Planning Department in the offing?

When Frontenac County completed its Sustainability Plan two years ago a decision was made to hire a manager to oversee projects that county council approves as the plan moves forward.

Under the heading of “Sustainability”, the county is currently working on projects as varied as community improvement plans (with a focus on business retention and expansion), a Green Energy Task Force (which encourages small-scale investments in solar, and perhaps wind and hydro power) and a County Roads strategy (which deals with the funding and maintenance of major roads in the county).

The individual who was hired to facilitate all these projects, Joe Gallivan, comes from a background in land use planning, which has the more narrow focus of looking at plans of subdivision approvals, property setbacks, zoning bylaws and the like.

Hiring a municipal planner was no accident for the county, because it does have a role in approving plans of subdivision and plans of condominium in Frontenac County, although all other planning matters are handled by the individual townships.

Last year the county used grant money from the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation to hire Peter Young as an intern to work on a number of projects, particularly the Community Improvement Plan for Verona.

When Joe Gallivan came to council last week to ask that the intern position, which is running out, be transitioned into a one-year contract position for $23.07/hr., he made reference not only to sustainability projects, but to land use planning as well.

“The number of subdivision applications has risen dramatically in the last two years,” Gallivan said, “and I have been available to assist Central Frontenac in their own work on the Bridgen's Island approval on Eagle Lake.”

“So, could you provide more affordable planning for the townships with this hiring?” asked Frontenac Island's Mayor Dennis Doyle.

“I would be pleased to do so. Without this position in place it would be more challenging for me to do that,” said Gallivan.

“I think there is a tremendous need to get planning right, and to get through all that our Sustainability plan calls for,” said Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski.

Warden Davison, speaking on behalf of South Frontenac Township, wondered how the billing for Gallivan's time as a land use planner is being handled.

“That has not been worked out,” Gallivan said.

“It will have to be if this is the direction we are going,” said Davison, “because in South Frontenac we have our own planning department and we don't want our county taxes paying to cut planning costs in the other townships.”

“The idea of a County Planner providing services is an argument for another day,” said North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton. “We in North Frontenac are not looking at using a county planner. But I can support this position, for one year.”

The one-year contract position was approved, and will be included in the 2011 county budget.

North and Central Frontenac and Frontenac Islands all currently use the services of Tunnock Consulting in addition to having their own planning co-ordinators on staff. Most of the costs for planning approvals are passed on to the developer, although the townships pay consulting fees in the development of their Official Plans and Comprehensive Zoning Bylaws.

Preliminary county budget – costs up for Fairmount Home, Land ambulance service

The first pieces of the draft budget were presented to county council last week. The proposed budget for the county-owned, 128-bed Fairmount Home Long Term Care Facility is over $10.7 million for 2011, up from $10 million in 2010, a 2.6% increase (all numbers rounded).

A number of funders contribute to the Fairmount Home budget, including the Province of Ontario ($4.9 million), patient fees ($3 million), and the City of Kingston ($1.7 million). The projected increase in the share paid by county ratepayers in 2011 is up $60,000, to $794,000, an increase of 8.2%. The increase will be included in the 2011 county levy to ratepayers if the budget is not altered.

The largest increase in the home’s overall budget is a $524,000 line item for depreciation, which is new this year. County ratepayers are being asked to cover about $41,000 of those depreciation costs. Other cost increases include a 12% increase in laundry and linen services, and a 17% increase in general and administrative costs.

The budget for land ambulance services is also up, partly because of an increased share for county ratepayers relative to the City of Kingston because the population in the county is growing relative to the city.

The overall municipal levy for the ambulance is up by $544,000 in the draft budget, an increase of 7.8%, but the proposed Frontenac County levy is up by $170,000 to $1.48 million, an increase of 13%.

While the Province of Ontario pays 50% of operating costs, capital costs for the ambulance service are covered by the municipal partners, and the 2011 budget includes increases in vehicle and equipment replacement reserve funds of about 10%.

Committees and mileage/kilometrage – Council approved the establishment of the following committees: Green Energy Task Group, Sustainability Advisory, and 150th anniversary planning. These committees include members of the public as well as members of county council. After considerable debate, it was decided that members of the public will not receive remuneration for attending meetings, but they will receive 'mileage' at the county rate of 48 cents per kilometre.

