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Wednesday, 14 June 2017 12:54

Speeding on Silverwood Drive

Four delegates spoke to Council about the speed of traffic on Silverwood Drive, a rural road west of Inverary, which runs to Loughborough Lake in one direction and connects out to Perth Road in the other.

The first three speakers, Philippe Archambault, Jevon Austin and Chris Wilcock, all fathers of young children, told of the speed of traffic past their homes, particularly in the summer when the cottagers are back.  They spoke of their fears for their small children: “Ten children under ten years old living along one short strip of the road,” said Archambault, “learning to ride bicycles.”

Last September, a temporary speed hump had been installed, and the three men agreed that it had been very effective in calming traffic. However, when they asked for the bump to be reinstalled this spring, Mark Segsworth had said it had been moved to a different location: the Township has only so many speed humps, and moves them around. The residents said they would be willing to fundraise, to buy a summertime speed hump for their road , if that would help. (No one seems to know how much it would cost, and Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth had been unable to attend the meeting. However, one of the speakers noted that there had been traffic counters across the road recently.

Mayor Vandewal said that some of the other suggested solutions such as additional signage, a lowered speed limit (the current speed is 50 km/hr) or more policing (very expensive) generally have had minimum effectiveness at more than temporarily slowing traffic. Sutherland said he felt the Township should look into purchasing more of the temporary speed humps.

The fourth delegate, Kent Labbett, was opposed to a speed hump: “Why punish the innocent? Deal with the offenders: I don’t speed, but I was forced to go much below the posted limit to avoid damaging my car.” He had canvassed residents along the lakeshore, and collected 46 signatures opposing the speed hump. Both he and Councillor Sleeth spoke of children playing on the road, and Labbett complained about pets wandering in front of cars, and school busses holding traffic up. “It’s not as if we had an alternate route we could use.”

Council’s general consensus was that the issue needed further discussion, when Segsworth could be present.

Encroachment Agreement: Holiday Manor
Forbes Symon, Manager of Development Services, reviewed an application made by the proprietors of the Holiday Country Manor, Battersea, to construct an outdoor licensed patio in front of the building. Turns out there is an apparent encroachment on the road allowance; possibly the road allowance runs through the proposed patio, though no one knows for certain: none of the metal survey pegs can be located. But if it does not come beyond the current retaining wall, the seasonal patio would not interfere a planned sidewalk along the road, and there is no intent to widen the road in the foreseeable future. Staff and Development Services Committee have agreed that the best course of action would be to formally recognize the encroachment through by-law and agreement. The matter will come to Council for approval next week.

Process for Assumption of Non-Subdivision Roads
The Public Services Committee has begun a formal process for assumption of both Township owned and non-Township owned right-of-ways. The proposal listed a number of criteria that would have to be met before the Township would add a road to the approximate 800 kilometres of public roads already maintained by South Frontenac. (Estimated average cost of upkeep is $5,000 per kilometre.)
Although there was general agreement that this clarification would be a good thing, COW was divided on whether to forward it to the next Council meeting for discussion with Mark Segsworth and a decision, or to hold off until the end of summer, to allow time for consultation with the lake associations. (Sutherland was particularly in favour of waiting, Sleeth wanted to proceed.) Eventual decision was to proceed to decision at Council.

Outdoor Furnace By-law
Council discussed a proposed by-law to regulate outdoor solid fuel burning appliances (OSFBAs) which among other details, would recognize the new, much cleaner-burning versions coming onto the market, and prohibit OSFBAs in settlement areas. There was overall support for the by-law, but discussion became so convoluted that Mayor Vandewal (who said he couldn’t support the bylaw as it stood) finally asked in exasperation, “Can’t Council make a decision on its own? Do we need a public meeting on everything?” Ross countered with “Don’t we want to hear from the public any more? Isn’t it useful to have an accountable Council?”

Roberts deflected this flare-up of a long-standing irritation between mayor and councillor by recommending the draft be sent back to the development services committee, with a suggestion that they consult with a wood-burning expert. This was agreed.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 14 June 2017 12:36

What were Those Fire Trucks Doing??

Anyone travelling Rutledge Road between Sydenham and Harrowsmith in the early afternoon last Saturday may well have wondered where the fire was. For an hour or so, several fire trucks raced back and forth between the two villages, sirens howling.

