In December, Council reviewed a request from Steve Saunders, of Scanlon Road south of Sydenham, for a letter confirming: a) the Township has no objection to his establishing a private shooting range on his (75 acre) property, and b) there is nothing in the Township’s by-laws which would prevent this use. Private shooting ranges fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Firearms Act which is administered by the Chief Firearms Officer, of the Provincial Ministry of Community Safety and Corrections.

Although not required to, Council decided to hold a public meeting for feedback from residents before proceeding: tonight’s meeting was advertised for four weeks in this newspaper, and on the township’s website. On January 09, Saunders came to COW to try to clarify the nature of his request.

Approximately 60 people, including three children, attended the meeting, and 17 made presentations. Mayor Vandewal opened the public meeting by saying that it would follow the same rules as a statutory meeting, ie: presentations should not exceed 10 minutes, presenters need not repeat points that had already been made, and listeners should be respectful of the speakers. All 17 presentations were succinct: 12 were opposed, 5 in favour, and one undecided. As well, several others who did not speak had sent letters, two or three in favour and a couple opposed.

Those opposed cited dreading the noise of day-long firing, danger to children, neighbours and users of the Cataraqui Trail, loss of property value, frightening horses, and overall incompatibility with the rural and tranquil nature of the area.

Councillor Revill, who was not in attendance at the meeting, sent a report which stated that an unapproved ‘range’ (which Saunders had said he had operated for 18 years) was not legal. Saunders clarified this by saying he had used the term “range’ unadvisedly, for that implied the use of restricted firearms. A person is not forbidden to use an unrestricted firearm on his own property for target practice. Revill’s report also said Saunders was not a member of an approved gun club, and therefore could not have a firing range on his property. Saunders is a member of the Canadian Forces Base Club.

Saunders gave a lengthy reprise of his January presentation, which seemed to add to the evening’s confusion. He also called up Constable Snider of the SF OPP, who reconfirmed the correct definition of the term ‘range’ and said that, as an officer of the peace, it was his opinion that although it was legal for a person to discharge a lawful firearm in a safe manner on their own property, “a regulated range, which is subject to routine and unannounced inspections, is the safest option.”

“You could be sent to the principal for this,” quipped Mayor Vandewal, after Saunders refused to wind up his presentation after more than ten minutes. Vandewal asked three questions: Will this be a private range? (‘yes’); Is the range permit transferrable if you sell your property? (‘no’); Will the range be open to the public? (‘no’).

Saunders asked how his initial simple letter had turned into this meeting, and went on to criticize planner Mills for not having publicized the meeting as he would have if it were a planning issue, spoke of the daily noise of the neighbouring sawmill, called Revill’s letter ‘misinformation’, and pointed out that in spite of his having done target shooting for the past 18 years, more and more houses continued to be built in the neighbourhood, so property values seemed not to be dropping.

Councillor Schjerning read a lengthy letter of support for his motion to facilitate Saunders’ request. Councillor Sleeth moved an amendment: “given the concerns raised tonight, (I recommend) we first refer this to the Corporate Services Committee, asking them to contact the Provincial Firearms Officer and our lawyer for clarification.” Sutherland seconded this, and the amendment passed with only Schjerning opposed. Saunders was clearly frustrated by this outcome.

The Corporate Services Committee meets Tuesday Feb 13, in the Council chambers, at 8:30 am. The meeting is open to the public.

Desert Lake Causeway Concerns
Bill Pedersen came with three questions about the Desert Lake Causeway: have the plans been set for the rebuilding of the causeway; might it be possible to replace some of the sand that washed away in the high water this summer; could the township clean up the ‘orphan lot’ at the west end of the causeway, and thus improve sight lines along the causeway? Public Works Manager Segsworth said the work was planned for the fall, but the plans weren’t drawn up, and there was time for public consultation: at present, his department is doing flow calculations on Holleford Lake. Councillor Sutherland reminded Sigsworth that they had talked about adding a sign indicating a portage point for the James Auld waerway. The sand replacement question should go to the Cataraqui Conservation Authority. The “orphan lot’ is a small triangle beside the road on the edge of a marshy part of Holleford Lake. Interestingly, Pedersen said it was originally the site of the Desert Lake dump. Once the dump was abandoned, it had been covered over and a tourist cabin, now derelict, had been built on top. A reminder that we’ve made some big steps from the not too distant days when a wetland was considered the optimum location for a waste site.

