Concerns over impact of Sharbot Lake construction surface at council

Jeff Green | Oct 09, 2019

In a short meeting, Council welcomed Tyson Myers, the newly hired Public Works Manager. Myers made a short report on ongoing activities of the department, most notably informing Council that the paving of Crow Lake Road is set to take place this week, bringing the largest ongoing road construction project in the township, towards completion.  He also reported that the township trucks are being fitted with plows this week, so winter is indeed coming to Central Frontenac.

Myers will be taking the lead in developing a tender and then overseeing one of the largest projects in Central Frontenac’s history, a $3 million upgrade to Elizabeth Street in Sharbot Lake, which includes, it was revealed at the meeting, some limited work on two adjacent streets, Robert and Garrett.

The township received a letter from Gordon Dean of Mike Dean’s Superstores, which is located on Elizabeth Street. Dean’s letter outlined his concerns about the potential impact of construction on his business fortunes during the 2020 summer tourist season. While Dean said that the upgrade is “great news” he also said that it “creates an absolutely enormous issue to ensure that the township understands, and the contractors awarded the work alsod understand that ALL of our year’s worth of operational bills for retail business on Elizabeth Street, are paid for by the sales from the months of June, July, and August.”

Dean went on to explain that he has been through similar projects in other towns where his stores are located, and knows that he stands to lose 20-40% of business volume during construction. He had two major requests. One was that construction not take place during the summer tourist season of June, July, and August. The second was that the business community have input into the way the project is designed and a direct line of contact to the contractor, once the project is underway, “to minimize the damage to our businesses on a day to day basis as needed.”

Tyson Myers told Council that he has already reached out to Gordon Dean and will ensure that the immediate needs of businesses on the street are addressed as the project unfolds. He said that he has experience in this kind of project in his previous post in Napanee.

On one point, however, he was not able to accommodate Dean - the project will take place, at least in part, during the tourist season.

“There is no way we could ensure that it gets completed before the winter if construction is not taking place during the summer,” he said in an interview after the meeting, “I told Gordon Dean this when we talked over the phone. He was very co-operative.”

Residential Construction bumping up against the $10 million mark in 2019

Thanks to a stellar September, permits for $9.8 million in construction value, including 24 new seasonal or residential units, have been sold in the township thus far in 2019. In September alone, permits for 5 residential and 2 seasonal units were taken, and the total value of the construction exceeds $3 million. Permit fees alone topped $44,000.

Chief Building Official, Andrew Dillon, said that the numbers were assisted by the permit for the new Dining Hall at RKY camp.

The year to date total of $9.8 million compares favourably with last year at this time, when it was $8.6 million, and 2017 when it was $6.8 million.

Letters of Support

Council agreed to send a letter of support to the President of the Canadian Radio, Television and Telecommunications Commission for efforts by COGECO to secure funding support to bring fibre-based Internet Services to underserved areas within the township. Councillor Shery Whan asked if this was wise since NFTC, a local company, has been rolling out fibre for enhanced broadband coverage in parts of the township, and Mayor Smith said that the letter supporting COGECO is not exclusive. A similar request could be entertained by NFTC as well.

Council also agreed to send a letter supporting the submission by the Frontenac County Planning Advisory Committee to the Government of Ontario, in response to proposed changes to the Provincial Policy Statement.

“Joe Gallivan at the county has done a lot of work on this and he provided us with a detailed report,” said Mayor Smith, who sits on that committee.