Feature Article - February 9, 2006

Feature Article

February 9, 2006

South Frontenac Council

by Wilma Kenny

Former Pits & Quarries Rezoned: Council agreed to amend the Official Plan & Zoning By-law to redesignate four parcels of land (two in Portland , one in each of Bedford and Loughborough) from ‘Mineral Aggregate’ to ‘Rural” on the basis that these properties were no longer being used for aggregate extraction. This would remove the prohibition of residential land uses on or within 300 metres of the properties in question.

Township Recreation Guide

The publisher of the South Frontenac Recreation Guide received $1,000 from the township ($250 from each district’s recreation committee) toward advertising in the 2006 version of the Guide. The Township’s recreational resources are featured in the guide, as well as other township sponsored programs and services. Although the guide was originally intended to provide information about recreational programs only, feedback from the previous two issues have shown that it has also served to publicize the services of local social agencies. Councillor Robinson questioned the value of the Guide, commenting that newcomers usually went to their neighbours and post offices for information about local resources.

Environmental Assessment, Mitchell Creek : Council agreed to hire Ecological Services Inc .to carry out an environmental assessment of Mitchell Creek , for the price of $5,130.

Garbage Bag Tags: The Township’s Sustainability Committee recommended that 100 bag tags be provided to each township household for the 12 months beginning Sept. 1, 2006. The new tags will be less costly; just under 80 cents per hundred, and compact enough to be mailed out with the tax bill. Councillor Roos pointed out that bag tags help prevent unauthorized use of garbage pick-up and landfill sites. Also, they encourage diversion of recycling materials by limiting a household’s allowable amount of garbage. Councillor Smith agreed that the tags were a cheap way to help extend the life of landfill sites.The motion to support the bag tags passed, with Mayor Lake and Councillor Barr opposed.

Sydenham Water Donations: Council endorsed a letter to be sent out with the interim tax levy, making it possible for township residents who wish to donate to the Sydenham water system to receive a tax receipt as long as their immediate family members will not benefit from the donation. Any monies received will be used to offset the financial contributions of the property owners in the village who qualify for assistance based on income (confidentially) verified by an independent social service agency.

Bedford Plans for Canada Day: Bedford Recreation Committee received council approval for their application to Festival Canada for a grant toward their July 1st fireworks display.

Feb 21 Meeting Cancelled: There will be no Council meeting Feb 21, as most of the members of council will be attending the Good Roads conference that week.

Bubbles...?! Councillor Vandewal noted the police report for the week of January 20-26 included a recipe for a bubble solution, and tips on how to blow bigger and better bubbles. (The police report usually includes tips about safe driving and crime prevention, etc.) Perhaps they were celebrating a low crime rate (8 calls over the past 3 weeks) by offering council some tips for enjoying February??

Feature Article - February 2, 2006

Feature Article

February 2, 2006

Steve Lapp: fighting global warming one light bulb at a time

by Jeff Green

The South Frontenac Natural Environment Action Committee chose Steve Lapp, a Sydenham-based alternative technology consultant who has taken on an exciting role at St. Lawrence College, as the first speaker in a series of nature seminars the group is planning.

Planning events in January is always risky, and organizers couldn’t also have expected that Sydenham would be shrouded in thick fog, but an overflow crowd of about 60 people came out to the township office to hear Steve Lapp’s presentation.

Although the seminar was titled Alternative Energy: Why should we care and what should we do?, Steve Lapp emphasized energy conservation as much as new technology as a practical way for people to limit the amount of emissions they are responsible for in their daily lives - and save money at the same time.

First, he went quickly over the mounting evidence that green house gas emissions are having an impact on the temperature of the planet, bringing the matter home by pointing out that Sydenham Lake has open water this winter for the first time in memory.

Steve Lapp takes a global perspective on the warming of the planet. “Global warming has the potential to cause more human suffering than any event in human history,” he said. “But there is good news, because dramatic reversals in carbon dioxide emissions, the primary greenhouse gas, are possible. Europeans use 1/3 of the fuel that we use. They do it by driving smaller cars, using less water, and by having governments that have built conservation into their economic policies.”