LHINS visit – Paul Huras (Chief Executive Officer) and Georgina Thompson (Board Chair) of the Southeast Ontario Local Health Integration Network made a short presentation about changes that are being contemplated in the service delivery model of the seven hospitals in the region. Thompson said that duplication of service would be addressed in this process.

“There are five hospitals doing orthopaedic surgery in our LHIN, for example,” said Thompson. “Perhaps there should only be four or three. These are the kinds of things we are looking at.”

Public consultations will be undertaken by the LHIN, using social networking as a major focus, and public meetings are being planned as well.

Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski brought up the issue of transportation from locations in Frontenac County as service may be offered further away from residents than they are now.

“We are just now looking at the transportation piece,” said Huras. “We recognize that transportation is a huge issue.”

Huras and Thompson said there would be more coming out on these planned changes in the coming months.

Water Treatment Plant Update

CAO Orr reported that the water treatment plant upgrade was on schedule to be completed this spring. A brochure is to be mailed to all Sydenham home and business owners, explaining the change from chlorination to chloramination. Copies will also be available at the township hall, the library and the post office. The date is not yet set for a public information meeting, which is to be held this spring before the plant opens.

Land O’ Lakes initiatives

The Land O‘ Lakes Tourist Association will be seeking funding to hire a community events festival coordinator, and they are also seeking some funding to be able to offer 40% rebates for community revitalization initiatives. Both services would be available to the nine townships in the association’s area. Council agreed that if these initiatives did not require any funding from the township beyond what goes into this year’s budget, they would be willing to participate.

Strategic Planning

Orr raised the issue of strategic planning by presenting Council with a definition and a seven-step approach. The process would address and prioritize the questions of what council wants to accomplish in the course of its term, and in the next 10 years. He emphasized that it could not be done in a regular meeting; it would require one or two days’ work, and might best be professionally facilitated.

Mayor Davison strongly endorsed the idea, and added that community feedback would be an important component. “It was an amazing experience!” commented John McDougall of his participation with strategic planning for the school board.

“How can we plan when the world’s changing, and government’s cutting back all the time?” asked Bill Robinson.

Councilor Larry York suggested that eight or nine years would be far enough to look ahead. Mark Tinlin supported the idea of an ‘outside’ facilitator. Councilor Naish agreed. (Councilors Stowe and Vandewal were not present.)

Wayne Orr summarized the process as a way of “getting our house in order,” and said he would set it up for May.

Quinte Conservation

Quinte Conservation Authority sent a letter reporting they have held their 2011 budget to a zero percent increase, although it is based on assessment, so the actual township draws may not be exactly the same as last year. Mayor Davison recommended that a copy of the letter be forwarded to the Cataraqui Conservation Authority (which has increased its levy to South Frontenac.)

The village of Harrowsmith sees a lot of traffic every day.

A steady stream of vehicles heads south to Kingston in the morning, and north in the afternoon. Vehicles head west on the Wilton Road to L&A County, Belleville, and Toronto, and east on the Harrowsmith-Sydenham Road.

Just south of the busy four road junction at the lower end of the village there is another, more sedate junction, between the east-west Cataraqui Trail and the North-South K&P Trail.

Frontenac County, which has taken the lead in K&P trail development, hired a landscape architect and designer, Scott Wentworth, to come up with a design concept for a park and a small (20' x 40') two-storey building to give opportunities for users of the two non-motorized trails to congregate. He presented his preliminary design to a meeting of Frontenac County Council last week, on February 16.

To mark Harrowsmith's historic past, Wentworth recommends replicating, in part, the design of the historic Harrowsmith rail station. As part of the landscaping for the site, which is located on the west side of Road 38 adjacent to Harrowsmith Storage, Wentworth proposes designating an area for a self-forming ice rink, similar to one he built at the residence for St. Lawrence College. The sunken area would include drainage tiles so it would not be flooded in the other seasons, but when the water freezes on the surface and underground, an ice rink would form.

The concept plan for the project was done as part of the K&P Trail development work that has been spearheaded by Frontenac County Economic Development Manager Anne-Marie Young.

“What is the cost estimate for this project?” Frontenac Islands Mayor Dennis Doyle asked.

“There has been no costing done for this yet,” said Wentworth.

