $325,000 and the average non-waterfront residence is assessed at $187,000.

Finally, in Addington Highlands, assessments are going up on average by 2.2% per year for four years. The increase, which seems to apply equally to water and non-waterfront properties, is driven by increases in values for properties located in the vicinity of Lake Mazinaw and points north. The average waterfront property in Addington Highlands is assessed at $226,000 and non-waterfront properties are worth just over half as much, $121,000, on average.

When townships come to budget time next year, these values will be supplemented by increases in assessment that come from new construction, and the tax rate that is applied at the end of the municipal budget process.

The assessments also demonstrate that the sale prices of properties in the region have been flat, even for waterfront properties, which came as a surprise to at least one realtor.

“Prices have not gone up as quickly as in the past,” said the realtor, on the condition of anonymity, “but they have gone up.”

There is a concept called “bureaucratic creep”, which describes the tendency of organizations to develop more and more levels of bureaucracy over time.

The number of people doing the actual work of the organization, be they factory workers, front-line social workers or road crews, stays the same or goes down, but the number of people overseeing that work, managing the employees, dealing with work flows, accountability, regulations, liability, the vision of the organization and so on, creeps up and up.

On April 12, South Frontenac received an organizational review from StrategyCorp, a company that spends much of its time dealing with the federal and provincial levels of politics. StrategyCorp found that South Frontenac is a “lean organization” in comparison to similar-sized municipalities.

This, it said, is a good thing, except that it limits the capacity of the township's senior staff and council to think strategically.

The proposed solution to this problem is to create seven new positions. Of those, only one, a fire prevention officer, would work with the public. The other six positions would take the lean out of the South Frontenac bureaucracy pretty quickly. This is no creep; it's a bureaucratic gallop.

Based on staff and council interviews, StrategyCorp found that not only is Wayne Orr, the township's Chief Administrative Officer, over-worked, but that as a whole township staff and council are caught up in dealing with day-to-day issues that inevitably come up, and have no time to look at the big picture and plan for the future needs of the township.

The picture they paint is of an organizational structure that is set up to deal with the kinds of issues that are faced by small rural municipalities such as the other Frontenac townships; however South Frontenac is not that kind of township any more. With a population of 18,000, and the pressure of suburban sprawl from Kingston into its south end, particularly along Perth Road, council and staff are losing control and soon growth will be managing them instead of being managed by them.

So, StrategyCorp proposes that Council create an entire new tier of staff, three directors who would not concern themselves as much with day-to-day operations of the departments they oversee but would be able to think strategically. Where there is now a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and a number of managers, there would be a CAO, three directors, a clerk, and a number of managers. Since the current managerial staff in South Frontenac (Public Works, Treasury, Planning) now receive close to or over $100,000 per year in salary, their new bosses would need to make more than that.

So this is not a cheap new tier we are talking about.

My first reaction to all this is to provide a bit of free advice to South Frontenac Council (not that they are asking for it). Hire a new clerk to free up the CAO's time, hire a fire prevention officer, and sit on the rest of the report for a while.

The structure that is proposed is pretty much the same as is in place in Frontenac County, and since South Frontenac ratepayers cover most of the county administrative costs, the relationship between the township and the county needs to be addressed first. The most obvious example of this is in the matter of planning, where there is the very real possibility that two departments dedicated to the same functions would end up being in place.

StrategyCorp presented an organizational, not an operational, review. The review calls for the hiring of an economic development and a communications officer. These are not operations that are currently done in South Frontenac, and Council has not considered whether they want them done.

The organizational review took a generic approach. Most municipalities of South Frontenac's size have the kind of structure it proposes. However, even though suburban Kingston is pushing northward, South Frontenac remains a mostly rural municipality and needs to find its own path.

Council might spend some time thinking about where they want the township to go and what kinds of services they should offer residents. Committing to approximately $750,000 per year in salaries and benefits on a new set of managers and directors before making some basic decisions might not be a wise move.