Central Frontenac Council - July 8 meetng

Jeff Green | Jul 17, 2025

New Volunteer Awards

The inaugural Wanda Harrison awards were presented to four recipients in the bandshell at the Sharbot Lake Beach on Canada Day.  The late, great, Wanda Harrison, died last year. She lived on Garrison Lake, near Arden, and devoted her senior years  to supporting recreation in the community. She sat on the Kennebec Rec Committee, and worked with Rural Frontenac Community Services and many others  on youth and senior activities alike. She was also  the community reporter for the Frontenac News for a number of years

Councillor Phillip Smith made an announcement about the first-year winners of the Wanda Harrison Award at the meeting of Central Frontenac Council on July 8.  The winners are Gord Brown (District 1– Kennebec), Barry Gray (District 2 – Olden), Joan Hollywood (District 3 – Oso), and Christine Teal (District 4 – Hinchinbrooke) See photo on this page

Request For Proposal  Re - New Severances

Back in April, Council received a report on the availability of vacant land for new home construction in the township from Sonya Bolton, manager of community planning for Frontenac County, which is under contract to provide planning services for Central Frontenac as well the county itself. A number of members of council were concerned about the way the Official Plan was written in Central Frontenac, which limits the number of new lots that can be created out of an existing lot to two, in addition to the retained lot, no matter how large that original lot is. When the Official Plan was originally adopted over 20 years ago, there was a ten-year rule. A property owner could create two new lots, but if they remained on the rest of the property for ten years after that, they could create new lots. This ten-year rule has since been abandoned, leaving a two lot limit in the township. In North and South Frontenac, there is a three lot limit, and some members of council, led by Councillor Dan Meeks, want to see a three lot limit applied in Central Frontenac.

In her April report, Sonya Bolton said that  all Official Plans (OP) across the province need to conform to  “Provincial Policy and Planning Statement” (PPPS).  Based on her initial survey of vacant lots in the township, she concluded that the PPPS will not support a third severance in Central Frontenac because there is no shortage of viable lots in the township to handle projected growth over the next 20 years.

At the time, Meeks and the other councillors asked if a more detailed study looking at whether many of the lots that Bolton’s study had identified as vacant, were in fact suitable as building lots on existing township roads. Bolton advised that a detailed survey would not be a good expenditure of limited township resources. In a 5-4 vote, Council rejected her advice, and is now waiting for that second report.

The report has not arrived yet. and Council is reluctant to wait any longer for it. 

Councillor Meeks proposed a motion,  asking township staff to prepare a Request for Proposal to hire an outside planner to look into preparing an OP amendment which would institute  a third lot for Central Frontenac Property owners.

Steven McCullough had appeared as a delegate earlier in the meeting. He made the point that he would like to be able to sever a third lot on his property to allow his grandson to build a first house, and brought a petition with him with a hundred signatures, to support his position.

When he proposed the ‘third lot’  motion, Danny Meeks made reference to McCullough’s presentation.

“This ability to promote new construction among family members, on a road system that we already maintain, is being held back by the reluctance of the county planning department to look at this possibility,” said Meeks.

Councillor Susan Irwin moved for a deferral of the motion pending receipt of the detailed report from the county planning department, which is being prepared with the help of a  summer intern.

The motion to defer was defeated in a 5-4 vote, and the motion to set out an RFP, and for staff to report back to Council at the next meeting regarding the terms of the RFP, was passed in a 5-4 vote.

Hinchinbrooke School Demolition Deferred

Chief Building Official Andy Dillon brought forward a contract that he has negotiated with Bel-Con Design-Builders (Belleville) for $147,000 for the demolition of Hinchinbrooke Public School in Parham.

Councilor Philip Smith thanked Dillon for the pricing. “That was something we have  been looking for, so I thank you for that,” he said.

Smith then said that a community meeting was held a couple of weeks ago, and a lot of proposals were discussed. A meeting of the District 4 Recreation Committee is taking place later this month, and some of the people who came forward at the community meeting have been invited to see what kind of commitment there is for the use of the site, with or without a building on it.

Smith asked if the Bel-Con quote had a time limit on it, and Dillon said he would check into that. Smith then made a motion to defer the decision on finalising the Bel-Con contract.

“And whatever we do, we need to find the money, because there is nothing in the budget to fix up the building, and nothing in the budget to demolish it either,” said Mayor Frances Smith.

Council voted in favour of deferring the matter to the August meeting, and in the interim Dillon will be taking council members through the building so they have a better sense of its condition.

Septic Inspection Program On The Ropes

Council faced two competing recommendations regarding the mandatory septic reinspection program. CBO Dillon had prepared a report for this meeting, outlining the difficulties his department was having with enforcement of previous orders under the program. His report ultimately recommended that the program be frozen, and no new inspections ordered, until a plan to address the enforcement backlog is established.

The other motion before Council came from the Septic Reinspection Committee, which met in June, to have the Mississippi-Rideau Septic Office complete 100 inspections on Kennebec Lake this fall.

Councilor Susan Irwin recommended deferring the Dillon and Committee recommendations, until a special meeting of the committee could be convened later this month to attempt to address the concerns that led to Dillon’s recommendation.

Before voting on the motion to defer, Councillor Smith pointed out that a larger discussion about the scope of work taken on by the township is underway through an Organisational Review, and this should be looked at in that greater context.

The motion to defer was adopted.