Anne-Marie Young said, “We still have to go through this and figure out where the funding will come from. South Frontenac, the Cataraqui Trail Authority, and Frontenac County are all potential partners. We are through phase 1 and we will see if we get a buy in for phase 2 and 3 of this.”

Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski said that the Trans-Canada Trail could be approached as well.

“How will the final details and budget for this project be determined?” Dennis Doyle asked.

“That could be determined by contribution,” said Warden Gary Davison. “You know about the golden rule.”

“Yes,” said Doyle, “whoever brings the gold will make the rules.”

Scott Wentworth's design will be presented at public meetings and to South Frontenac Council as well.

Photo: Mr. Schneider's grade 2/3 class at PCPS

Students at Prince Charles PS in Verona had a chance to win a cake and eat it too as they and their families got creative in the kitchen, baking cakes for the school’s annual Valentine’s Day cake raffle.

The cakes came in all shapes, colours and sizes and every student had a chance to bid on their favorites. The event is a fundraiser for the Parent Council at PCPS and helps them put on regular events like the Grade 8 graduation, the school-wide free skate at the Frontenac Community Arena, the pancake breakfast and also to purchase gym equipment.

Nicki Gowdy, who chairs the Parent Council said, “The kids absolutely love it and it is a chance for them to be creative in the kitchen.”

North Frontenac Council has had two meetings within the past week. The first was their regular meeting on Thursday, February 10, and they held a special budget meeting on Monday, the 14th.

The first item on the agenda on Feb. 10 was the presentation of an award to Marg Axford, marking her years as a major force behind the Cloyne and District Historical Society and the Pioneer Museum.

Axford received the Ontario Heritage Trust Community Recognition Certificate and Achievement Pin from the Province of Ontario. The township had submitted Axford's name for the award, and Mayor Bud Clayton presented it to her.

Ragged Chutes again – Ragged Chutes Road residents Murray and Beverly Elliott brought a summary of the history of maintenance on a 0.8 kilometre stretch of the Ragged Chutes Road, which is classed by the township as an “unmaintained township road.” The Mitchells were unsuccessful when they asked the previous council to resume minimal maintenance on their stretch of road. The maintenance had ceased in 2003, before they moved into their house.

“We would like to see gravelling on the road when necessary, and grading at least once a year,” said Beverly Mitchell.

“There are a number of these issues facing council,” said Mayor Bud Clayton, “and I'd like to speak to each of them at a special meeting, and it will be before spring.”

Mayor wants councilors to have more input – Mayor Clayton has proposed that individual councilors be able to submit reports to council in much the same way that staff does, thus adding a further opportunity for members of council to influence the political direction of the township. Currently, members of council can bring a notice of motion to a meeting of council, and that motion will be considered at the following meeting. Now if a member of council sends a written or oral report to the clerk one week before a meeting, that report and any attending recommendations for action can be included in the agenda of that meeting.

“The intention is to give members of council a more active role in setting the agenda for the township,” said Bud Clayton.

The proposal will be brought to the next meeting for formal ratification.

Algonquin Land Claim – Councilor John Inglis, who is the Frontenac County representative to the Algonquin Land Claim Process, reported that a meeting of the municipal advisory committee to the land claim took place last week and that the goal of completing a memorandum of understanding in 2011 remains in place. Inglis said he cannot reveal details from the meeting, but the public record about the land claim shows that it will include transfers of parcels of land currently under Crown jurisdiction to identified Algonquin communities, in addition to a sum of money for economic development. Among these communities are the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, which is based in Sharbot Lake, and the Snimikobe First Nation, which includes a number of families from Frontenac County. After a memorandum of understanding is ratified, it generally takes five years for a land claim to be completed. One of the stated goals of the federal and provincial negotiators to the land claim is to secure Algonquin Park under provincial jurisdiction.

Official Plan finalized – After a two-year long process, North Frontenac has submitted their updated Official Plan to the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for ratification. The plan has been sent to the ministry a couple of times already, and each time the ministry came back with requests for altered wording.

One contentious issue has been a ministry demand that new building lots are no longer to be permitted on extensions of private lanes or on new private lanes.

The only options for land developers will be plans of subdivision or plans of condominium, both of which are costly planning processes for developers. They also require that roads be constructed to a township standard and be taken over by the township roads department.