Electricity and fuel costs are much higher in Europe than they are in North America, and this makes a huge difference in the kinds of choices people make, according to Steve Lapp, who spent much of the evening talking about the financial realities people face in their day-to-day lives.

Ongoing and accelerating increases in the price of electricity and oil in North America have changed the cost of living for everyone, and this has made it in people’s short term financial interests to act as environmentally sensitive consumers.

One of the simple examples he cited are light bulbs. Although it costs more to purchase compact fluorescent bulbs than incandescent bulbs, cost savings brought about by the energy efficiency of compact fluorescents are large. “Compact fluorescents save money and reduce the demand for electricity,” said Lapp, “but I notice that the lights in this hall are all incandescent. Maybe Council will consider changing to compact fluorescents to save taxpayers money.”

He also talked about the Energuide program, which provides for an energy audit of residences for a nominal fee of $150, and rebates for renovations which result in a more energy efficient home.

In the interest of limiting domestic electricity use, Steve Lapp showed a measuring instrument that can be used to determine exactly how much energy any given electrical appliance uses, from chest freezers to home computers to light fixtures. The measuring instruments go by the trade name of “Kill-a-Watt” and are available at retailers in Kingston.

Steve Lapp is known for his expertise in alternative energy, and has worked as a consultant for solar and wind power projects for 20 years through his company, Lapp Renewables. His own home has become a demonstration site for the developing alternative energy technology. Throughout Monday night’s presentation, members of the audience peppered him with questions about a variety of topics, from hybrid cars (which he said are starting to be competitive in terms of long term cost with equivalent gasoline operated vehicles), to home wind power turbines.

His enthusiasm for all forms of energy conservation and renewable energy production is infectious, but Lapp keeps his eye clearly on the investment costs people face when they choose alternative energy in their lives, and on how long it will take to recover those costs through energy savings.

Last September, Steve Lapp took a job at St. Lawrence College as the coordinator of a new program in Energy Systems Engineering Technology. As part of the program, two old portables at St. Lawrence College have been turned into Energy House, a demonstration site for renewable technologies.

This new role has put his consulting business on hiatus, but will produce, over years, scores of trained technicians who will be able to put renewable energy applications into practice.

Judging from the interest in alternative and conservation technology that was expressed in Sydenham this week, these people will have very busy careers once they graduate from St. Lawrence.

Feature Article - March 23, 2006

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Feature Article - March 23, 2006

SouthFrontenacTownship

by WilmaKenny

LIBRARY THRIVING: The annual presentation to Council from Kingston Frontenac Public Library showed Sydenham branch is the largest and busiest branch in the county, with almost 40,000 items circulated last year. Sydenham is open 30 hours a week: Hartington and Storrington are open 15 hours each. The library staff is proposing a shift in the Hartington hours, so that that branch could be open when Sydenham is closed, including Monday and Wednesday after 5pm to accommodate commuters. (There are questionnaires about this suggested change at the branches, for residents to register their opinions.) The Friends of the Library have donated funds to buy new chairs for the Sydenham branch.

SYDENHAM WATER: Council directed the CAO to hire the firm of KPMG to assist with the calculation of rates for the new Water Rates by-law.

PORTLAND CAPITAL FIRE RESERVE: A shouting match flared up between Councillors Smith and Barr over the Central Fire Committee’s recommendation that Portland ’s share of the $12,000 cost of repairing the Portland tanker would be $7,000, to be taken from the Portland fire reserve fund. Smith argued that this was unfairly depleting Portland ’s reserve fund, while Barr and Vandewal countered that it was congruent with amalgamation of the fire services.

ATVS’ TRIAL YEAR ALMOST OVER: Council agreed to vote on renewing the ATV by-law at the April 4 meeting. There seem to have been very few problems with ATVs using the township roads this past year. Councillor Hahn noted that many of the riders are not wearing helmets, &/or are carrying passengers. Councillor Smith suggested the new by-law should still carry a one-year ‘sunset’ clause, which would force an annual review of the by-law.

NEW PUBLIC WORKS MANAGER: Gord Burns announced that Joe Kuipers had been hired as Public Works Manager.

ABANDONED STOLEN VEHICLES: The OPP reported that in the first two weeks of March, five stolen vehicles were abandoned in South Frontenac: three were burned, one trashed, and one rolled.