Members of North Frontenac Council made short shrift of the 2018 township budget on Monday morning (January 28), working through the entire document, approving a couple of small tweaks, and approving it in principle in time for a late lunch.

The only major change they made to the document was to fund half of the $110,000 increase in the Ontario Provincial Police requisition with reserve funds instead of tax levy dollars. A $55,000 cut in the levy represents almost a 1% difference, dropping a projected increase of 2.37% in the draft budget to 1.41% in the final document. In real dollars, North Frontenac ratepayers will kick in $5.85 million this year, $88,000 more than the $5.77 million they paid in 2017. The other factors that make up the property tax bill will not have a major impact this year either, since the increase in Frontenac County taxes of about $60,000 is offset by a decrease in education taxes of about $45,000.

North Frontenac township did face some increased costs this year, including $50,000 as a first payment towards an Infrastructure Ontario loan to cover repairs and upgrades to the township office. They are also spending $100,000 extra for winter road maintenance, as well as the $55,000 extra for policing. On the other side of the ledger, the township benefited from an increase in its Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) allocation. The OMPF is a fund set up by the Province of Ontario to help rural and remote municipalities. This year the allocation to North Frontenac jumped by $234,000, to over $1.6 million.

“We did really well this year from the OMPF, and that helped us to cover some of the increased budget pressure,” said Chief Administrative Officer Cheryl Robson.

Among new spending in the budget is $35,000 towards funding the phase-in for increased planning costs. At their regular meeting on Friday, January, 26, the township decided to stay with Frontenac County Planning Services even though costs are set to rise as the department adds a new senior planner. Some of the $35,000 increase in the line item for planning is to cover year one of the phase-in of those costs ($11,000) and the rest ($24,000) to cover township staffing costs related to planning.

Mayor Ron Higgins said he is very pleased with the budgeting process this year, “and in all four years we have done well. We have build up our reserves to the point where we could use $55,000 to offset increased OPP costs this year and keep the increase to 1.4%, under the inflation rate.”

He said he is “thrilled with the levy increases this council has been able to bring in, and with the impact of some of the changes that have been made at the staff level as well, which have paid off both in terms of cost and in terms of service.”

On the issue of the contract with Frontenac County for planning service, which is set to rise each year for the next three, he said that he does not see North Frontenac ever pulling out of the contract.

“We could never get a better price for planning services by going to a contract planner,” he said.

Over the past 10 days, three sets of break-ins have been reported, each affecting multiple cottage properties, on lakes in South and Central Frontenac. Eleven cottage properties were vandalised on Bobs Lake on the evening of Friday, January 12, five on Sharbot Lake, and six or more on St. Andrews Lake.

As reported in the News last week (Vol.18, no.2 – January 18) an alarm and camera system led one property owner who was in Florida to call both the Ontario Provincial Police and a year round resident who lives nearby, to properties on Bobs Lake near Steele Road in the Tichborne area in South Frontenac. The resident went to survey the damage and came upon the vandals as they were travelling from cottage to cottage, smashing windows, patio doors, tv sets, sinks and toilets as they went.

The witness said he saw two vandals, who jumped off an ATV and ran into the woods just as police arrived. 11 cottages were attacked in that incident, according to witnesses, although the OPP have not confirmed the number.

On January 17th, the OPP were called to investigate another set of break-ins, which took place sometime over the last month on Craig’s Island, Sharbot Lake (West Basin).

In that case one of the cottage owners went to inspect his property on January 17th, and saw that it had been vandalised. In a release that came out on January 19th, the Frontenac OPP said that 5 cottages had been affected by the incident. The release said the following:

Sometime between December 17, 2017 and January 17, 2018, culprit(s) entered five cottages on Craig Island and totally destroyed the insides. Items were thrown around and smashed in each cottage. Estimated damage in total is approximately $75,000. Only item reported stolen was a bush buggy that is valued at $300.