Council had argued with ministry officials that this will severely limit the potential for development on both waterfront and other lots within the township and make it harder for the township’s tax assessment base to grow, “but in the end they made it clear they were not going to bend on this and we had no choice but to accept it,” said township clerk/planning co-ordinator Brenda DeFosse.

Notebooks in councilors’ future – Council received a report from Information Technology technician Evan Sepa that outlined options for the township to move away from paper in the way it communicates with members of council. These included the possibility of purchasing Blackberry Playbooks, Apple I-pads or Notebook computers. At a price of $400, the Notebook option was recommended by Sepa; however, he also advised that only if every member of council were willing to use the machines and receive their council packages and other communications electronically, either through the Internet or a thumb drive, would it be a worthwhile expenditure.

Everyone at the meeting agreed they would use the machines if they were purchased, and that the matter should be considered at budget time. Two councilors were not in attendance at the time. Councilor Gerry Martin did not attend the meeting, and Lonnie Watkins had left early for a doctor's appointment.

Cost Sharing Elusive over Ompah fire station/ambulance base

Paul Charbonneau, chief of the Frontenac Land Ambulance Service, and Marion Vanbruinessen, Frontenac County treasurer, came to a meeting of North Frontenac Council on Monday (February 14) to bring the new council up to speed on where the planning process stands for the construction of an ambulance base/fire hall in Ompah.

The county put out a request for proposal (RFP) for a project manager for the construction last fall, which was answered by two applicants. The RFP estimated the project’s cost at $800,000, to be funded 2/3 by the township and 1/3 by the county.

But since those cost estimates entail North Frontenac paying over $500,000 for their share of construction costs, and the township only has $300,000 put aside for the project, the project has stalled.

“We did not actually go through with the interview process with the two applicants,” said Marion Vanbruinessen.

Although the township and the county pledged to work together on the project last February, they have differed on construction costs ever since.

Paul Charbonneau told North Frontenac Council that the recently completed Sydenham ambulance base cost $195 per square foot to build. The ambulance portion of the Ompah base is slated at 1,500 square feet and the county has the necessary $300,000 in place for their portion of the costs.

Members of North Frontenac Council do not think that the fire hall portion of the building has to be that expensive per square foot.

“As far as I’m concerned, the county portion can have all the bells and whistles the county wants, but the fire hall is just a basic building, a shell with bays for equipment, a training room, and some showers. There is no reason for it to cost anywhere near $200 per square foot,” said Councilor Lonnie Watkins.

North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton said that the most recent fire hall that North Frontenac built, which is located between Ardoch and Ompah, “came in at $77 a square foot; others have come in at $120, so we are questioning the $200 a square foot costing.”

Councilor John Inglis asked Charbonneau whether a new RFP could be issued that “divides the project into part A, the ambulance base at one price and part B, the fire hall, at a lower price to reflect the different cost estimates.”

Charbonneau agreed that the fire hall construction costs could be lower than ambulance base construction costs. “We do have some numbers on fire hall construction that are in the neighbourhood of $128 a square foot,” he said. “But my answer to the part A, part B idea is that it is not in the direction I have received thus far. I would have to receive new direction before proceeding in that way.”

When contacted by the News on Tuesday, Charbonneau explained that while the County Council decision to proceed with the project from February of last year did not set out specifics about how the cost sharing would be calculated, he is following a protocol that was worked out afterwards between County Chief Administrator Liz Savill and senior staff from North Frontenac. That protocol stipulated that North Frontenac would pay for 2/3 of construction costs and Frontenac County the other 1/3 regardless of the total cost of the project.

“Is there anything else you would like to tell us?” Bud Clayton asked as Paul Charbonneau and Marion Vanbruinessen were leaving the meeting, “other than to get off our butts and get on with it?”

“I was just saying to Marion as we were driving here this morning that when I started with the county in 2004, my first priority was to get a northern ambulance base in place and get our ambulance off the parking lot at the township yard in Lavant. And as we sit here today seven years later the ambulance is idling in that parking lot, burning fuel. So, yes, we would like to get this done,” replied Charbonneau.

After Charbonneau left, council considered some of their options.

“The firefighters currently have a building that is 1550 square feet. We are proposing 3,800, but we have room to move down to 3,000 if we want,” said Councilor John Inglis.

“The issue is price,” said Mayor Bud Clayton, “we know what the firefighters want but we are responsible to the entire township not just one group of firefighters.”