2006 ELECTIONS: Council agreed to set up an alternative voting system whereby township residents will cast their votes by telephone or internet this fall.

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Feature Article - March 23, 2006

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Feature Article - March 23, 2006

KFPLBookmark:Remembering a friend and supporter

by Janice Coles, rural branches librarian

The staff of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library were saddened to learn of the passing of Mary Lloyd-Jones of Sydenham. Mrs. Lloyd-Jones was a great supporter of the public library for many years. In 1963, she was one of a group of citizens who began campaigning for the establishment of a county library. In 1968, as deputy reeve of Loughborough township, Mrs. Lloyd-Jones was instrumental in getting the Frontenac county council to pass the County Library By-law, which created the Frontenac County Library (FCL) system. (In 1998, the FCL amalgamated with the Kingston Public Library to create the seventeen-branch Kingston Frontenac Public Library.)

On January 1, 1969, the Loughborough Memorial Library in Sydenham became an FCL branch. It was open 8 hours a week and had about 7000 volumes. In 1976, the library moved to what was originally John McConnell’s blacksmith shop on George Street in Sydenham. (It is now the Memory Lane Tea Room and Flower Shop.) The building was owned by Mary Lloyd-Jones and her husband Alun. Mrs. Lloyd-Jones convinced her husband to rent the lower part of the building to the library, plus she had it renovated and gave the library a ten-year lease. The library remained there until moving to its current location in 1985.

Mrs. Lloyd-Jones continued to be a supporter of the Sydenham branch, and saw it grow to have 21,000 items and be open 29 hours a week. In 2003, I had the pleasure of meeting Mary Lloyd-Jones and learning about the history of the Sydenham library. She was a special guest at our December 2003 party celebrating 100 years of library services in Sydenham. She continued to support and use the library until she died, and will be missed by all.

A reminder that we at KFPL have proposed changes in hours at all rural branches (except Sharbot Lake , Sydenham and Storrington). We are not cutting hours; rather we are suggesting moving about some hours in a way we believe will make it more convenient for all residents to visit their local branches. Full details are on our website www.kfpl.ca. You can also fill out a questionnaire available at your local branch, or call or e-mail me (549-8888, ext. 1500; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) by April 1. All feedback is welcome!

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Feature Article - March 9, 2006

Feature Article

March 9, 2006

Batman in Sydenham

by Wilma Kenny

Matt Saunders holds a cut-out of the largest bat in the world, beside an outline of the smallest.

Matt Saunders has been fascinated with bats most of his life: his slides from around the world and lively, informative stories entertained an audience of all ages in Sydenham earlier this week. "Now, you’re experts," he told them: "you know more about bats than most people." And perhaps we did. We learned that bats eat half their weight in insects every night, (that’s the equivalent of almost 300 quarter-pounders for a medium-sized human), but few of those insects are mosquitoes. We just wish they were, but when it comes down to nutrition, there’s very little in a mosquito, even for a bat. All Canadian bats are insect-eaters: vampire bats are found only in South America, and do not gather in large colonies. Fruit-eating bats spread the seeds of many tropical fruits, and are responsible for pollinating bananas, peaches, figs, mangoes, allspice, cloves, cashews, almonds and dates. Flocks of bats have been seen flying at 10,000 feet. Bats don’t get caught in hair, and bright lights don’t drive them out of attics: "wherever you have a bright light, you get dark shadows," Matt observed. By all means, he said, put up bat houses: it at least shows you’re interested in bats. However, bats may or may not choose to use the houses, and even if they do, you may not see them.

The best time to see bats is in the early evening, when they come out to feed: you may be able to attract one for a few moments by flicking bits of sticks in the air, jingling keys, or rubbing a nylon jacket.

When at the end of his talk, Matt turned a little brown bat loose to fly around the room, nobody covered their hair or ran out, although some of us might have done so, at the beginning of the evening. Thanks to the South Frontenac Environmental Association for sponsoring this talk.

Members of the Sydenham Legion Branch #496 work hard each year to sell poppies in the community, and last week the results of those efforts were marked with the donation of $2,000 each to Fairmount Home and to the Kingston Military Families Support Program.