The quick answer is that they were helping keep our fire insurance rates down. A relay of tankers filled up at Sydenham creek near the Rutledge Road bridge in Sydenham, raced off to dump the water on the outskirts of Harrowsmith, turned around and screamed flashing back to Sydenham to repeat the performance. Deputy Chief Veldman took time from directing traffic to confirm that the goal was to prove to insurance actuaries their ability to pump and deliver a given amount of water per minute over a set length of time, in what’s called the Superior Water Shuttle. South Frontenac Volunteer Fire Department has continued to maintain an excellent performance record, which is applied to insurance statistics in rural areas.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

South Frontenac Council voted to name a new road after former Councillor Bill Robinson at its regular meeting Tuesday night in Sydenham.

The road, which is part of the project to re-configure the intersection of Road 38, Colebrooke Road, Wilton Road and Ottawa Street in the hamlet of Harrowsmith, where Robinson was a long-time resident, is bounded by the K & P Trail and will connect Colebrooke and Wilton Roads west of Road 38.

There had been one letter suggesting the new road be named 150th Way but Councillor Brad Barbeau, who replaced Robinson suggested that a little park that will also be created as part of the intersection re-configuration, might be named 150th Park instead.

“That way we’d have Centennial Park at one end of Harrowsmith and 150th Park at the other,” Barbeau said.

“The park likely won’t be done on Canada’s birthday but OK,” said Mayor Ron Vandewal.

Coun. John McDougall, Robinson’s fellow Portland representative, said the road naming was appropriate.

“Not only did he get a lot of community support but he was a Korean War veteran,” McDougall said. “This is recognition for all he contributed.”

Robinson was South Frontenac’s longest serving municipal politician when he died in office late last year.

SF has lowest rate of taxes among his clients, auditor says

“I think it’s fair to say when looking at the numbers, that 2016 was a good year for South Frontenac,” auditor Howard Allan, of Allan and Partners LLP told Council. “We had a couple of meetings with (CAO/Clerk) Wayne Orr and (Treasurer) Louise Fragnito but they were on minor housekeeping matters.

“I think you’re in good hands.”

Allan noted that “a budgeted $700,000 surplus turned out to be around $1 million more than that” as revenues were more than budgeted for and expenses were less.

“We look after many municipalities in Ontario and this one has the lowest rate of taxation,” he said.

“We’ve had prudent financial management but we’ve been completely unsuccessful at securing grants,” said Coun. Ron Sleeth.

Wild parsnip spaying – township to switch to Clearview
Council approved Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth’s plan to spray for wild parsnip.

Segsworth said the areas to be sprayed are the same as last year but “if anybody comes out and tells us to ‘stop spraying that stuff around here’ we’ll stop.”

He said they’ll be trying a new herbicide this year.

“Based on our recent investigations, Clearview appears to be a more effective way to manage invasive species within the roadside,” Segsworth said. “As stated in a Public Health Ontario brief, the effects of Clearview are specific to plants resulting in low toxicity to non-target species.

“This does not appear to pose a significant risk to human, animal or pollinator health.”

Coun. Ross Sutherland said he’d like to see the parsnip plants cut down and over-planted with something the parsnip can’t grow back through.

Coun. Alan Revill said: “we have to do something because this is a nasty weed and there are some liability issues.

“Also, this stuff is growing in some areas where we don’t have the equipment with enough reach to mow it.”

Sutherland said he’d like to see a long-term plan for dealing with noxious weeds.

“Our long-term plan will change soon enough,” said Mayor Ron Vandewal. “I’m already getting emails on pragmites.”

Planning to plan
Council approved Coun. Ross Sutherland’s motion to have the manager of development services provide a report on the process for monitoring and final approval of conditions on subdivision developments.

“My only concern is that I don’t want to be micro managed with this,” said Mayor Ron Vandewal. “I don’t want this to come up every time a councilor gets a call on a project and I’m afraid that’s where we’re headed.”

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 31 May 2017 14:08

OMB Hearings in SF

Last week, I spent one and a half days attending an OMB hearing in Sydenham which came down, in the end, to the question of whether or not South Frontenac Township Council has the authority to pass a by-law that could extinguish certain rights of “grandfathered” waterfront properties located within the currently required 30 metre setback from the high water mark.

