| Nov 12, 2014


Central Frontenac Council signs off

Before starting their November 11 meeting, Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski announced that the late November meeting will be cancelled, making this the final event in the term for six of the nine members of the current council. One of the six, Norman Guntensperger, was not in attendance, but the other four, John Purdon, Wayne Millar, Heather Fox and Jeff Matson, and Gutowski herself were all in good humour. At the end of the meeting they had a chance to wish the new council well.

For her part, Gutowski said she expects that she will continue to be involved in community activities in one way or another.

As the new council is set to take office next month, Council deferred all but the most clear-cut decisions.

Waste Management consulting

Council received a report from the public works managers of North and South Frontenac as well as their own former public works manager, Mike Richardson, regarding the cost of monitoring waste management sites in all three townships. Currently, the work is contracted out separately by each of the townships.

The report considered developing the expertise to do all the work through a new department to serve all three townships, and perhaps Frontenac Islands as well.

The cost for work on the 13 active and 14 closed sites in mainland Frontenac County is almost $450,000. However, rather than taking all this work in house, the report recommended putting out a combined Request for Proposals to deliver the service on a county-wide basis.

They selected the following option: “totally outsource all aspects of the service delivery of Waste Management

that involve required Ministry reporting, liaison with the Ministry of Environment, ground water and surface water testing and monitoring, using one RFP to contract the work to include all four townships” in the hope that they can all save some money.

“This is a good example of how we all benefit from common efforts between the townships and the county,” said Mayor Gutowski of the report and the recommendation.

Since the matter needs to be considered by the other townships before being acted on, Council just accepted the report for information, leaving approval to the new Council.

Waste Services Manager Kyle Labbett also reported that the formal closing of the Arden site has been completed to the satisfaction of the Ministry of the Environment, and that the Wilkinson Road site, near Chippego Lake, is also ready to be formally closed.

“These are items I have been working on for five years,” said Labbett.

He then added a bit of a tidbit for the benefit of the incoming council.

“The next one to come is Crow Lake,” he said. According to the most recent capacity study, at the current fill rate, that site will be filled within the next half dozen years.

Disappointing year of construction

With only two wintry months to go in 2014, Central Frontenac is poised to see construction values of below $5 million for the first time in recent memory.

As of the end of October, building permits have been issued for $4.25 million in construction since the start of the year, down just over $750,000 from 2013. 10 new residential units and 2 new seasonal units were started this year, as compared to 10 residential and 5 seasonal in 2013. In 2012, a year whose overall numbers (over $20 million) were skewed by the construction of Granite Ridge Education Centre, there were also 16 residential and 8 seasonal residences under construction.

Public Meeting about Road 38 overpass

In the latest bridge study done for the township the bridge over the former rail line (now part of the Trans-Canada Trail) on Road 38 in Sharbot Lake has been identified as in need of repair within five years.

In looking at the cost of repair, the township is considering the possibility of either replacing the bridge with a box culvert or simply eliminating it entirely and letting the road cross the trail. The upfront costs of either of these options will be considerable, but the long-term savings in maintenance make them viable possibilities.

The bridge was originally built to permit a train to pass under it, and is therefore no longer needed. A public meeting to discuss options has been set for Thurs. Nov. 20 from 6 to 8pm in the Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake.

Councilor John Purdon asked Kyle Labbett if the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance (EOTA) had been consulted about the possibility of a highway passing over the trail if one of the options is selected.

Labbett said that it is not unusual for the trail to pass over roads. “The trail passes over Hwy. 7 near the weigh station before Perth,” said Labbett, “Cindy Cassidy from EOTA said she could work with whatever we decide to do.”

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