Central Frontenac Council - Nov. 26/13

Jeff Green | Nov 27, 2013

By Julie Druker and Jeff Green

CF Council supports grant proposal for HPS Community Centre

The Central Frontenac Community Recreation Centre sub-committee is looking into the viability of turning Hinchinbrooke Public School in Parham into a community recreation centre to be used by various agencies and groups in the area. On Tuesday afternoon, (Nov. 27) a delegation led by Sue Leslie came to request council's support for an application to the County of Frontenac for a grant to have an architect create conceptual drawings for the proposed centre. The drawings would accompany a business plan. Leslie requested that council approve a motion to support their grant proposal. She also wanted Council to make a $5,000 cash contribution and to direct staff to prepare a Request for Proposal should the grant application to the County be accepted.

Lastly, she requested a commitment by council members to continue to be a part of the subcommittee. CAO Larry Donaldson pointed out that the school would not likely be put up for sale until 2015 and that the township is seventh or eighth in line in a list of about 15 potential buyers. After some discussion about $5,000 that was already set aside in the township budget for an earlier unsuccessful grant proposal to the Frontenac CFDC by the Hinchinbrooke School group, council agreed to Leslie’s requests and passed a motion granting the group $5,000.

Mandatory septic inspection - lake association members to do the heavy lifting over septic re-inspection

Members of a number of the more active lake associations in Central Frontenac will be joining an ad hoc committee of Central Frontenac Council in the new year. The committee is expected to report back to Council early next summer with a proposed design of a mandatory septic re-inspection program that will likely focus on waterfront properties in the township.

Jeremy Neven, the township's Chief Building Official, will sit on the committee as the staff representative and will bring his knowledge of the Ontario Building Code to the process since it is under the building code that the inspections are permitted.

Terry Kennedy from the Kennebec Lake Association and Ken Waller from the Sharbot Lake Association attended the meeting.

“On behalf of our associations, we are willing to do a lot of the research into how this is being done elsewhere and how it can be done here,” said Terry Kennedy.

“In addition to ourselves, we recommend that someone who does not live on the water be asked to join the committee to provide an alternate perspective,” said Ken Waller.

Two Council reps will also be sought for the committee, which received the go-ahead from Council.

Surprising data about Crow Lake

After delivering a brief update on the activities of the public works department, Mike Richardson was asked by Councilor Wayne Millar if he had looked into some of the concerns that were brought to Council last month by Karen Lahey of the Oaks Resort in Crow Lake.

“Surprisingly, the results of a speed study showed that the average speed of vehicles passing through Crow Lake is 23 km per hour, and the 85th percentile speed was 47 km per hour. I drive that road every day and would have thought the speeds were higher than that,” Richardson said.

Among other measures aimed at safety within Crow Lake is the installation of guide rails, which Richardson will look at. “There used to be rails there, but they have been broken by vehicles that went off the road,” Richardson said.

Building activity lags

Building activity sat at just over $5 million in value, 10 months into the year, according to a report by Jeremy Neven of the building department. Twenty-one new seasonal or residential units have been started this year. At the same point in 2012, 24 new units had been started and the total value of construction was $5.9 million. As of the end of October 2011, 28 units were underway and the total construction value was over $7 million.

New tipping fees finalized

A new tipping fee schedule for township dumps was brought to Council a month ago. At the time Council directed that the new schedule be posted for comment on the township's web site.

“I did not receive any comments from the public," said Waste Site Co-ordinator Kyle Labbett, "and I’m bringing back the identical schedule for Council to consider."

“I think we should bite the bullet and approve this,” said Councilor Norm Guntensperger.

A bylaw will be brought to the next Council meeting for approval, and the new schedule will come into effect on January 1.