Central Frontenac Buys Used Pumper At Special Meeting

Jeff Green | Jul 31, 2025

Like many, council members look forward all year to the summer. For them, it is not only the beach weather and the BBQ's that they wait for, it is also the once a month meetings. Somehow missing the second meeting each month feels like a holiday.
Central Frontenac Council members had little time to enjoy their July break, however, as they were called back to an emergency meeting on July 24th, which was held over Zoom.

There were two emergencies that led to the meeting taking place, and the good news is that they were positive emergencies. That was certainly the case for the first item on the agenda.
At the regular council meeting back on July 8, Fire Chief Chris McDonough reported about his ongoing efforts to find a replacement Pumper truck for the 2003 model that was still in use even though it is past its replacement date, because the cost of a new pumper isabout $1.5 million, with a delivery delay, more than the township has available to spend.

Given the current climate with the US in terms of trade negotiations, even though Chief McDonouh had heard about a pumper in the United States, he had looked at a pumper in Quebec instead, but that vehicle turnwed out to be unsuitable in both price and capacity. On June 24th, McDonough asked council if he could travel to the United States to look at a pumper that was available from CarCo. McDonough made that trip a couple of weeks ago, and came to the conclusion that the best deal for the township would be to purchase the 2020 Spartan rescue pumper that was on offer.

With trade in of the 2003 pumper, and the cost of transport and customs from the US, the pumper will cost the township $515,000 (Canadian dollars)
“It needs some retrofits for Canadian use,” said McDonough, “but we could take delivery in a month and a half.”
“Any time we can save a few hundred thousabns, like nine hundred thousan, we are in. Good work,” said Mayor Frances Smith.

Septic Inspection

At the previous council meeting on July 8, , a report from the septic re-inspecion committee recommended contracting the Mississippi Rideau Septic Inspection office to conduct 100 inspections on Kennebec Lake in 2025.
At the same meeting, Andy Dillon, the township's Chief Building Official, recommended that council cancel the septic re-inspection program entirely, until such time as the township has the capacity to enforce its septic re-inspection bylaw, and enough administrative support to track the program.

“The Building Department is currently understaffed and lacks the capacity to efficiently manage the septic re-inspection program. There are not enough personnel to update inspection statuses, prioritize identified issues, schedule necessary follow-ups, or provide adequate public education. The department is already struggling to meet its mandated timelines for permit issuance and inspections. Effective delivery of the re-inspection program would require the hiring of at least two full-time employees,” said Dillon's report.
Instead of choosing between the two opposing options, the matter was deferred pending a special meeting of the committee, which took place on July 15th.
Reporting back to council after that July 15 meeting, committee Chair Susan Irwin said that a commitment has been made by township's bylaw officer to take on responsibility of enforcement. Another commitment of staff time to administer the program this year acme from clerical assistant Sarah Watkins, who is familiar with the CityWide software platfor. Irwin said Watkins will be able to address some of the reporting backlog in the program and proceed with administering the outcome of 100 inspections this year.
“We are at a point where we can proceed in 2025 with the 100 properties,” said Irwin, “and then we will be meeting as a committee to do an overall review of the program, establishing priorities for the future.”
Councillor Lynn Klages asked if doing this work will not cut into Sarah Watkins capacity to do other work that had been assigned to her.

“I understand that staff are all pretty busy,” said Klages.

Chief Administrative Officer Cathy MacMunn said that Watkins is already familiar with the file, having brought all the records from septic permits into the new program, dating back to 1980, and would be able to do the work along with her other functions in the office.
“She said she has no problem doing that, and actually she picks up very quick. We are going to have her continue with the other stuff as well.”
The matter needed to be dealt with before the next scheduled council meeting on August 12, because the Mississipi-Rideau office informed the township that in order to complete the inspections this year, they needed approval now as they would be making use of summer staff and beginning the work on August 1st.

“If we passed this on August 12, it would be too late for the inspections to take place this year,” said MacMunn.

The six members of council who were in attendance on the Zoom call, voted to support a motion to enter into a contact for the inspections.
Councillors Danny Meeks, Cindy Kelsey, and Philip Smith were not on the call.