Central Frontenac Council – Aug 9/16

Jeff Green | Aug 10, 2016

Impact felt from Richardson's return

Mike Richardson, looking rested and relaxed, shook hands with his old and new bosses before settling down to make his first report in his role as interim public works manager for Central Frontenac on Tuesday afternoon (August 8) at this month's only meeting of Central Frontenac Council.

“I'm happy to be here since I was ready for something to do with myself. But don't forget that I am retired and the township still needs to look for a permanent person for the job,” he said.

Parts of the report that he submitted were for items that he said Council might be more familiar with than he was, but there were a number of items where he had made changes and a number of others where he was seeking direction from Council.

One change he has made is in the way personnel are used. Terry Asselstine, who supervises township buildings, is now overseeing the waste sites as well.

“Terry has a lot of experience at the waste sites and he has been able to bring them back into compliance with regulations,” he said.

He also presented the tenders for the Arden Road construction project. The lowest bid was from Gemmill Sand and Gravel at $313,247 which is $43,000 over the budgeted amount of $260,000.

Part of the reason for the overage is that Richardson changed the specifications of the job, lowering a hill by 2 metres, straightening the road by 1.5 metres, and clearing rock to a width of 12 metres instead of 9 in order to make the road safer once the project is completed. As well, only 1.4 kilometres of road will be done, instead of 5 in order to stay within range of the budget.

The extra $43,000 can be found in other areas of the construction budget. Council accepted Richardson's changes and granted the contract to Gemmill's.

Burke Settlement Road bridges

Richardson recommended that instead of doing a rehabilitation project only on bridge #15 on Burke Settlement Road, work will be done on bridge #16 as well. He said that the two projects are similar and could be done at once. The extra cost of $140,000 can come from the public works reserve.

“If we do this job this year and the Elm Tree Road bridge next year, it will being our bridge rehabilitation plan to completion by 2018, at which time council will have the freedom to look at other types of infrastructure projects,” he said.

Council accepted his recommendation.

No to Crow Lake speed bump, not to speed hump

“I'm not sure if Council is asking public works to deal with the speed issue at Crow Lake or if a speed bump has been approved, but I would recommend against a speed bump,” Richardson said.

He said that as far as he is concerned the best way to deal with the issue is to take it on when the road is re-paved, which is due to be done. “With proper engineering we can deal with this in a more permanent way” he said.

The other alternative is a speed hump, rather than a bump, which is designed to be safely crossed at a speed of 40 km/hr, whereas a bump is designed to be safely crossed at 15 km/hr.

“I use that road myself everyday,” said Richardson, “and 15 km/hr is pretty slow.”

He said that he has consulted with the engineer for the City of Kingston, who uses speed humps for specific purposes. “She said that the humps can be used in specific circumstances. They usually put a temporary hump in to see what it does, and the temporary hump costs $5,000.”

He pointed out that there is no room at the side of the road at that location, and that a hump “might lead to cars landing on houses.”

Councilor Tom Dewey said, “We are already into August, and we would have to remove the hump in a couple of months anyway.”

Noxious weeds

Richardson recommended that the township approach Frontenac County about developing a strategy to deal with noxious weeds on the sides of township roads, particularly Giant Hogweed and Wild Parsnip.

“It's something that should be dealt with, maybe by hiring a weed specialist on a contract basis to look at it on a county level. There's no point dealing with this as a township,” said Richardson.

“We could bring this up at the meeting of the chief administrative officers” said Mayor Frances Smith.

“I think it should be brought directly to Council. I think there is nothing more effective than an angry mayor at a political meeting,” said Richardson.

“It's not like that any more,” said Smith, “but I will bring it to the council.”

Wheelchair ramp for Road 38.

When the bridge was taken out at Road 38 in Sharbot Lake, a wheelchair ramp on the east side of the road was removed and not replaced. Councilor Bill MacDonald said that he has been approached by a constituent who says they now have to ride much further in order to cross the road as a result. Council approved spending $2850 to put in a ramp.

Eagle Lake floating dock removed

Building Inspector Jeremy Neven reported that the floating dock on Eagle Lake has deteriorated to the point where it is no longer safe and has been removed.

“We have extended the fixed dock as far as we could,” said Neven, “and we will need to put the cost of a new floating dock in the 2017 budget. But we will hear from people about this soon.”

Crow Lake boat launch

As the result of historically low water levels on Crow Lake, island dweller Lyle Turner, who said his family has owned their cottage for 44 years, appeared before Council to talk about how difficult it has become to put a boat in or take a boat out of the water at the township dock on Crow Lake.

“The water is so low and the rocks have been pushed out from the dock by the lake so it actually gets more shallow as you go deeper in. It's very difficult and risky to put in or take out a boat right now,” he said.

He suggested that the township clean out some rocks from under the water.

Jeremy Neven said that in order to do something under the water the township would need to get clearance from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and maybe the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans “which could take some time, maybe a fair bit of time.”

Council instructed Neven to see if there was a way to expedite matters.

“Let's not forget we are dealing with the driest year in a long time,” said Frances Smith. “I have heard reports from people who say their well has gone dry for the first time in over 50 years.”