| Nov 12, 2009


Arden wants to be first in line for 2010 Central Frontenac budget

“We certainly can squeak,” said Ardenite Patrick Maloney when Central Frontenac Councilor Bob Harvey said the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Maloney was heading a delegation from the Village of Arden to a Committee of the Whole Meeting of Central Frontenac Council on Tuesday afternoon, November 9.

The delegation brought along a detailed written list of improvements they would like to see made to Arden to halt what they called a “serious decline”.

“Arden lost its remaining grocery store last year, a cornerstone business, and with the crumbling sidewalks and the roads in the state they are in now, it is unlikely to attract a new one,” Maloney said.

In their letter to council, a group of 16 residents, many of whom were in attendance at the meeting, noted that Kennebec district is the largest source of tax revenue for Central Frontenac, and said, “Whether it is a fair assessment or not, perception is reality, and the shabby, run-down look of a community like Arden with its crumbling sidewalks and crazy-quilt road repairs sets the tone for the surrounding area and adversely influences vacationers as well as potential year-round residents and entrepreneurs alike.”

“We lost our township and our roads department with amalgamation, and now we have lost just about everything else,” Maloney added.

In addition to rebuilding the sidewalks and resurfacing village roads, the list of requests includes repairing or replacing the guardrail on the bridge in the middle of the village, re-instating yearly street cleaning and brushing, improving signage, refurbishing the recreation field, installing solar panels at the Kennebec hall, and retrofitting the street lights with energy-efficient bulbs.

In their 2009 budget, council did consider a proposal, put forward by Deputy Mayor Gary Smith, to do some paving and sidewalk repair in Arden, and several thousand dollars was put in the budget for that purpose. In the final budgeting meeting that money was removed from the budget in order to mitigate against other expenses.

“Your timing is very good,” Mayor Gutowski said to the Arden delegates, “because we will be looking at our 2010 budget soon and your request will be on the table from the start.”

Gutowski then said that there might be some opportunities through Frontenac County and its Integrated Community Sustainability Plan for community development projects to be funded.

Deputy Mayor Gary Smith countered that, “All of the things listed here are our responsibility and we don’t have to wait for the county. We have it in our means to take the lead in all of this. I look forward to hearing the costing from our public works manager.”

Kennebec Councilor Jeff Matson said, “When it comes time to do the budget it will be our job to squeeze this in there somehow.”

“If we need to we will be back to remind you about it,” said Maloney.

Much later in the meeting, the subject of Arden came up again.

During a debate between Mayor Gutowski and Deputy Mayor Smith over the County Integrated Community Sustainability Plan, Smith lamented that too much money was being devoted to consultants’ reports.

“We should get off the consultants and get onto the hard pavement,” Smith said.

Gutowski responded by saying, “A new road will not make Arden sustainable. A new school or a new grocery store will do that. The planning to improve assessment is what will help to sustain the village. We need to identify areas of growth and do the work to promote them. That is what places like Arden need.” 

E-waste recycling is coming back – A meeting is scheduled for Friday of this week concerning establishing an e-waste disposal bin at the Elbow Lake transfer site south of Parham.

Once Public Works Manager Mike Richardson is brought up to speed on what procedures the township needs to put in place for storing the material and delivering it to a provincial depot, the program will be able to be up and running.

Waste site hours changing – At the request of dump site attendants, winter dump hours are coming back. Between early November and mid-March, while Eastern Standard Time is in effect, waste sites will be open from 8 am to 5 pm. During Daylight Savings Time, the hours will revert to 9 am to 6 pm. This is being done to eliminate the after dark dump hours that are currently in place. The change will take effect on December 1.

Fire department needs $10 Grand extra – Fire Chief Mark MacDonald, flanked by his two new deputy chiefs, Art Cowdy (administration) and Bill Young (operations), made a presentation to the Committee of the Whole on the recent activities of the department.

MacDonald reported that the Live Fire training centre near the Olden Fire Hall has been used twice this fall, and will be used again this month. So far, 48 firefighters have attended training there.

He also reported that 214 homes were visited under the smoke alarm program. Fifty-six new smoke alarms were installed and 12 batteries were replaced as part of the program.

MacDonald also wanted to let the public know that although fire permits are not required for outdoor burning between November 1 and March 31, burning is only permitted from two hours before sunset until two hours after sunrise.

Finally, MacDonald reported that vehicle repairs have gone way over budget this year, a situation he attributes to faulty inspections by the repair shop that the department has been using for the past couple of years. A more thorough inspection from a repair shop that the township used several years ago has shown that many pieces of equipment had faulty brakes and steering columns. “I’m happy we found these problems before anything happened,” MacDonald said, “but it has put us $10,000 over budget, which we would like to take from reserve funds.

Deputy Mayor Gary Smith said “I think you should be able to find some money from elsewhere in your budget to cover this.”

“We have looked but all of our budget lines are pretty tight,” said MacDonald.

“I think this is a reasonable request,” said Mayor Gutowski. “In the time Mark MacDonald has been fire chief there has never been a request like this. I think it is clear this is a special case, and with all the department has accomplished this year, I have no problem with this request.”

“I agree. I have no problem with this,” said Councilor Norm Guntensperger, “I am comfortable with what the department is doing.”

A motion to transfer the money from reserves was approved, with Deputy Mayor Smith and Councilor Bill Snider voting against it.

Crow Lake sign – After a long debate, council approved a new sign for the Crow Lake schoolhouse, using $700 in grant money that was left over after siding was put on the building. Council put one stipulation on their approval: that the township logo and name be included on the sign.

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