Looking For County Funding

Jeff Green | Sep 24, 2025

Every year, in advance of its budget process, Frontenac County Council holds a public meeting, for groups to make presentations. Written submissions are welcome as well.

The public meeting is an opportunity for community groups to seek funding for a variety of projects. Last week, several presenters made their case for funds for a variety of projects.

Indigenous Presenters Conference

Dr. Terri Lynne-Brennan appeared on behalf of the Lodge Pole Alliance, based on Wolfe Island. She made a request, in line with a previous presentation to council about the Indigenous Presenters Conference that the Alliance has hosts at the Hotel on Wolfe Island. Her request was for $5,000 towards the welcoming dinner/feast that brings together presenters at the conference and local hosts, a feature event on the conference schedule.

The Lodge Pole Alliance is seeking an annual commitment.

Food Policy Council

The next presenter was Ellen Mortfield, on behalf of the Food Policy Council’s (FPC) project to develop a food  strategy for Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington. She reported on the progress that the FPC has made over the past year, and where the money provide to them by Frontenac County in 2024 has gone. The FPC is requesting a grant of $2,500 this year from Frontenac County, to support “promotion, graphic and web design, room rental, hospitality and printing costs.”

Central Frontenac Railway Heritage Society

Rhonda Kimberly-Young made a presentation about the Railay Heritage Park in Sharbot Lake, and its plans for a mural, and a second caboose from Barry’s Bay. The caboose is free, but will cost $30,000 to transport to Sharbot Lake, and $8,000 to refurbish the interior so it function as a museum. With the mural and other cost, it is a $49,000 project. Nine thousand has been raised so far from community sources, and a Rural Ontario Development (ROD) grant application for up to $24,500 will be submitted at the end of September. Young was asking council for two things. First, a motion of support for the ROD application (which council granted later in the meeting) and $10,000 towards project costs, which will be considered as part of the 2026 county budget later this fall.

“I’m wondering why you did not approach Central Frontenac Council,” asked South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal. “It is more attractive to us when the local council is supporting a project first, before we are approached.”

“We will be going to Central Frontenac,” said Kimberly-Young, “to support the mural project”.

Sharbot Lake Beach and Trail Bathroom Project

Duncan McGregor, Chair of the Central Frontenac Washroom Committee and a member of Central Frontenac Council, made a presentation in support of a request already brought to Frontenac County Council for $100,000 towards a washroom project. A construction contract for the project has already been signed

The washroom will be located in the parking lot at the foot of Mathew Street in Sharbot Lake. That location is near both the Sharbot Lake Beach and abuts the Thomson’s Cut section of the trail. The Thomson’s Cut section links the beach with the railway park and junction of the K&P and the Tay-Havelock Trail.

Ron Vandewal asked a similar question to the one he asked about the previous presenter, about the support for the project from Central Frontenac Council.

McGregor said that the entire project includes 3 accessible washrooms, a change room, water station and bike rack and repair station, and will cost $380,000.

“Central Frontenac is paying $280,000, and Frontenac County is being asked for $100,000.”

The $100,000 commitment corresponds to a $100,000 per township commitment that was made by Frontenac County Council in 2017 to support trailhead development in each township. Even though the commitment was made, the money was not set aside in a reserve fund at the time.

County Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Farrell said that staff will come back to the budget process with options for funding this particular project, because of it is related to that previous commitment.

Of the four Frontenac Townships, only one has received their $100,000, Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith pointed out.

“South Frontenac got their money,” she said.

The project in South Frontenac is the trailhead in Verona by the Hardwood Creek bridge on Road 38.

“To be clear that property belongs to Frontenac County, not South Frontenac,” said Ron Vandewal.

“But we bought it from South Frontenac out of the $100,000,” Frances Smith responded.

Opseu Request

The presentations veered further from outside group budget requests with the final presentation by Andrew Gagnon, the President of OPSEU Local 462, which is the OPSEU local made up of Frontenac County Paramedics, county employees.

Gagnon talked about two things, in a request for increases in the Paramedic Services budget. Frontenac County ratepayers and City of Kingston ratepayers pay into the municipal portion of the FPS budget, and there is a provincial portion as well.

Gagnon talked about the implications of the service commitments made by FPS to Frontenac County and City of Kingston residents. He said that the commitments for various levels of emergency, from the most extreme cases (Code 1) whose target response is 8 minutes, 75% of the time, to the least urgent, whose target is 60 minutes, 75% of the time.

“This result in those targets not being met 25% of the time,” he said, and talked about the impact on the patients and their families while waiting for the ambulances that do not arrive in the allotted time.

He also talked about the mental heath struggles of Paramedics, in terms of the need for time of for burnout, as well as PTSD and suicidal ideation – both of which are double the national average for the rest of the population.

He said he wanted council to think about these struggles when contemplating the 2026 FPS budget.

Frontenac Islands Mayor pointed out, as she has in the past, the residents of Wolfe Island routinely wait up to 60 minutes, even for the most urgent code 1 calls to FPS, because the county no longer provides an ambulance service on the island, and paramedics must come over on the Wolfe Island Ferry.

Councillor Fred Fowler said that he is sensitive to the difficulties face by paramedics, who are first responders to a range of traumatic events, since he has relatives who are paramedics.

“I know how difficult it can be,” Fowler said.

The FPS budget will be presented by Chief of Paramedic Services Marc Goudy, along with all departmental budgets, as a stand-alone budget during the budget deliberations. Goudy will also provide a report on the progress of the service over the past year, and a multi-year rolling business plan update.