The event involved a judge, two lawyers, two land use planners, two expert witnesses (re environmental issues), a legal assistant and a modest number of onlookers. There were two enormous tabbed binders full of plans, by-laws, notes and studies for each of the participants, and a variety of large-scale maps and charts. The sessions began at 9:30 and ran until shortly after 6:00 each day.

I took 25 pages of notes. From all this, what can one say?

The experience was, in many ways, fascinating. The speakers were all thoroughly prepared, well spoken and courteous, though sometimes a sharply ironic edge can be conveyed by the two simple words ‘my friend’. I enjoyed watching this real-life process of exploring all the nuances of wording and interpretation that can be read into the laws that both govern and protect citizens in a democracy.

To repeat what I think was said, or to try to explain the proceedings would only be an attempt to guess at the final decision and the rationale behind it. The judge’s closing comment was that “This has turned out to be a more complicated issue than I had anticipated.”

Earlier this month, a much longer, three-way OMB hearing took place in the Township over the issue of a proposed subdivision in Hartington; the developer appealed to the OMB about the County’s slowness in coming to a decision about his proposal, and the Hartington citizens group appealed the subdivision proposal as a third party. Uncertainty about maintaining the hamlet’s quantity and quality of drinking water is one of the residents’ primary issues.

Decisions on both these appeals will take time: the findings are not expected until some time in the fall.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

On May 16, 2017 at approximately 4:50 pm, Frontenac Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) received a 911 call regarding a cyclist that was hit by a motor vehicle on Rutledge Road near Georgia Lane in the town of Sydenham, South Frontenac Township.

A black pickup truck collided with the 13 year-old male cyclist. The youth was transported to hospital by ambulance with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

The OPP Technical Collison Investigators (TCI) was called on scene to investigate.

Rutledge Road near the scene was closed to traffic for several hours.

The youth was wearing a helmet at the time.

The investigation is continuing.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

Very little happened in Tuesday night’s regular South Frontenac Council meeting in Sydenham, a meeting that clocked in officially at 14 minutes.

At 14 minutes, the meeting was (unofficially) the second fastest meeting in Township history, just behind the Phil Leonard era eight-minute gathering at the S & A Club in Harrowsmith that coincided with a Canada-Russia Olympic hockey game (in those days, bills were paid via resolution, thus requiring the meeting) and narrowly edging out the Gary Davison era 18-minute meeting where there was literally nothing to be discussed.

This Council did however manage to buy a new wood-chipper (that came in $4,600 over budget) and pass the tax levy.

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth said the $4,600 could be accommodated from reserves and recommended purchase of the $71,753 Bandit wood chipper to replace the old 1992 Eager Beaver.

Mayor Ron Vandewal expressed some regrets at the purchase however.

“I don’t know if anything will come in under budget again,” he said. “But I’m still holding out hope for the new fire hall.

“(And) I do like the name Eager Beaver better.”

As for the budget, Council approved a tax levy of $18,586,507 resulting from expected revenues of $9,369,373 versus expenses of $27,955,880.

“If it weren’t for the tax bylaw, we wouldn’t be here at all,” said CEO/Clerk Wayne Orr.

“Somebody ask a question, do you know how long it took me to shower for this?” said Vandewal.

By the way, Council cancelled the scheduled May 23 Committee of the Whole meeting and there is no meeting scheduled for the 30th, the fifth Tuesday of the month.

Council will participate however in the Joint Councils meeting in Verona May 31 at 7 p.m.

OMB hearing lingers in Sydenham
South Frontenac CEO/Clerk Wayne Orr said he expects the Ontario Municipal Board hearings on the proposed Hartington development to wrap up this Thursday (May18) although Chair Mary-Anne Sills has said she won’t have a decision then given the amount of testimony she’ll have to consider.

The hearings are scheduled for 10 days which means they could extend to Friday.

So far, Orr said, the hearings have heard testimony from hydro-g, storm water and and planning experts and will now hear testimony from the four principles in the case (developer Terry Grant, the Hartington Community Association, Frontenac County and South Frontenac Township).

On Thursday, the OMB will hear testimony from six residents.

