Frontenac County Council - Oct 21/10

Jeff Green | Oct 28, 2010

OMPAH AMBULANCE BASE/FIRE HALL

“I'm very disappointed with the way this project is being carried out,” said North Frontenac Mayor Ron Maguire when a report by Paul Charbonneau about the Ompah ambulance base/North Frontenac fire hall was brought forward. “North Frontenac entered into this project for cost reasons and for reasons of efficiency and economy of scale, but the costs that are being talked about are way beyond our means,” Maguire added.

Based on the costs that are being incurred at the Sydenham ambulance base, which is currently under construction ($172 per square foot), Charbonneau estimates the cost of the Ompah building at $774,000, plus about $70,000 for project management and an additional amount for energy and environmental elements in line with the LEED program that the county has adopted as the standard for new construction.

Charbonneau is also working under the assumption that since the ambulance base will occupy 1/3 of the space, the county will pay 1/3 of the cost.

North Frontenac has budgeted $300,000 for the project, based on a cost of $80 per square foot, which is a figure that is in line with the cost of the fire halls recently constructed in Mountain Grove and Sharbot Lake. The township argues that LEED provisions are beyond its means and that project management is unnecessary.

“The way this is going I'm thinking we should each build our own building on the site,” said Magure.

“I think we cannot afford not to have a project manager,” said Frontenac Islands Mayor and County Council member Jim Vanden Hoek. “We'll get much better value and a much better project, and will avoid pitfalls. We are building a significant piece of infrastructure for the future. But I question the estimated cost for project management. For the Howe Island fire hall, project management is costing less than $10,000, not 10% of the project cost.”

County Warden Gary Davison spoke out in defence of LEED provisions. “The LEED provisions will make for cheaper operations in the long run,” he said, “I really don't quite get why we are going south on this at such a late hour. I still think we should go in a direction of one building on one site.”

Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski pointed out that a co-location provision was key to the county approval of the project in the first place.

“These are long-term decisions that need to be carefully thought out. If North Frontenac is not prepared to partner with the county, then the county should consider relocating the ambulance base. I point out that the second part of the motion that we passed calling for a co-location project in Ompah calls for the Parham base to be moved towards Highway 7. If North Frontenac pulls out of this, then the whole motion will have to be reconsidered,” she said.

“I don't think there is any urgency to this right now,” said Mayor Vanden Hoek. “I think it can go back to North Frontenac to have another look at this.”

County council decided to defer any further comments on the matter until receiving further information from North Frontenac.

The matter will be discussed at a North Frontenac Council meeting this week.

Green Energy Task Force -

John Kittle from Snow Road, a community member of the Frontenac County Green Energy Task Force, and South Frontenac Councilor David Hahn, presented a report on the progress that has been made over the past year by the task force.

Aside from playing a role in promoting solar generation projects by each of the Frontenac townships, the task force has been active in preparing an easy to follow step-by-step guide for private sector individuals who wish to enter into the world of micro-fit solar power generation.

“A number of retirees, who have a bit of money to invest, are finding the return of 12% very attractive. There are a number of these people moving into the county. If we can help them along ... “ said David Hahn.

Private sector involvement in Green Energy was seen as key to the success of the task force by Mayor Vanden Hoek. “Until there is involvement in this by the private sector it will go nowhere,” he said.

“One of the things we have talked about, which has been adopted by EcoPerth, is a buyers' club to help keep costs down,” said John Kittle.

County council endorsed the request by the task force to continue on after the new council takes over.

“That's as much as we can do,” said County Warden Gary Davison. “It will be up to the new council to decide.”

Rural Routes gets a smooth ride -

Don Amos from Northern Frontenac Community Services, flanked by David Townsend from Southern Frontenac Community Services, made a presentation concerning the progress that has been made by the Rural Routes Transportation Collaborative in developing a county-wide service.

In order to further the process, a group from the Queen's School of Business has come forward to do an analysis of the service and develop a business model for integration.

“A word of caution,” said Jim Vanden Hoek, “Queen's will inevitably take your project on and give you a positive report.”

“We are working with Susan Beckel (Deputy Clerk) and Marian Vanbruinessen (Treasurer) from the county to develop a terms of reference. They will keep it grounded,” said Amos.

Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski and North Frontenac Mayor Ron Maguire both expressed their support for the program, as they have many times in the past.

South Frontenac Mayor Gary Davison, who has expressed many doubts about Rural Routes, said, “Thank you for this report. I was an advocate for making sure there was some sort of a business plan for this service, and that's what I'm seeing, I just wanted to make sure you were being efficient with our money. I would think that at the next budget you may well be looking for a modest increase from the $80,000 we provide to you, and it may well be there.”