In separate reports from witnesses, the News has learned that toilets, sinks, and patio doors were targeted in the Sharbot Lake incident, as they had been on Bobs Lake.

Then, this past Monday (January 22) a seasonal resident on St. Andrews Lake, which is located off Ball Road in Central Frontenac, emailed the News about another set of cottages that had been vandalised sometime over the last few weeks.

The email included the following description of the damage: “at least a half dozen or more cottages have been vandalised on St. Andrews Lake. Just this weekend we learned about it, some cottagers have been up to survey damage. Broken windows, smashed patio doors, interiors wrecked, fire extinguishers let off inside, toilets and sinks smashed, and more.”

The only OPP release related to these incidents was the one concerning the Sharbot Lake case, although the Frontenac detachment has confirmed they are investigating the Bobs and St. Andrews Lake incidents as well.

Police have not, as of yet, said anything about whether they consider that these incidents are linked, directly or indirectly.

A major complicating factor affecting communications from the local detachment in regard to these cases, is the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) investigation into the death of Debra Hill (Teal), who had an interaction with police while they were in the area investigating the incident on Bobs Lake.

On January 17 SIU spokesperson Monica Hudon, updating a preliminary SIU news release from January 13, made the following statement: “At approximately 11pm on Friday, January 12, 2017, OPP officers came across a vehicle which was parked on Steele Road, between Bradshaw 3 Road and Maple Grove Lane. One of the occupants of the vehicle fled. The second occupant, a 49-year-old woman, was located outside of the vehicle. Around 1 a.m. - after conducting an investigation - the officers took the woman to her home and they left.

“At approximately 5:30am emergency responders attended the woman’s residence after receiving a call. At this time, two investigators and one forensic investigator have been assigned to this incident.”

There is no information linking Ms. Hill’s vehicle with the vandalism itself. She did live on Steele Road and was not far from home when police came upon her. When asked if the SIU are also investigating the vandalism, Monica Hudon said that the “SIU’s investigation is focused on the interaction that occurred between police and Ms. Hill.”

The OPP have not said whether they consider that the vandalism incidents on Sharbot Lake and Andrews Lake are related to the Bobs Lake vandalism, although the damage seems to have been very similar in all three cases.

All that the Frontenac OPP are saying at this point about the vandalism is that police are “continuing to investigate into these mischiefs and are seeking assistance from the public. If anyone has any information they are being asked to contact the Sharbot Lake OPP Detachment at 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or online at https://www.tipsubmit.com where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward.”

Eleven cottages on Maple Lane, Meadow Lane, and Maple Grove Crescent were vandalised by perpetrators on an ATV last Friday night between sometime before 9pm and 11pm. Patio and garage doors were smashed by the ATV, and the vandals destroyed tv’s and mirrors, emptied fire extinguishers, broke toilets and sinks and appliances, creating maximum destruction in a short time frame.

The laneways are all accessed via Steele Road in the former hamlet of Bradshaw just north of Tichborne in South Frontenac.

A year round resident, who lives nearby, received a call from one of the property owners who is currently in Florida. The property owner has an alarm system that notified him there, and also has an internet connected camera showing that a patio door was off its moorings and laying in the snow.

The OPP had already been called, but the police service was stretched due to the weather that night (a flash freeze, high winds and snowfall had abruptly ended a warm, rainy patch of weather in the late afternoon) and the resident went out to see what was going on.

The resident went out in a car, and with another neighbour who took an ATV they went to the house. When they got to the house, they saw that the ATV had also hit the garage door, and the house had been entered and a lot of damage had been done.

“From there we decided to follow the tracks to see where they went. We went into one house and saw they had destroyed the banisters, tv’s, mirrors, and they also had sat down and had a snack. Nothing of significance seemed to be missing. They were only interested in destruction.”