RVCA General Manager to pay a visit
Council did take Coun. Pat Barr’s suggestion that Rideau Valley Conservation Authority GM Sommer Casgrain-Robertson be invited to an upcoming Council meeting to give an update on the Authorities activities in 2016.

“She should have come tonight,” said Mayor Ron Vandewal. “we have the time.”

Trails and Lake Festival
And finally this: Coun. Ross Sutherland is inviting everyone to Sydenham’s Point Park July 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for the Sydenham Lakes and Trails Festival.

“Everything is free, including the barbecue,” Sutherland said.

Events include a historic village tour, a canoe/kayak 5k trip around the lake (bring your own canoe/kayak or they’ll provide one), paddling instruction in a dragon boat with the Cataraqui Canoe Club, bicycling skills course, bike repair and helmet fitting.

This will be followed by a barbecue and prizes.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Wednesday, 10 May 2017 11:09

Living well with chronic disease.

In conjunction with the Kingston Community Health Centre, Registered Nurses Annie Campbell (Verona) and Meredith Prikker (Sydenham) offer 6 week courses in the spring and fall for Frontenac County residents with chronic diseases and chronic pain.

The spring course, Living Well with Chronic Disease, is aimed at people with lung or heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, those who have suffered a stroke or have another long term condition. Anyone can attend, no doctor referrals are needed.

“The course offers coping strategies, it deals with the emotional, physical and social aspects of living with a chronic condition, and is also useful for caregivers,” said Meredith Prikker.

The workshops, which will run on 6 consecutive Wednesdays from 1:30 to 4:00 starting on May 24 at the Verona medical clinic, are being offered by Annie Campbell and Meridith Prikker

The workshops were designed by Stanford University in order to bring people together to help find ways of coping with their challenges. Registration is on a first come, first served basis and up to 12 people can be accommodated. For further information, contact Annie Campbell at the Verona clinic by calling 613-374-2077.

Living Well With Chronic Pain will be offered in Verona again September, and a series may be offered in Sydenham once the new clinic is up and running.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

South Frontenac Council gave its support to a proposal to explore optimization of waste diversion in Frontenac County at its regular meeting Tuesday night in Sydenham.

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth told Council the proposal was put together by North Frontenac Public Works Manager Jim Phillips and that it came out of a joint meeting between township CAOs and public works managers.

“We felt collectively this was a most reasonable approach,” Segsworth said. “And it’s an opportune time as there is money set aside in the County budget for one of its strategic goals and there is funding available through the Continuous Improvement Fund (CIF).

“Jim Phillips did a great job putting this all together.”

The proposal is to have Cambium Inc., the current waste management consultant for North, Central and South Frontenac, put together a report as to how to improve efficiencies for all of the townships in the County from a financial, social and environmentally sustainable perspective as well as implications from the Waste Free Ontario Act.

“As an aside, this wasn’t approved by North Frontenac at its meeting Friday,” Segsworth said. “I’m a little frustrated with North Frontenac.”

“So, their public works manager is in favour of this but the Council isn’t?” said Mayor Ron Vandewal.

“They defeated the motion,” said CAO/Clerk Wayne Orr.

“Well, I heard there were some frivolous comments and our public works manager set them straight,” said Vandewal.

By comparison, South Frontenac Council was enthusiastic about the proposal.

“This has been four years in the making and I appreciate all the work that has gone into it,” said Coun. John McDougall. “It’s an excellent initiative.”

“I just think this is a good idea,” said Dep. Mayor Norm Roberts.

Segsworth said that at a recent meeting hosted by the City of Kingston and attended by Brockville, Ottawa and Frontenac County representatives, the idea of bringing all recyclables to Kingston received support.

Currently, North and Central Frontenac ships their recyclables to a facility in Belleville.

Campbell Development
Council passed a bylaw to remove the “H” holding symbol from the Campbell development in Inverary so that it may proceed, however staff still had concerns they wanted addressed before any construction begins such as lighting, how a nearby gas station will operate during construction and the location of two doors near a loading area.

So, staff recommended that while the bylaw be passed, the words “subject to the satisfaction of the Mayor and CAO” be added.

Zoning bylaw amendments
Council also passed zoning bylaw amendments that will allow a farm implements operation at the corner of Perth Road and Davidson Road and improvements at Hiawatha’s Hideaway resort on Dog Lake.

