Frontenac County Council briefs – June 21

Jeff Green | Jun 28, 2023

Proclamation

Council passed a motion proclaiming June 21 “National Indigenous Peoples Day” in Frontenac County

Admin building update

Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Pender outlined the progress that has been made since the May council meeting, on the administration offices building project. The project has been changing because of a sinkhole in a location where a new foundation was needed to create a training centre. The ‘south edition’ was abandoned and a new east edition was being explored.

“They did find bedrock for the east edition which is good,” Pender said, “it was ½ metre to a metre deeper than projected which has resulted in increased gravel costs.

“We will come forward with a recommendation to Council, likely next month regarding how to pro-ceed with the ‘east addition’.”

Strategic Plan

Jason Kipfer, from Explorer Solutions, the consulting firm that was contracted to develop a new strate-gic plan for Frontenac County for the next five years, presented the draft plan to Council. He outlined how 700 people were consulted in the development of the plan, noting that residents of Frontenac Islands over-represented among those who answered the survey. Almost half of the respondents came from the Islands, which represents 6.1% of the overall population.

The draft plan, as presented by Mr. Kipfer, includes 5 priorities.

Develop a regional approach to overcome infrastructure issues and maximise infrastructure devel-opment.

Contribute to the progress of sustainable economic growth and prosperity throughout the county.

Strengthen the quality of life through enhanced service delivery.

Maximise administrative leadership within the county administration.

Explore supplementary initiatives to address emerging needs.

With minor tweaking, Council approved the plan, which has been adopted as a benchmark to measure progress throughout the rest of this term of council.

Bridge replacement on K&P trail

Manager for Economic Development Richard Allen brought a proposal to Council to replace a bridge over Elbow Creek, part of the K&P Trail in Central Frontenac. The original bridge, which was built not long ago when that section of trail was developed, has failed, as has another bridge that was constructed by the same contractor, who has since gone out of business. A new prefab bridge will cost $60,000 and another estimated $150,000 for removal of the failed bridge and installation of the new one.

Allen explained that the original contractor had been the lowest bidder at the time, which was pri-or to his tenure with the county, and had been chosen.

“Once bitten, what do you know about the company that is building this new bridge,” asked Frontenac Islands Mayor Judy Greenwood-Speers.

“Good question,” said Allen, “Algonquin Bridge is a reputable company with a long history with these kinds of structures in Eastern Ontario. I believe they are based in New Brunswick.”

Allen pointed out that Council set aside $300,000 for the project last year, and to this point a $60,000 Ontario Trails grant has been secured as well as a $67,000 contribution from the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs, so the hit to county finances will be less than originally expected.