They followed the tracks and eventually found the two perpetrators in one of the houses, but they also saw that there was a rifle on the ATV so they decided to back off. Later they found out that the rifle was a stolen air gun that belonged to one of absentee homeowners.

Soon after they observed the ATV heading back towards Steele Road so they followed. When they reached the ATV, the police were arriving from the other direction. The ATV was still running but the two people who had been on it had run off into the woods. The police remained on scene waiting for a canine unit to come and help them give chase. Apparently the perpetrators were not found that evening.

The male resident, who requested not to be identified, said that the next day he went back to the houses with a forensics officer and was also interviewed by police. The surveilance camera photo was posted on a Bob’s Lake Facebook group site, and the other photos were submitted to the News.

On Tuesday, OPP Officer Roop Sandhu, Communications Officer with the Frontenac Detachment, informed the News that there would be no statement to the public about the incident, which is somewhat unusual in cases of vandalism. Police often ask the public for assistance in identifying suspects in these kinds of cases.

The reason for this reluctance to communicate might have something to do with the tragic death of Debra Ann Hill (Teal), who died early the next morning outside of her house on Steele Road after being driven home by police about 2 hours vandalism had taken place, while the canine search would have still been going on.

There is absolutely no indication that the two cases are linked, except that it is likely, although police have said nothing, that the officers who drove Debra Hill home that night were already at that location because they were still investigating the break-ins.

49 year old Debra Anne Hill (Teal) was found by her son in-law Owen Young early on Saturday morning outside of her home on Steele Road near Tichborne, and was declared deceased by Emergency Srevices personnel a short time later. As reported in the OPP and Special Investigation Unit (SIU) releases reprinted below, there had been unusual circumstances late on the evening before she died.

A query by The News to the SIU regarding cause of death after a post-mortem reportedly took place on Monday, led to the following response from Monica Hudon, Communications co-ordinator with the SIU: “The results of a post-mortem are considered evidence. The SIU does not comment on, confirm, or share any specific evidence the Unit may have gathered during the course of its investigation until the investigation is completed.”

There is no information available about how long that investigation will take.

Here is the OPP release from Saturday.

OPP Investigate Death - SIU Invoke Mandate

Members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Frontenac Detachment, along with the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB), are currently investigating the death of a 49-year-old female in South Frontenac Township.

In the early morning hours of January 13, 2018, officers had provided assistance to this female. Shortly before 9 a.m., Emergency Medical Services contacted the OPP for assistance for a sudden death in South Frontenac Township.

The OPP has notified the province's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) which has invoked its mandate. As a result the OPP will not be able to provide any further information.

The Special Investigation Unit then put out the following release on Sunday, January 14.

At approximately 1 a.m. on Saturday, January 13, 2018, Ontario Provincial Police officers came across a suspicious vehicle in the Frontenac area. The driver fled on foot, but police encountered a woman outside of the vehicle. The officers transported her to her residence and left.

At approximately 5:30 a.m., emergency responders attended the woman’s residence. She was found deceased.

At this time, two investigators and one forensic investigator have been assigned to this incident. The SIU is an arm’s length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault. Under the Police Services Act, the Director of the SIU must

• consider whether an officer has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation.
• depending on the evidence, lay a criminal charge against the officer if appropriate, or close the file without any charges being laid.
• report the results of any investigations to the Attorney General.

In the meantime, Debra Teal’s husband Kevin and three children, Jesse, Chantel and Frank, as well as father in law Levi, have organised a celebration of her life is set for the Oso Hall on Saturday from noon to 3pm.

Debbie Teal will be missed by the local community and in nearby Sharbot Lake, where she worked for a number of years at the Sharbot Lake Senior’s Home before it closed. She then took a job with the Rainbow Valley Group Home. She also provided care for ailing family members.

Related: Rampant vandalism on Bob’s Lake.

When Council reconvened from a closed session for their regular meeting, CAO Orr announced that they had just accepted Fire Chief Rick Chesebrough’s resignation; after more than 14 years of service for the township, Chesebrough will be leaving at the end of this week.

Later, Orr said this did not come as a surprise; “It’s been in the works for some time now: he did the math, and realized he was eligible.”

