Frontenac County Council September 17

Jeff Green | Sep 24, 2025

Septic System for Fairmount Home and Frontenac County Office

The 23 year-old septic system at the Frontenac County site in Glenburnie has been in place since 2003, and underwent a major repair in 2011. The system was evaluated as part of the approval process to add the newly built paramedic station to the site.

As a result, “it is clear the County must proceed with the replacement of the wastewater treatment system” said a staff report prepared by Sara Saunders, Manager of Environmental Services for Fairmount Home.

Groundwork Engineering was brought in to oversee the project, and Martin Berger, the President, appeared before council with a recommendation based on a Request For Proposal (RFP) process the company has undertaken.

The most expensive system that Groundwork received under the RFP was from Newterra, which is the company that is partnering with Frontenac Municipal Services to provide options for larger scale housing developments across the county.

However, when looking at the potential of a new long term care facility site, to replace the 128 bed Fairmount Home that was last renovated in 2006, the modular nature of the Newterra system may make it the most cost-effective option in the long term, according to Berger. Council is at the early stages of looking at a new, 160 bed facility and a repurposing of the existing building.

The traditional septic systems proposed by the other companies who answered the RFP would be more expensive to adapt to the potential future needs of the site.

“We don’t what we are doing, in terms of replacing Fairmount,” said County Warden Gerry Lichty. “We might replace it in five years, it may be 25 years, or never, we just don’t know. Can the Newterra system be moved if that is what we want to do”.

“The flexibility of the Newterra and the ease of moving it, are the reasons that we came to consider it seriously as we looked at all of the possible needs that were communicated to us by your staff,” said Berger.

“When we looked at our Storrington Centre project in South Frontenac, it was with a 30-year window, and we should do that here, and Fairmount redevelopment is part of that,” said South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal.

The Newterra system, at a cost of $1.61 million, was approved. The County is responsible for 32% of those costs, and the City of Kingston 68%, based on the agreement around the municipal portion of Fairmount Home funding that is in place.

The $538,000 cost to the county will be covered over 3 years, $105,000 in the current budget year, just over $1 million in 2026, and $565,000 in 2027. The City of Kingston will have to pay over $1.1 million for their share of the new septic system.

Preliminary estimates about the cost to replace the 128 bed Fairmount Home with a brand new 160 bed home, dwarf the septic costs. It is in the $60 million range, in 2024 dollars

From Millions to Thousands

The ice storm that impacted the county office complex back in March, resulted in generator issues, an elevator breakdown, and blocked parking lots and laneways due to tree damage. The overall costs associated with the storm came to $16,000. There is a program to support municipalities in the case of ice storms. MISA (Municipal Ice Storm Assistance) covers up to 95% of costs, and council approved a staff recommendation to submit an application, seeking over $15,000 in relief. The MISA program is administered by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (Ontario).

Antoine Creek Bridge

Antoine Creek is located in Snow Road. It runs through one of the properties that was used by snowmobilers for decades under a land use agreement between the property owner and the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs. The landowner was one of those in Snow Road who rescinded their agreement with the snowmobile federation in response to Frontenac County’s expropriation process to obtain the land for the K&P trail.

When the expropriation was complete and it was time to evaluate the trail and bring it up to K&P standards, the bridge was not there, but the abutments are in place and in fair condition

Frontenac County is partnering with the Snow Road Snowmobile Club and the Frontenac ATV club to replace the bridge with a bridge structure that Crain Construction has on hand at their base of operations nearby on the Elphin Maberly Road.

The all in cost of the project is $68,890, and the Frontenac ATV is committing $5,000 toward it. The Snow Road Club has applied for $34,380 from the Ontario Federation, and will hear back about that later in the fall.

In order to have the bridge in place by snowfall this year, council was asked to support committing to spending as much of $63,000 on the project, out of a reserve fund for trail construction that has $100,000 remaining.

If the grant from the federation comes through, the county portion will be reduced to about $28,000.

Council approved the expenditure and construction is expected to be completed by the end of October.

Grant for Trail North of Snow Road.

Council approved a recommendation to apply for funding from the Rural Ontario Development Program to bring the K&P to trail to as location just shy of the Lanark border. The remainder of the trail is located a piece of land that is the subject of a legal process to determine its ownership. Mississippi Valley Conservation is one of those who claims ownership, and it has made a deal with Frontenac County to transfer ownership should they win in court.