Inglis then said that he thought the township could find another $100,000 in the 2011 budget so they can invest $400,000 into the project.

“I’m with John,” said Clayton, “our upset price is $400,000.”

“I think you and I, Bud, should argue for a change in the cost sharing agreement at county council,” said Inglis.

Clayton and Inglis are the North Frontenac Township representatives to Frontenac County Council.

The investment of another $100,000 in the Ompah Fire Hall is not a done deal for North Frontenac Council, however.

Deputy Mayor Fred Perry said that the hall could be downsized even more, to well below 3,000 square feet, “if we consider realigning our equipment throughout all of our fire halls. We need to look at the skill base we have, and realize that the firefighters from all the halls are called to each fire, and we don’t actually save that many buildings. We mostly contain fires from spreading.”

Councilor Wayne Good said, “in my opinion, and I have expressed this before to the firefighters themselves, we don’t really need a fire station in Ompah. We have Plevna and Snow Road. So I can’t see putting any more than another $50,000 into it. At the most.”

In the end council did not decide how much money they are willing to commit to the project.

They did pass a motion saying that their county representatives “shall have a discussion with county council with respect to the cost sharing of this project.”

South Frontenac’s Waste Recycling Strategy

Last September, South Frontenac Township began a fully integrated waste management program, with the primary goal of providing a consistent level of service throughout the township. This presently includes providing weekly curbside pick-up of household garbage and recyclables; allowing residents access to all township waste sites; and a yard waste drop-off site at Portland landfill. (Curbside pick-up for residents on private lanes means at the point at which the lane meets the public road.)

“We’re heading in the right direction,” commented Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth, “and have had good cooperation. We know the system’s far from perfect, but we’re asking folks to be patient. By fall, the waste program will have been amalgamated for a full year, and we will have faced the challenges of seasonal variations by the end of the summer. Then, we will have a better sense of the impacts and demands across all seasons, and will be able to assess what changes we need to make to the current system.”

The primary goal of the program is to increase the life of the township landfill sites by diverting as much waste as possible. Once filled, a dumpsite is extremely expensive to close and monitor to provincial specifications, and creation of new waste sites is so difficult and costly, it is an option to be avoided. Based on provincial figures, 48% of the approximately 5,000 tonnes of residential solid waste generated in South Frontenac could be diverted from the landfill sites through recycling. Presently, South Frontenac diverts 20%, slightly less than the Southern Ontario average, and considerably less than townships such as North Frontenac Township, which has diversion rates in excess of 50%. Also, South Frontenac continues to show a steady annual population growth of 2%.

The Waste Recycling Strategy has, as its chief goal, to expand the lifetime of the landfills by increasing recycling and blue box use as much and as quickly as possible. Specifically, the township plans to raise its diversion rate to 25% in 2010, with the objective of achieving another 20% in the next five years, and at the same time, working to reduce recycling costs.

How can this be accomplished? Largely through public education and incentives, aimed at getting people to put out less garbage, by diverting more of their discarded material into recycling.

“We hope to avoid enforcement or using transparent bags,” says Segsworth, “Surely we don’t need to go there.”

He listed three main challenges for the coming months: 1) managing the impact of the seasonal residents in Bedford, 2) getting the hazardous waste depot up and running, and 3) reviewing all the waste disposal sites, in order to develop an integrated system of staffing and hours.

Bag Tags:

These tags are made to stick to themselves, not to garbage bags, so work best if wrapped around the neck of the tied bag.

“People have been good about tagging their garbage bags, and they have worked well as an incentive to reduce garbage,” said Mark Segwsworth.

Presently each residence is issued 50 tags a year: additional tags are available for $2. Some municipalities have moved to bag limits, or complete user pay systems, where all tags must be purchased. One advantage to the bag tag system as opposed to a one or two bag per week limit is that residents have more choice about the number of bags they put out at any one time, and are less likely to put out half-full bags.

Some Tips: Try to avoid putting out half-full blue boxes: the less stops the truck has to make, the more cost-efficient the program. Crush cans and plastic bottles to reduce volume and prevent them blowing away. Replace the lids on crushed plastic bottles or they will pop back into their original size. And please don’t put lids on uncrushed plastic bottles: that makes them remarkably resistant to being flattened!