On behalf of Council, Mayor Vandewal congratulated Chesebrough, wishing him “many years of health and happiness.”

Council then passed a motion to appoint Terry Gervais as acting fire chief.

Support for Seniors Active Living Centre
Following last week’s presentation by David Townsend of SFCSC, Council moved to allocate 20% of the net annual operating costs to support SFCSC’s proposed Seniors Active Living Centre funding application, to a maximum of $12,000 annually over the next three years in a combination of cash and in-kind services to be negotiated annually with the Township.”

It has been suggested that with the ongoing support of the township, the SFCSC Board may wish to consider inviting a member of Council to sit on their Board.

Tax Sale Policy
Council approved a revised tax sale policy which incorporates the legislative changes from Bill 68. Two related by-laws authorized the treasurer to enter into extension agreements and provided for an administration fee to be charged once the tax sale process is undertaken.

Details about the sale of properties in tax arrears and a flow chart describing the process are available on the Township website, or at the Township office.

Township Granted $80,882 for Commuter Cycling Program
The township’s application through the Public Works department for funding from the Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling Program has been successful: it will be applied to one of two projects planned for this coming year: fully paved bike lanes between Harrowsmith and Sydenham, or a bike lane adjoining a pedestrian sidewalk along the south side Bedford Road between the end of George Street and Alton Road in Sydenham. Public Works Manager Segsworth also plans to fit in a bike lane on the north side of Bedford; Mayor Vandewal questioned whether this might narrow a busy stretch of road too much. Segsworth replied that because of the busyness of the road, it was also a very dangerous stretch for bicycles.

Storrington Centre Upgrades
Council directed staff to issue an RFP for improvements to the Storrington Centre, to include a new optic system, accessible washrooms and entrances, kitchen upgrades and a new folding wall. $333,000 has been approved in the 2018 capital budget, for this. Councillor Sleeth thanked the Township’s Public Works staff and the Storrington Recreation Committee for all their help in planning the project.

Back-up Generator for OPP Station
Council has approved purchase of a backup generator to provide overall backup power for the OPP building at Hartington. This had been held up when Councillor Revill questioned whether a second generator was needed. Further investigation showed that the existing generator on site at the OPP station only provides fire pump back-up power for the sprinkler system.

Briefly
On the recommendation of Corporate Services Committee, Council agreed to extend the contract with Frontenac Municipal Law Enforcement Inc. for a further two years from March 1, 2018 to Feb 28, 2020.

The 2018 members to serve on the Committee of Adjustment will be: Al Revill, Ross Sutherland, Brad Barbeau and Ron Sleeth.

There being no further questions for the planner, Council approved the zoning of a new waterfront lot on South Basin of Buck Lake, Loughborough district.

Council adopted the Corporate Services Committee’s recommendation to maintain the Township’s current investment strategy and to issue an RFP for investment advisory services.

A proposed by-law to amend speed limits on Rutledge Road was, on Councillor Revill’s recommendation, referred to the Public Works Committee for discussion.

It was 20 years ago today . . . when the skies turned an eerie gray . . .

With apologies to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it was 20 years ago that Eastern Ontario was hit with a devastating weather phenomenon — the Ice Storm of 1998.

Beginning in the evening of Jan. 4, 1998, low pressure, warm air currents from the Gulf of Mexico met high-pressure, cold currents from the Arctic. When the two systems collided, the warm air rose above the cold. Precipitation fell as rain, but as it reached lower altitudes or hit the ground — it froze.

And it continued for six days.

Coincidentally, January 1998 was significant for another reason. Most of the municipalities in Eastern Ontario had just gone through a restructuring process. Everything was new, the power was out and all hell was breaking loose.

“I had yet to be sworn into office,” said Bill MacDonald, who had been elected Mayor of the newly-created Central Frontenac Township. “I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of tree limbs cracking throughout the sugar bush behind my house.

“I had a tough time just getting out of my driveway.”

Arriving at the Township office, MacDonald learned communications were sketchy at best.