“The money that is going to Fairmount Home will be spent on whatever is needed to improve the Veterans' lounge at the home. There are about 20 veterans living at Fairmount and it is nice that they have a lounge. If they need new couches, a TV, whatever it is, they can use this money. The military families support program runs many programs and they can always use money to help with their work,” said Jeannie Davis, the Poppy Campaign Chair at the Sydenham Legion.

The Legion decided to make the presentations so that the community can be aware of the local use that the poppy funds are put to. Jeannie Davis said that the campaign volunteers are the ones who are responsible for its success each year

Feature Article - May 25, 2006

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Feature Article - May 25, 2006

KFPLBookmark

by Janice Coles, RuralBranches Librarian

New Rural Branch Hours: Effective Monday, June 5, all rural branches, except Sharbot Lake , Sydenham and Storrington, will have new opening hours. We are not cutting hours; rather we are moving about some hours to make visiting your local libraries more convenient.

In North Frontenac, the Cloyne branch will be open longer on Wednesday nights, the Plevna branch will open Friday mornings when the Township office and the dump are open, and the Ompah branch will open Tuesday mornings.

In Central Frontenac, the Mountain Grove branch will open on Wednesday nights and the Arden branch on Thursday nights, giving area residents two evenings of library service. In addition, the Arden branch will be open longer on Saturdays. The Parham branch will now be open Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. to noon.

In South Frontenac, the Hartington branch will open on Mondays and Wednesdays. These hours, along with those at the Sydenham branch, offer library service in the area six days a week, including four evenings.

Many thanks to all who took the time to respond to our questionnaires about hours. Your feedback was invaluable.

Please check our ads in the May 18 and June 1 issues of The Frontenac News for full details, or head to our website www.kfpl.ca.

Have a Seat at our Sydenham Branch: We are thrilled to announce that we have three new beautiful and comfortable armchairs at the Sydenham branch, which replace the old ones which had seen better days! We are indebted to the KFPL Friends of the Library for providing the funds for these wonderful chairs.

The Friends of the Library (FOL) is an active volunteer charitable organization which fosters understanding and appreciation of all seventeen KFPL branches by raising funds to enhance services and provide materials and equipment not provided by public funding. The group provides a way for people of all ages to contribute to the Kingston Frontenac Public Library. A twelve-month membership or renewal may be taken out at any time of the year by visiting any KFPL branch. Friends receive a 15% discount at the Novel Idea Bookstore in Kingston .

The Friends’ AGM is at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 6 in the Delahaye Room, KFPL Central Branch, 130 Johnson Street in Kingston . FOL memberships can be purchased at the AGM. More Friends information can be found at www.kfpl.ca/about/friends.htm

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Feature Article - May 18, 2006

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Feature Article - May 18, 2006

Black Comedy at Sydenham HighSchool

by Wilma Kenny

Black comedy walks a difficult line, finding humour in grim and sensitive places. Sydenham High’s production of Dearly Departed tackled death, disintegrating relationships, religion, aging, infirmity and personal failure, and still managed to keep the audience laughing.

What high school drama group can resist a play in which the principal’s cameo appearance has him dropping dead in the first scene? Bruce Marchen, though perhaps not yet ready for Hollywood , deserves full credit for his brief star turn as the father whose funeral finally brings the eccentric but somehow familiar Turpin family more or less together.

The large cast played off each other with energy, obvious enjoyment and surprisingly good southern accents. Some of the highlights: Adrian Murray’s airband rendition of "Highway to Hell", Emily Bashall’s rants at the invisible back seat children, and Steven Michels’ turns as a longsuffering preacher with an excellent back-up choir singing gospel. Jessica Roberts expertly handled the difficult role of ‘Delightful’, who was on stage for long stretches of time with no dialogue, by hilariously eating her way through every bit of food she could get her hands on, while her huge eyes followed the rest of the family racing through their lives. Tom Glassco stood out in a convincing and touching performance as a son grieving his father’s death, while trying to cope with the chaos around him.

The program booklet, with its sly inclusion of fictional ads, was a final bonus in an entertaining evening.

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Feature Article - June 29, 2006

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Feature Article - June 29, 2006

Letters to the Editor

Sydenham Water: Who knows best?