At their meeting on Tuesday night (February 15) Council agreed to receive the Draft Waste Recycling Strategy as presented by Mark Segsworth “for public input”. It will be posted on the Township website: township.southfrontenac.on.ca for residents to read and comment. A copy will also be available at the Township office

Coming Soon:

Re-use Website

South Frontenac will soon launch a website free to local residents for exchange or sale of unwanted items.

Household Hazardous Waste

The township’s permanent site at Keeley Road will open on a regular basis later this spring. In the meantime, electronic waste can be dropped off at either Loughborough or Portland landfills, to be sent on for recycling. By fall, the site will accept bale and boat wrap plastics.

Recyclable Plastics

Kingston Area Recycling (KARC), which receives and processes the township’s recycling, is seeking out new markets for a wider range of plastics than is presently accepted.

Other items from South Frontenac Council

Triathlon in Sydenham

Recreation Coordinator Ashley Brown asked council to support this event by closing the boat ramp and the Point to the public on Sunday July 3, for the Sydenham Triathlon, Duathlon and Run, to be hosted by Somersault Events. Brown noted that this will be the third year: last year, over 400 people participated. Council agreed and will be signing a 5-year contract for this event: either party will be able to opt out with nine months’ notice.

Proposed Zoning By-law Amendment

Planner Lindsay Mills, who was not present at the meeting, asked for council’s guidance on several matters related to Scott Asseltine’s proposal to add storage units to his car wash business on Road 38. Asselstine was in attendance at the meeting. There was general agreement that if the storage unit was built, there would not be a requirement for a berm or fence; a traffic study would not be required, completion date should be set at the end of October, and a $5,000 refundable security deposit would be required. The site plan and zoning amendment will come to council in March for a formal vote.

Committee Appointments

Council passed a by-law appointing members to various boards, committees and associations for the 2011-2014 term. At Councilor McPhail’s request, the ‘Point Improvement Committee’ was removed from the list until council has an opportunity to debate their goals and objectives. 

Photo: Meagan Balogh

When Frontenac County completed an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) a couple of years ago, Gray Merriam, who was then the Chair of the Frontenac Stewardship Council, brought the first sustainability project proposal to the county.

It was for a glossy, full colour, magazine format booklet, which he dubbed “The “Naturally Rich Frontenacs”.

The idea was to make use of the talents of people from Frontenac County to produce an informative booklet that includes information about the way people interact with the natural environment in Frontenac County in the way they make their living and spend their leisure time.

The project was a partnership between the Stewardship Council, with Gray Merriam taking a leadership role as editor/driving force, Frontenac County providing funding for printing costs to the tune of $9,000, and the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation providing funding to hire White Lake resident Meghan Balogh, who did the design and layout of the booklet.

“What Meghan also brought to the project, basically as a volunteer, was her talents as a photographer, which is what has given the booklet a lot of its appeal,” said Gray Merriam.

The final product, which will be presented to Frontenac County Council next month, is, in Merriam’s words “as rich as diverse as the Frontenacs themselves”.

It includes articles on stewardship, forestry, endangered species, lakes, fishing, hunting, encountering nature, tourism, art, biodiversity and the most iconic feature of the north end of the county, bedrock. Several “Frontenac Success Stories”, which were first printed in the Frontenac News last summer, are included as well. Residents of Frontenac County wrote almost all of the articles in the booklet.

“We hope that this booklet will generate increased pride in the Naturally Rich Frontenacs and provide a starting place for planning how we can plan to be effective stewards of the remarkable inheritance that we share and will pass on to others,” said Merriam in his introduction.

Effective stewardship, in Merriam’s view, brings an economic reward as well, as “urban populations of Ottawa, Kingston and Toronto are expanding and they want, and can afford, some time away from high-pressure jobs to recreate their spirits.”

The booklet is also meant to promote the work and profile of the Frontenac Stewardship Council, which was formed in 1996. The council received administrative support and a limited amount of seed money from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, but operates as an independent, volunteer-run organisation that works to identify stewardship challenges and gaps, develop partnerships and fund environmental initiatives throughout the county. These initiatives in the past have ranged from tree planting programs, to enhancing spawning beds, to support for landowners interested in developing stewardship plans for their properties.

The stewardship council also provides landowners and others with environmentally related information, and each year sponsors a number of talks and workshops throughout the county on topics as diverse as Fishers, Loons, invasive species, and more. The council meets monthly.

