Central Frontenac Council

Jeff Green | Dec 10, 2014

Councilors get computers; mayor a phone plan

One of the first decisions Central Frontenac Council made at their first regular meeting on Tuesday afternoon (December 9) was to give themselves a $600 (tax included) computer budget. With that money, each councilor can purchase a laptop computer or tablet to read council agendas and other documents in advance of and at meetings. The move is consistent with the paperless council meetings policy of the township.

The cost of the plan will be $5,400 for the eight councilors and mayor. Councilors can access the money only by providing a receipt to the township for the purchase of the equipment, and only once during the four-year term of council.

According to a report by the IT department head Charlene Godfrey, the cost of printing paper agendas, including labour, comes to $1,500 per year or $6,000 per term of council, so providing the computers will result in a net cost savings for ratepayers. During the previous term of council, two of the nine members of council rejected e-agendas and received paper agendas before each meeting. There were no such requests from the new council.

As well, council agreed to pay $60 per month in usage fees for a cell phone that will be carried by Mayor Frances Smith so she can be contacted by voice, text, or email when necessary.

Speed limits in Sharbot Lake

In response to a request by Heather Highet, Principal of Granite Ridge Education Centre, for a school speed zone of 40 km per hour, interim Public Works Co-ordinator Kyle Labbett brought forward a proposal to Council. Labbett pointed out that the Ministry of Transportation advises against changes in speed zones of more than 20 km/hr. Therefore he proposed that the speed limit on Road 38 between Highway 7 and 150 metres north of the school be cut to 60 km/hr, and then set at 40 km/hr from that point south to the entrance to the Maples Restaurant and Sharbot Lake Family Health Team, where it would go back up to 60km/hr.

“I can't agree with 40 km per hour all the way through town,” said Councillor Tom Dewey, “I would like to see the 40 km zone in place near the school from 7:30 in the morning to 5:30 at night on school days, and a higher limit other than that.”

“I agree with Tom,” said Councilor Jamie Riddell.

“I can understand what Tom is saying, but I'm worried about confusion with different limits at different times,” said Councilor Sherry Whan.

“This is getting a lot more complicated than I thought,” said Labbett.

“I would entertain a motion to defer this,” said Mayor Frances Smith. “We need to look at our options with the school, the OPP, etc.”

The matter was deferred

Bridge over trail to be levelled if grant is forthcoming

Council approved a proposal by Kyle Labbett to choose the option of eliminating the bridge on Road 38 over the former CP Rail line (now part of the Trans-Canada Trail)

The bridge is in need of repairs and while it is more expensive to remove the bridge and bring the road down to grade with a level crossing over the trail, at a cost of $1.7 million, the decision needed to be made in time to apply for an Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund grant, the deadline being December 19.

Most of the people who attended a public meeting on November 20 supported another option, replacing the bridge with a box culvert in order to allow trail users to still travel under the roadway, but the long-term maintenance costs of that option and the relatively low level of risk of a level crossing for trail users led Labbett to recommend eliminating the bridge completely.

Council agreed to the proposal; however the project will only proceed if the grant is forthcoming.

“If we don't get the grant this all goes away,” said Labbett.

2014 a down year for construction

As of the end of November, permits had been issued for $4.66 million worth of residential construction in the township in 2014, almost a million below the amount after 11 months in 2013 ($5.62 million). In 2014, construction on 14 new residential units got underway, as opposed to 17 in 2013, and 26 in 2012.

Ad Hoc Committees – At the request of interim Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Steve Silver, Council set up an Ad Hoc committee to deal with the hiring of a new full time CAO and a head of the public works department. Silver, who has a background in human resources, will be a resource to the committee, which will include Mayor Smith as well as Councilors Bill MacDonald, Tom Dewey and Victor Heese.

A second committee, which will look at the future of the former Hinchinbrooke school and property, will include Mayor Smith and Councilors Phillip Smith, Brent Cameron and Sherry Whan as well as two members of the committee seeking to turn the building into a community centre.

Building window found on small Garrison Shores lot

All of the lots in the Garisons Shores development, near Arden, were placed in a holding zone when the development was approved as a vacant land condominium two years ago after existing in legislative limbo for almost 30 years.

The holding zone meant that no further construction could be done on any of the small (.1 hectare) lots.

Township planner Peter Young from Frontenac County appeared before Council with a recommendation that in the case of one particular lot, the holding zone can be lifted. Kingston Frontenac Public Health has approved a septic system for the lot, which is one of the key conditions for lifting the holding zone. A proposed expansion of an existing 600 square foot cottage on the lot to 900 square feet may be permitted, provided a number of other conditions and a site plan approval process can be completed.