For over 3 years the people of Sydenham have been trying to have a say in how our water problem is managed, to no avail. South Frontenac Council has forced a $7.7million communal water system on us in spite of 92% of the affected residents signing a petition against this system.

The people of Sydenham have been to council over 20 times warning council of all the problems associated with this water system, but council just ignored us. And now “the experts” are confirming our concerns….

1) Recently the Professional Engineers of Ontario reviewed the consulting engineer’s environmental assessment report and have described the report as “below average” and “of poor quality.” This report was the basis for the Sydenham water system.

2) The Watertight report, produced by the province’s own expert panel, suggests that small communities use in-house water treatment. It recommends that communal water systems have a minimum of 10,000 users. Sydenham has 273!

Clearly this water system was a mistake. However, we have no choice but to live with it now that it is nearly up and running. So the people approached council with a plan to recover some of the costs using future taxes generated from the water system. As expected, council said NO to the people again. Although council is highly opposed to spreading the costs of this water system throughout the township (a mere $13/household/year) they are quite willing to spread the tax revenue generated from it to the rest of the township!!

The attitude of our council towards the people was summed up very nicely by our own Councilor Vanderwall when he publicly responded to the question about implementing a cost recovery plan to help the people of Sydenham – “It’s not that we couldn’t do it, it’s that we wouldn’t do it.” Council’s excuse is they don’t want to set a precedent!

This is the attitude we have been up against for over three years. We are dealing with a council that simply DOES NOT WANT TO HELP THE PEOPLE. Why won’t this council start to display some integrity, acknowledge this plant was a mistake, take responsibility for that decision, and do something to help the people?

Maybe the mayor and council have forgotten it is an election year. The people of South Frontenac are disgusted with council’s old school mentality of “we know better than you”. This township is overdue for a council that wants to LISTEN to the people, and wants to work WITH the people. We need a council willing to get into the 21st century.

- Cathie Waugh

Walleye Regulatory OptionsSurveyAn open letter to the Ministry of NaturalResources

I have completed your options survey and wish to add my comments in the form of my own proposal. I've fished for walleyes in Southern Ontario for some 60 years. I'm an American and am very fortunate to have a cottage on Big Gull Lake since 1969. We love it here.

In 1985 I started the Big Gull Lake East End Cottage Association. One major activity was to rebuild walleye spawning beds. Working closely with the MNR, we placed over 600 tons of rubble on sites selected by the MNR.

Over the years we've made many friends at the lake and surrounding communities, and appreciate what a huge factor tourism is to this rural area.

MY PROPOSAL FOR REGULATING WALLEYE FISHING IN SOUTHERN

ONTARIO

I. Catch and Possession Limit: Reduce the limit to four. That's a no-brainer. Everyone can live with that. Most fishermen I know use the Conservationist license with the limit of two walleyes.

II. Open Season: This is a decision to be made by the MNR based upon accurate recent surveys conducted by the MNR. Does the March harvest of walleyes impact the total enough to warrant changes? Only new data will provide you the answers.

III. Size Limits: Minimum 17 inch length. Keep it simple. Keep everyone happy - the local fishermen, the tourist fishermen, the fishing resort owners, and anyone else concerned about the future of walleye fishing. I believe that the so called "slot" restriction is the worst course of action. Here's why.

1) It hasn't been proven to work in our area. Several years ago the "slot" rule was imposed on Crotch Lake . A few years later, the MNR set nets to monitor the fish population in Crotch Lake and in nearby Big Gull Lake where there is no slot restriction. Results showed a greater walleye yield in Big Gull Lake nets than in Crotch.

2) Keeping walleyes of less than 14 inches or even less than 16 inches are terrible options. A small walleye is easy to catch and easy to release. They rarely swallow the hook and aren't harmed when released.

3) Walleye lay thousands of eggs and I believe it's safe to say that they start spawning at about 16 inches.

4) The summer fishing pressure has been steadily declining as there are fewer of the old time fishermen around.

A walleye fisherman looks upon a walleye fish fry as an occasional special treat. Don't make them throw back a "dinner" size fish or they'll never come back.