(The Naturally Rich Frontenacs is a free booklet that will be available in the coming weeks at area stores and restaurants, and starting next month, at township offices and other locations.)

A web version of the Naturally Rich Frontenacs has been produced as well. It can be viewed at naturallyrichfrontenacs.com.

Addington Highlands Council will not be combing though their 2011 budget for another month or more, but they are already facing an increase in the library budget of $27,000, an increase of over 100% over last year (from $24,800 to $51,800).

June Phillips, the CEO of the two branch library (Flinton and Denbigh) said that as a result of several factors, namely: the completion of a Trillium Foundation grant the library received two years ago; the end of the Community Access Portal (CAP) Internet program in its current form; and the end of a once a month Service Canada contract, the library is facing a loss of almost a 1/3 of its outside funding, putting more pressure on township ratepayers to cover the cost of keeping the doors open.

Phillips recommends cutting some hours, to 15 a week in the winter and 18 in the summer in Flinton, and 13 a week in the winter and 16 in the summer in Denbigh in order to cut the budget to about $70,000 a year from the $95,000 2010 budget.

The township library has had an electronic makeover over the last five years. Services are now fully automated and accessible through Addigtonhighlandspubliclibary.ca, which offers online access not only to the library’s internal resources but to the province-wide inter-library loan program, which delivers books and other materials from across the province free of charge to library users in about a week.

“The two libraries have high speed wireless service available for the public, which is used by township residents and visitors,” said June Phillips, “and I think the ending of the CAP program in a township that still has no high speed Internet access in many locations is a mistake. I hope they revamp it somehow.

“That's a huge drop in funding you are facing,” said Councilor Tony Fritsch.

“We expected this would happen some day,” answered June Phillips. “It's here now. This budget basically keeps us where we are at. If not we will have to move backwards.”

“You've been a miracle worker over the years,” said Councilor Bill Cox to Phillips, “we get a pretty good deal here compared to the amount of money spent on libraries in L&A County.”

Council will consider the library budget request when the township budget is considered in the early spring.

Looking forward, Phillips said that the library in Denbigh would grow drastically if it were moved to the new Community Centre with the Lakelands Family Health Team, which she said would be a vastly improved location.

AHEAD – Larry Pealow, the chair of the Addington Highlands Economic Advisory Development (AHEAD) Committee, made two requests of the township.

He presented council with copies of a Business and Services directory pamphlet that includes 100 businesses and organizations, and received approval to print 5,000 copies of the brochure at a cost of $700. They will be inserted in the interim tax bills and distributed in retail outlets as well.

Pealow also asked for $500 on behalf of the Land O'Lakes Garden Club to kick-start the purchase of plants for the planter box program this year.

At first council considered deferring the request to the budget, but Councilor Helen Yanch pointed out that if the money is needed to buy materials for transplanting, it will be needed before the budget is completed on May 1, so the expenditure was approved on the spot.

Other members of AHEAD, including Andy Anderson and Ken Hook, joined Larry Pealow in a meeting with council that took place after the regular meeting. They were seeking a stronger commitment from council to the committee, because members of council have not been attending AHEAD meetings in recent months.

Construction rebounds in 2010 – The building department reported that construction values were up by $1.47 million in 2010 over 2009. The 2010 total was $4.5 million, up from $3.1 million in 2009. Permit fees also rose in 2010, from $36,500 to $41,800.

Disappointment over Highway 7/41 intersection – “I can hardly believe that the 7 and 41 intersection does not need improvements,” said Tony Fritsch in response to a letter from the Ministry of Transportation that was forwarded to AH from North Frontenac Township. The letter included the following statement about the “long-term” improvement plan for the intersection: “The plan includes turning lanes, grade improvements, approach re-alignments, and future signalization capacities.” It has also identified “a realignment of the current intersection to the west of the existing intersection location. The improvements are not currently scheduled in the Southern Highways Program.”

The Ministry did not indicate if and when the improvements would be scheduled.

“I think they only look at traffic on Highway 7 through there, when there is more traffic going through there on Highway 41,” said Reeve Henry Hogg. “It's been frustrating dealing with them on this. It is a dangerous intersection that needs a stop light.”

Cataraqui Regional conservation Authority

General Manager Steve Knechtel spoke to Council about the Cataraqui Region Conservaion Authorities’ (CRCA) programs and budgets. Forty percent of the agency’s an-nual budget is derived from an annual levy collected from the townships in the region.