Joint meeting
South Frontenac has invited the three other township councils to a joint meeting May 31 at 7 p.m. in Verona’s Lions Hall to discuss an expected move to digital in-field communications as current analog systems become more and more inadequate.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC

This weekend is Frontenac Outfitters 33rd annual spring sale and although the idyllic location near Frontenac Park may be familiar to some this year's sale will be the first one for new owners Kiley and Zack Fiddis who recently took over this South Frontenac paddlesports business.

For Kiley, Zack, and their 2-year old daughter Lyla, it's not only a significant lifestyle change but a dream come true.

“This is something we've wanted for a long time,” Zack, a former heating and air-conditioning technician and long-time paddler, told Frontenac News. “The stars kind of aligned.”

“It seemed like it was now or never,” Zack said when asked about why they made the move. “Our daughter is young and we'd been looking for a lifestyle change when we found this backyard oasis.”

Kiley, a former social worker, was equally as thrilled about the change, excited to be able to spend more time raising their daughter amongst the lakes and woods of South Frontenac and running the business from home.

Kiley and Zack purchased the business from Larry and Christine Showler who had posted the sale online looking for the right buyers. For Larry Showler, who originally purchased the business in 1994, this meant someone that would continue to run Frontenac Outfitters with the same appreciation of the business' natural surroundings and a love for paddling.

The Fiddis family made it through the vetting process and have since moved from Bowmanville, Ontario to the Sydenham area and taken over the operation.

“I've been paddling for 20 years,” Zack said as he excitedly described all the new boats that are premiering this weekend at the sale.

Larry and Christine have stayed on temporarily to help the Fiddis family transition into ownership and to share their knowledge and enthusiasm of paddlesports as well as to introduce Zack and Kiley to their faithful clientele.

“We've had a great response from the community,” Zack said. “We've been meeting so many awesome people.”

When I visited Frontenac Outfitters on a rainy Easter weekend Zack was quick to take me on a hike of the property. The tour started at a building stacked to the rafters with shining new canoes and sea kayaks then wandered amongst tall trees and Canadian Shield through 7 campsites they maintain and rent out and finished right at the water's edge on the quiet and beautiful Pearkes Lake where you can try your boat before you buy it. The entire time Zack was walking me through some of the brands that Frontenac Outfitters carries and the latest technology that goes into boat building from the volcanic ash interweave in H20's new canoes to the unbelievably light kayaks they have for sale on site.

“Any day you come out here you can test paddle any boat we have,” Fiddis told me.

The annual sale begins on Friday and runs until Sunday with company reps on hand, competitive sale pricing, a wide selection of boats and gear, as well as the opportunity to get out on the water to test the canoes and kayaks. Add free coffee and donuts to that list of perks and a chance to say hello to the owners and you've got yourself a nice little day trip in South Frontenac.

For more details on the sale you can visit Frontenac Outfitters online at Frontenac-Outfitters.com.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
Thursday, 27 April 2017 11:28

Melodia Monday

Melodia Monday brings a lively celebration of music by and about Canadians to Sydenham in mid-May.

“Funny, toe-tapping and haunting, this program of Canadian songs is a great way to welcome spring, and celebrate our complicated country,” says the Grace Arts Committee; “ The group’s repertoire ranges from Newfoundland to Leonard Cohen, to The Arrogant Worms.”

Melodia Monday is an a cappella choir of local and area singers, well known for their performances in many communities in the Kingston area.

Concert-goers will also have an opportunity to enjoy the show of fibre art works by Kingston artist Phillida Hargreaves, which will be on display from May 1st at Grace Hall.

Grace Arts, which is bringing the group to Sydenham, is a committee of Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCSC), an agency that provides health and social services to seniors and vulnerable families in rural South Frontenac, and which supports the expression of the arts from our region and beyond. Revenue from the tickets will be divided between the choir (to buy music and pay royalties,) and SFCSC, to go toward upgrading the sound and light systems of Grace Hall.

Tickets are $15 each and are available online at: www.sfcsc.ca/gracearts, or at the door. Refreshments will be available.

Published in SOUTH FRONTENAC
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With the participation of the Government of Canada