“Not knowing the extent of it all, I told (clerk) Heather Fox and (roads superintendent) Ivan Duffy ‘I think we’ve got something we can’t handle,’” MacDonald said. “I declared a state of emergency.”

Further south, in the newly-formed South Frontenac Township, new Mayor Phil Leonard was in a similar boat. For Leonard though, things were even worse because as Warden (actually Chair of the new Frontenac Management Board), he was responsible for the entire County.

“When it started, we had the trucks out right away,” Leonard said. “But it just kept coming and coming.

“We didn’t have an emergency plan for the Township yet, but Portland Township (Leonard had been Reeve when Portland merged with Loughborough, Bedford and Storrington) was the only one of the four previous townships that did have one.

“I read the first page and immediately declared a state of emergency — which gave me more authority than I wanted.”

The Canadian military put a helicopter at Leonard’s disposal.

“They picked me up at the Keeley Road offices,” Leonard said. “(CBC reporter) Adrienne Arsenault was already on board.”

Their first destination was Camden East to see the western end of the devastation, Leonard said. The second stop was Tichborne, then Plevna, then back to South Frontenac where they landed at the Burridge Firehall.

“While we were there, a 911 call came in,” Leonard said. “An elderly gentleman had had a heart attack and they used the helicopter to airlift him to KGH.

“He survived but I had to hitch a ride back to Sydenham.”

Meanwhile, back in Central Frontenac, things were going from bad to worse.

“It seemed like all the roads were impassible,” MacDonald said. “You’d get a road cleared and next thing you’d know, it would be blocked by fallen branches again.”

But, Central did have a few things going for it.

First of all, like South, one of the former townships (Oso) did have an emergency plan and they wasted no time putting that into action.

Second, the Road 38 corridor still had power.

“It went from three-phase to two-phase but at least the high school had power and served as a shelter,” MacDonald said. “And we had the Township Hall as a command centre and the gas stations.

“That was a Godsend.”

And they had another resource to draw on — the people.

“I know it’s a bit of a cliché but we do have the pioneer spirit here,” MacDonald said. “I always thank the service clubs, the high school, the fire department — everybody.”

By way of example, MacDonald used this anecdote.

“Lindsay Burke lived at the end of Burke Settlement Road,” MacDonald said. “He needed medicine so Vern Crawford set off to get it to him.

“Vern was only able to drive partway down the road, so he walked the rest of the way to get Lindsay his medicine.”

Leonard echoed MacDonald’s sentiments.

“Ten minutes after I declared the state of emergency, the OPP came through the door saying ‘whatever you need, just tell us,’” Leonard said. “I can’t say enough good things about those people and especially Dave Willis.”

And even though South was up to its neck in ice, they still managed to send help to their neighbours.

“We had more big trucks than Central and we sent what we could spare up there,” he said. “We also arranged for help for Frontenac Islands and Kingston stood up to help there.

“Luckily, North Frontenac wasn’t hit as hard (essentially just the Snow Road area was hit bad) but keep in mind, when the power went out, everybody lost the electric pumps for the wells and so had no water.”

Luckily, Leonard knew Loblaw’s chief Galen Weston, having worked for him in the past.

“He delivered whatever I asked for.”

Leonard had praise for his constituents as well.

“Everybody helped out,” he said. “We created a system whereby if you needed help, you put something hanging out of your mailbox and we patrolled the roads with snowmobiles,” he said. “John Shabot of Hydro One was excellent, those people didn’t walk, they ran.

“Gary Davison was the fire chief in Loughborough and worked 24/7, Kingston helped out and Dupont gave us 20 5,500 watt generators that ended up all over the County.

“I can’t say enough about how everybody came together.”

It took a good month before things were returning to normal and the damage could be assessed.

“We did $5.3 million in repairs, most of which was paid by provincial and federal help,” said MacDonald.

“Our entire construction budget that year was ice-storm related,” said Leonard. “In one sense, it was a great time because of how everybody helped one another but it was the worst time in my 24 years in government.”

“I was a baptism under fire,” said MacDonald. “But I still believe from the bottom of my heart that because people in rural communities are used to doing for themselves, that set us up well.”