This year, South Frontenac’s levy of $102,249 is an in-crease of $4,404 over 2010. Knechtel said this year’s goals included maintaining existing staff, programming and ser-vices, upgrading technology in order to improve efficiency and communication, and continuing necessary maintenance of buildings and infrastructure. He noted that while the prov-ince had originally covered 50% of the CRCA’a costs, there has been no provincial increase since 1997, with the result that now only 40% was covered by the province. The re-maining shortfall is met through grants, other partnerships, and user fees.

“Where will it end?” asked Councillor Robinson, noting that the township’s levy goes up every year. Councillor Vandewal asked about public use of the CRCA facilities: Knechtel re-plied that more and more people were using the facilities ev-ery year, including the Cataraqui trail. Vandewal said he felt the money was well spent if taxpayers were benefiting. Coun-cillor Del Stowe agreed that maintenance of facilities was es-sential, and Councillor Alan McPhail said he felt the CRCA has demonstrated careful management of their funding.

Road Allowance closure

Jim and Helen Hill of Bedford district had asked that a portion of an unopened road allowance be closed and added to their property. Their house now sits on part of the road al-lowance, which had not shown on their 1965 survey. A report from Anne Levac, planning assistant, indicated that it would be reasonable to close a 33 foot strip of the allowance: if Council agreed, it would be up to them to establish a reason-able price for the land. Although there was no formal vote, the majority of Council agreed that, given the circumstanc-es, it would be fair to charge the Hills $1,000 plus costs, as long as this solution was compatible with previous decisions in similar situations of historical survey errors.

Campbell subdivision

In an ongoing discussion involving the development of a small subdivision adjoining a working farm in Storrington district, landowner Jeff Peters and developer Barry Camp-bell indicated that, following discussions with the township planner, they felt they had arrived at a mutually agreeable compromise regarding a piece of land which fell between the two properties. It would be sold to Peters for an undis-closed amount, and would provide an undeveloped buffer between the subdivision housing and the barn, which will be a source of noise and odour. Planner Lindsay Mills said that this project has waited five years for a concrete plan from the developer: once one is received, the township can make a decision.

Central and South Frontenac townships are both coming into the modern age when it comes to waste management.

Both townships have held committee meetings over the past couple of years to design new processes for dealing with different streams of materials, from glass and plastic, to tires, electronic and hazardous waste, and household garbage.

Waste Diversion Ontario, which supplies rebates to municipalities based on the amount of recycled materials they collect as compared to the amount that ends up in landfill, has required that a “waste cycling strategy” be developed. Mark Segsworth, the Public Works Manager in South Frontenac, and Mike Richardson, who holds the same job in Central Frontenac, have both taken this requirement as the catalyst for revamping and modernizing the entire waste management systems in their townships.

Segsworth will be releasing his draft plan next week, and Mike Richardson presented his to Central Frontenac Council on Tuesday.

Richardson’s 40-page report, which takes as its starting the 16 recommendations from a Waste Management task force that completed its work in 2007, will be considered by members of council over the next two weeks.

“I know that some of these measures are going to be controversial,” said Mike Richardson. “Waste issues often are, so I want members of council to read the recommendations and send me their comments. If there are parts of the new waste management bylaw that council cannot agree on, I don’t think that should stop us from making those changes that council can accept now. At least that way we will have a current bylaw.”

Among the measures that are not likely to cause much disagreement are proposals to have the township accept household appliances, including fridges with freon still intact, at no charge.

The most controversial aspect of the plan is the recommendation that clear bags, with the township name on them, be sold to residents in place of the bag tags that are currently for sale. If implemented, this would mean that all waste in the township would have to be brought to the waste sties in clear bags, and waste attendants would refuse to allow any materials that can be diverted from the waste stream to go into landfill.

Proposed tipping fees include $1 for a 30” by 38” clear bag, and $2 for a 38” by 50” bag.

Before making any final decisions about changes to waste management, the township is seeking public opinion. A simple survey has been prepared by Golde and Associates, the township’s waste management consultant. The survey will be available on the township website late this week, and for News readers living in Central Frontenac, a copy of the survey has been inserted into this newspaper. Residents are asked to complete the survey and return it to the township office.

Mike Richardson’s complete report is available on the township website as well.