Improving Walleye Spawning Conditions

In my opinion the best thing is for the MNR to enlist the aid of cottage associations, and tourist related businesses, in a concentrated effort to rebuild walleye spawning beds in southern Ontario lakes. This includes monitoring these beds to determine the effectiveness of the efforts.

My Thoughts on your survey.

I question the data that will result from your survey. I had to seek out information about getting a copy of the survey from your Bancroft office. I know of no one at this end of our large lake who received a copy. Wouldn't it have been better to provide each person with a survey who bought a license in southern Ontario , over say, the past three years, and to each tourist related business?

And the May 1st completion date is totally unreasonable. No one is at the lake at that time of year. I hope you consider what I have written. It's not just the fishermen who have a stake in this program. At our end of the lake one owner of four rental cottages recently razed these cottages while the other owner of cottages has reduced the number of rentals from seventeen to four. It's the whole rural economy that seeks a better outlook for tourism. And you have a great resource with the walleye to help make it happen.

- Harold Krieger

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Feature Article - June 22, 2006

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Feature Article - June 22, 2006

SouthFrontenaccelebratesVolunteers of the Year

The serious business of running a township was put aside for an hour this week as friends and family, young and old, came together to honour four people who have spent years volunteering within South Frontenac.

The four recipients of the Volunteer of the Year award for 2006 are: from Bedford, George Jones, from Portland , Brad Heyman, from Loughborough, Marni Pederson, and from Storrington, Sharon Freeman.

(The following are excerpts from the citations that were read by members of South Frontenac Council as they presented the honourees with commemorative plaques on Tuesday night)

George Jones George Jones was part of the 1980 Canadian Olympic team, but his own Olympic dream was thwarted when Canada boycotted the 1980 Olympics. Undaunted George has been working to develop his sport, canoe/kayak, in Kingston and South Frontenac for over 20 years.

In 1997 he founded the Sydenham Lake Canoe Club, and for the past ten years has been coaching local kids for free. The success of the Sydenham Lake Canoe Club has been a tribute to George’s hard work and infectious enthusiasm for the sport. He eats, drinks, and breathes the sport of canoe/kayak. And his Olympic dream may not be over after all. One of these days, a canoeist or kayaker from the Sydenham Club, might just make it to the Olympics, thanks, in great part, to George Jones.

Brad Heymans Brad Heymans is busy with hockey throughout the fall and winter, and in the spring and summer he is busy with soccer. He has been coaching soccer for the Central Frontenac Soccer Association (located in South Frontenac) since the mid 1980’s, and had been coaching hockey at the North Frontenac Arena since the late 1980’s. For the past eight years he has been on the executive of the North Frontenac Minor Hockey Association, and has been the president of the association for three years. Through his efforts and leadership, the executive has increased to 18 members, and player and coach participation has also increased. He brings a passion for fair play to all of his sporting endeavors.

Marni Pederson - Marni Pederson has been a co-owner of the Desert Lake Family Resort for many years. She has also been Girl Guide Leader for 30 years, during which time she has worn many hats in the guiding movement. When Marni had a son, she kept up with girl guides but worked in the scouting movement as well.

She also has organised a cancer fundraiser each summer at Desert Lake Family resort, raising thousands of dollars in honour of her mother, who was a victim of cancer.

In addition to all her other volunteering activities, Marni is an active board member with St. Paul’s United Church in Harrowsmith, and attends each and every Sunday to carry out her duties as Sunday School superintendent.

The old clich“if you need a volunteer, ask the busiest person”, aptly applies to Marni Pederson.

Sharon Freeman Sharon excels in the Shoulder to the Wheel department. She puts her shoulder to the wheel and the wheel moves and the job gets done.

That’s how a backyard party at the home she shares with her husband Will turned into the Battersea Pumpkin Festival, which is now 11 years old.

That’s how the Pumpkin Pie Live Music Festival, now in its seventh season bringing people together for six shows a year, came about.

That’s how the Feast of fields, the wildly successful local organic food festival came about.

In each case Sharon Freeman worked alongside others to make a good idea into a great reality.

Sharon has also been an active volunteer at Storrington Public School for eight years.

Sharon Freeman instinctively acts in such a way that anybody in the vicinity can catch a spark from her creative fire. That is the essence of community service.

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