In October 2017, the Frontenac Detachment Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Crime Unit commenced an investigation into an incident that took place in September 2015.

As a result of the investigation, 40 year old Charles Percy KENNEDY of South Frontenac Township has been charged with:

• One (1) count of attempt to commit murder, contrary to section 239 (1)(b) of the Criminal Code of Canada. (CC)
• Two (2) counts of attempt to choke, suffocate or strangle an other person, contrary to section 246(a) CC
• Three (3) counts of forcible confinement, contrary to section 279 (2) CC
• Four (4) counts of assault, contrary to section 266 CC

The accused is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Kingston on January 4, 2018.

The Frontenac Detachment OPP Crime Unit is continuing with the investigation. Anyone with information about this investigation or information about other crimes is asked to contact the Frontenac Detachment at 613-372-1932 or 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or leave an anonymous online message at www.helpsolvecrime.com where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2000.

Contact: Provincial Constable Roop Sandhu

Phone: 613-532-0247

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Fatal Snowmobile Collision
On December 16 at 12:10am officers from the Central Hastings Detachmentwere dispatched to a single snowmobile accident that occurred on Elzevir Road in the Municipality of Tweed. The driver was eastbound on Elzevir Road when it left the roadway and collided with a tree.

The male driver of the snowmobile, 34 years old Adam Connoly of Addington Highlands Township was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The OPP Technical Traffic Collision Investigators was called to the scene and the investigation is continuing.

OPP – Ice Fisherman Located Deceased
On Saturday December 16 at 9pm,=, members of the Lanark County detachment responded to an overdue person call on Bennett Lake in Tay Valley Township.

Police responded after receiving information that a male had been ice fishing on the lake and did not return home on his ATV. His family observed a large hole on the ice surface and became concerned that he had fallen through the ice. Lanark County OPP members attended to search for the male with the assistance of the OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit

Elmer Abercrombie age 80 of Tay Valley Township was located deceased. It was determined that Mr. Abercrombie had been travelling on the lake ice earlier in the day with his ATV and fell through.

If any person has further information in regards to this matter they are asked to please call 1-888-310-1122

Break and enter in Inverary
On December, the Frontenac Detachment responded to a break and enter that occurred at a residence near the area of Round Lake Road and Latimer Road.

Sometime that day, between the 10am and 2pm, unknown person(s) entered into the residence. Entry was forced through a basement window and several items such as jewelry and electronic dev ices were stolen from the residence. The homeowners arrived to find their front door open and immediately called police.

The OPP are seeking the assistance of the public that may have observed any suspicious persons or vehicles in the area of Inverary at that time to contact the Frontenac OPP Detachment at 1-888-310-1122. Contact: Provincial Constable Roop Sandhu 613-532-0247 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(TOWNSHIP OF SOUTH FRONTENAC, ON) - On December 4, 2017 at approximately 5:00 p.m., the Frontenac detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to break and enter in progress at a cottage residence on a secluded laneway that runs off of Charlie Green Road in South Frontenac Township.

The cottage owner arrived at his property and confronted the suspect in the residence. The suspect exited through the front door and the owner gave chase and observed the lone male suspect drive away in a light blue Chevy vehicle possibly a Malibu or Impala.

On December 3, 2017, OPP responded to a previous Break and Enter at a cottage residence off Opinicon Road in South Frontenac Township in which the cottage was ransacked with several various electronic items stolen with an estimated value of $1,500.

A trail camera near the Opinicon Road Break and Enter was able to capture an image of the suspect who the police believe is the same individual involved in the Break and Enter off Charlie Green Road.

The male suspect is described as a white male approximately 30 years old, wearing blue jeans, dark boots and wearing a baseball cap with the letters "TRD" on the front.

Police are continuing to investigate into these recent break-ins in our community and are seeking assistance from the public. If anyone has any information they are being asked to contact the Fronte nac OPP Detachment at 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward.

For more information on how to protect your home and business, visit the OPP website and type SafeGuard in the search field at: https://www.opp.ca/index.php.

Photo of suspect: