In their final meeting of 2011, Central Frontenac Council received a lot of information about planning matters, roads and waste management issues, and learned that they will be deep into budget deliberations in early January of 2012.

Kennebec Lake subdivision – In a first for the township, planning consultant Glenn Tunnock outlined how McIntosh Perry, the developer that is planning to build a 24-lot subdivision with 16 waterfront lots as well as 8 back lots on Kennebec Lake, has been working collaboratively not only with the township and conservation authority, but with the Kennebec Lake Association as well.

Greg Newman from McIntosh Perry outlined the proposal, which is wending its way through the plan of subdivision, zoning bylaw amendment, and severance processes in Central Frontenac and Frontenac County.

The current plan calls for the new subdivision to be accessed off Henderson Road just south of the Kennebec Lake bridge. The access road will be built to township standards and will become a township road,

One unusual departure of the project is that McIntosh Perry is planning to give most of the land that is not being used for building lots to the township for use as parkland. The land that will be offered totals over 60% of the Baker Valley property that McIntosh Perry is developing.

In the earlier planning stages, a common waterfront area was going to be set aside for use by the 8 non-waterfront lot owners, but that idea has been shelved.

Garrison Shores – Township Planning Co-ordinator Cathy MacMunn said that the long, long, awaited Garrison Shores condominium agreement is on the agenda for approval at Frontenac County Council this week.

(Note – the Frontenac County meeting took place on Wednesday morning, December 14, after this edition of the Frontenac News had gone to press. By the time you are reading this, residents of Garrison Shores should have deeds to their properties after waiting almost 30 years.)

Public Works – For those who think that township snow plows have been a rare sight on gravel roads, Public Works Manager Mike Richardson explained why. “The gravel roads are still not frozen,” Richardson said, “which causes us some difficulty in clearing the roads without unintentionally scraping some gravel off. We try not to plow the gravel roads at this time of year if the snow is not very deep.”

Hinchinbrooke garage repairs – the Ministry of Labour has taken an interest in the state of the Hinchinbrooke garage, which has forced the township to take action. Work has been done to repair a leaking roof and window. Also, holes have been made in the back wall by some of the township’s larger plows. Richardson reported that rather than just repairing the walls, a wood frame extension is being built at minimal cost and the walls will be repaired after that so that no more holes will be punched through.

“Why are the drivers allowed to drive through the end of the garage?” asked Councilor Bill Snyder.

“It’s not that drivers are allowed to drive through the garage,” said Richardson, who then paused, and said, “I don’t have an answer for that.

Mayor Gutowski intervened.

“Those holes have come about over time, some of it several years ago, before Mike Richardson came to the township. Basically the garage hasn’t gotten bigger, but our vehicles have,” she said.

Mike Richardson said he is trying to spend as little money as possible on the garage while still complying with Ministry of Labour orders because he will be making a proposal to Council during the budget debate for a plan that will involve mothballing the Hinchinbrooke garage and moving all the equipment to another location.

Bridge plan – Richardson presented a 5-year capital bridge plan that calls for a $350,000 bridge repair budget each year. Included in 2012 is the replacement of the Johnston Road bridge, and a new culvert on the Fall River Road.

Waste not want not – Waste Management Supervisor Kyle Labbett brought several proposals to council from the waste management committee

In the first, the committee requested that brush and lumber for burning be accepted only at the Hinchinbooke transfer station.

The committee also wants to limit the time frame during which residents can take advantage of their annual free load. The free dump will be available for two weeks (and 3 weekends) in the spring and fall. The spring dates are between the weekend before the May 24th weekend, until the weekend after the May 24th weekend, and the fall dates are from the weekend before Labour Day until the weekend after Labour Day.

The waste management committee also looked once again at the possibility of a transfer station at the former Chippego Lake dump site in the far southwest of the township, far from any other waste site, in response to a petition from area residents.

Once again they found the costs were too high and they denied the request.

Finally, Kyle Labbett reported that new materials will be able to be recycled. Tetrapacks, juice boxes and milk cartons can all be recycled with other paper products. Paper coffee cups can also be recycled in the paper stream, while the lids must go in the bin for plastic and tin.

Central Frontenac is also partnering with North Frontenac in the purchase of Blue Boxes, which will be sold to residents for a nominal fee. Dry cell batteries will also be recycled in the township, in bins that will be located at commercial outlets in various locations.

Construction details – Permits for a shade under $8 million in construction have been taken out this year, about half a million more than 2010. In all, 17 new residential units are under construction, as compared to 21 at this time last year (the 2010 total included the five-unit not-for-profit seniors’ housing project, which counted as five new units.)

County planning services pitch to CF

By Julie Druker

The county Manager Of Sustainability Planning, Joe Gallivan, appeared before council extolling the benefits of using his services as an in-house county planner instead of the private contractor, Tunnock Consulting, whom the township uses now.

Gallivan proposed a cost recovery approach for the processing of all privately initiated applications. Planning application reports would be charged back to the applicant on an hourly basis with no charges for pre-consultation or general planning inquiries for either the township staff or the public. The proposed fees for all privately initiated services would be $55 an hour for the manager of sustainability planning, $30 for the community planner, and no charge for the GIS specialist.

There would be no fees associated with the processing of a municipally initiated planning application.

“Based on our research the costs would be roughly half the cost of what private consultants charge, bringing a cost savings not to just developers but also to the average citizen,” Gallivan said.

He listed the benefits of the proposed planning changes as follows: 1) unlike services provided by external consultants, no profit is built into the planning fees; 2) services would be exclusive to Frontenac County planning issues and therefore townships could focus on local and cross-boundary solutions; 3) with the county's new GIS system in place, all mapping needs could be done in house, saving further costs and time; 4) land use planning would become aligned with economic development planning; and 5) lower costs would encourage additional economic development in the area.

Following the presentation, Councilor Heather Fox asked if, given Gallivan’s present work load, another planner would need to be hired.

“Based on the volume over the last few years and quite frankly it’s not a lot of volume for three townships, it would be 500-650 hours per year for the regular day-to-day work and not including any other large projects. We could handle that without hiring another planner,” Gallivan said.

Local resident Opposed to proposed Property Standards By-Law

Lynn Shwadchuk of Sharbot Lake expressed her opposition to the township’s plan to draft a property standards by- law.

“What people forget is that this will always be a claim-based by-law and whatever is in it will become ammunition for neighbours to go after each other for infractions, “she said. “My position here is to suggest that we instead make the Safe Properties by-law a little more specific so that it’s not just a matter of opinion.” She stated how the Bancroft by-law being looked at by council as an example is overkill.

“Why spend money and time on developing a document that would really would be very difficult and likely expensive to enforce? Shouldn't we just encourage people to be friendly and help each other out?” she asked

Two tentative dates have been scheduled for public meetings to discuss the issue with members of council. They are January 18 in Arden and January 25 in Sharbot Lake.

Photo: Eccelstone and Eccelstone associate Dawn Quelch

Dawn Quelch, an associate of Eccelstone and Eccelstone LLP law firm of Kingston, had a full day seeing clients in Sharbot Lake on Nov.25, proving that there is indeed a need for increased law services in rural areas.

The Kingston firm was approached by Anne-Marie Langan, of Langan Family Law in Sharbot Lake, after Langan identified a need for additional law services for her clients and other potentials clients, especially, but not exclusively, in the area of criminal representation.

Langan, who had studied law with the firm’s junior partner Chris Eccelstone, met him by chance at the Family Court in Kingston and the two began discussing some of the issues surrounding access to justice issues, and the affordability of counsel. She expressed a need for additional services in this area and is now helping to fill that need by offering her offices to the firm as a location to serve clients in the area.

Eccelstone associate Dawn Quelch is offering clients a free half-hour consultation every Friday in areas of criminal law, real estate, wills, powers of attorney and other areas. This past Friday she discussed various issues including criminal law, estates, solicitor drafting work and more with a number of potential clients.

Quelch grew up in Atikokan, a small town in western Ontario, near Thunder Bay. She received an undergraduate degree at York University and worked in publishing at General and Stoddart in Toronto before studying Law at Queen’s University, where she graduated in 2006.

While at Queen’s she was a member of the Clinical Correctional Law Program and represented incarcerated inmates at various prisons, helping them with both street charges and disciplinary court. She articled with the Crown Attorney in Kenora, Ontario and worked at a number of fly-in reserves in the area, dealing primarily with Aboriginal issues.

Married and with a young daughter, she now resides in Kingston and is thrilled to be back in eastern Ontario, where she finds it’s “a nice balance between urban and rural living.” Her goal is to provide counsel to those in need and she is encouraged by the number of clients she saw on her first day.

“I want clients to get a feel for me and to make sure that I am somebody that they have faith and confidence in. It’s also a chance for me to find out the reasons they are coming to see me and to give them a preliminary outline of what they might be facing and what happens next. It’s a chance to talk about the business of hiring a lawyer, whether they will be seeking legal aid or establishing a private retainer. We really try to work with the clients as much as we can to make sure that when they are in need of representation, they are able to get it. There aren’t enough lawyers accessible to the public in rural Ontario - the Law Society has identified this as a problem.”

Quelch’s advice for those who have been charged with a criminal offence and who think they might be eligible for legal aid, is to make an appointment, but also to get their application in for legal aid as soon as possible. They can do without having decided who is to be their legal representative.

Other advice for those coming for a consultation is to: Bring photo ID to confirm identity, which is a requirement of the Law Society. 2) Bring any court papers or other documentation pertaining to the matter, and 3) bring the date of their first court appearance

For wills, she advises clients to pick up a wills information package at the Sharbot lake office and to fill it out prior to the consultation. Quelch says this can save a lot of time.

To make an appointment call the Kingston branch of Eccelstone and Eccelstone at 613-384-0735 and be sure to specify whether you would like your consultation to take place at the Kingston or Sharbot Lake branch at 1012B Elizabeth Street.

Andrea Dingwall is a graduate of the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto, where she completed a four-year course after doing her undergraduate work at Trent University. She will be accepting patients at a shared location with Chiropractor Sheldon Cook at 3161 Rutledge Road (next to Silverbrook Gardens).

Andrea Dingwall lives in a rural property near Moscow, where her carpenter husband is building a house, and she has been looking for a location to set up a practice. The clinic was a suitable location, and her services complement those offered by Sheldon Cook.

“I really like Sydenham, and this location is ideal for me,” she said.

She will be offering the kinds of assessment and diagnosis services that people often receive from primary care physicians but with a focus on lifestyle changes, the use of supplements, botanicals and acupuncture treatments.

“One of the big differences between what a doctor does and what I do relates to the amount of time I can spend with patients, and the relationships that develop,” she said.

Diet is a major factor in people’s health and is a treatment option, according to Andrea Dingwall. She can supervise patients in using a number of diets to improve patient health.

Among the kinds of issues she deals with on a regular basis are gastrointestinal issues, women specific problems, hormonal conditions, weight loss, pain and nerve problems, and more.

She does not see her practice as a challenge to the medical establishment, and said that over the years the practice of medicine and naturopathy have moved closer to each other.

“Diet and lifestyle are taken more into account than they were in the past and Naturopathy has become more oriented to evidence-based treatments at the same time,” she said.

As she starts up her practice Andrea Dingwall is offering a free 15-minute meeting for patients (normally her rates are $40 for 15 minutes). A first session usually lasts about an hour and subsequent sessions are shorter.

Details about the service offered are available at the website natural-route.com.

In addition to accepting new patients, Andrea Dingwall will be conducting free talks about health care issues.

The first one that she has scheduled is coming up on November 22 at her clinic. It is called “Avoiding the Cold and Flu - Naturally” and will focus on how to avoid getting sick this year, touching on diet, lifestyle, the flu vaccine, supplements to take and supplements to avoid.

To contact Andrea Dingwall, call 613-876-2855.

Waste Disposal Site Changes Proposed

Council accepted in principle the Public Services Committee’s recommendations regarding changes to waste site operations, with the amendment that “one site be open for four hours on Sundays during the summer, June to September, with no total increase in hours.”

The recommendations include a substantial interim increase in tipping fees, with no option for pro-rating partial loads, which will be replaced by a weight-based charge once weigh scales are installed; four days of pick-up (Monday to Thursday;) and a proposal to reduce waste site hours by next March. These recommendations will be brought back to the public in January, in order to develop a final set of recommendations for Council’s approval early in the new year.

Hazardous Waste Site Hours Extended:

Public use of the Keeley Road Household Hazardous Waste site has continued to increase to the point that the Public Works Department recommends keeping the facility, originally expected to operate spring to fall, open throughout the winter. Council agreed to have Brendar Environmental continue to provide services for the winter: hours will be from 3 - 7pm, the second and fourth Thursday of each month. The Hazardous Waste Site also accepts bale wrap, shrink wrap and e-waste.

A tender will be issued in early 2013 for the operation of the facility for the period April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2015.

Bedford Patrol Yard Improvements:

Council approved the submission of Asterisk Engineering for engineering services for Bedford patrol yard improvements and associated yard works, for a total of $71,896. This was the lowest of six bids received.

No More Cash Advances to councilors:

Over the years, councilors have requested and been issued advances on both their per diem for conferences and against their semi-annual honorarium payments. Council adopted the Corporate Services Committee’s recommendation that these cash advances no longer be permitted.

Township Assumes Loughborough District Road

Council accepted Planner Mills’ recommendation that they assume the road in Silverbrook estates subdivision (located off Campbell Road) now that all requirements have been met.

Budget Day Saturday: Nothing to do for entertainment on a cold rainy Saturday? Come listen to council deliberate the 2013 township budget. After all, it’s your roads, your parks...your money. The fun starts at 9 am this Saturday and lasts all day if it has to.

Frontenac County holds the line with 2012 budget 

Frontenac County Council completed their 2012 budget last week, on April 4. A last-minute decision to take $200,000 from the county’s working capital reserve funds mitigated against a proposed $82,700 increase in the amount that local townships will be paying into county coffers, resulting in a 1.4% decrease overall.

Costs for major county services are up in 2012, with the Frontenac County land ambulance budget rising by 3%, to above $15 million. The increase was attributed to increased salary and benefits costs.

The budget for Fairmount Home is up by 2.55%, topping the $10 million mark for the first time, with nursing costs, dietary services and administrative costs making up most of the increase.

Costs for both services are subsidized by provincial grants as well as by City of Kingston taxes, leaving Frontenac County ratepayers to cover only a small percentage of costs.

County administrative costs, which impact the county levy directly, are up by $100,000, or 3%, with about half the increase coming from administration costs and the other half coming from projected costs for running council committees, an expense that has never been included in county budgeting.

Frontenac County ratepayers will pay just under $800,000 towards operations of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library, a marginal increase of $5,000 over 2011. Grants for $54,000 towards the Hospital Foundation of Kingston's Capital fund ($54,000) and to Frontenac Transportation Services ($86,000) were identical to those in 2011.

Minor increase offset by transfer from working capital reserve

Frontenac Islands Mayor Dennis Doyle kicked off the final 2012 Frontenac County budget meeting by proposing that all of the spending in the budget remain the same, but that the amount charged to county ratepayers be cut by $250,000. That money could be found in the working reserve fund that the county has at its disposal, a fund that was projected to hit $4.8 million by the end of 2012.

Doyle said that in going through the budget in detail, he found that on many occasions spending in 2011 was lower than budgeted and the extra money then went into working capital. Those were the funds he wanted to target.

“We could go line by line through the budget and find savings, but in the interest of saving time, I suggest we just transfer the $250,000 and lower the tax burden,” he said.

Even before Doyle’s motion could be formally read into the record, Warden Janet Gutowski intervened.

“I would like to express the concern that the county is very large; it has a declining population, and we may be heading towards another recession,” she said “and I don't think it is time to be hindering our capacity to respond to financial pressures that we may face.”

South Frontenac Mayor Gary Davison (who has two votes at county council) also said he would not support it.

“I'm going to speak against spending reserves. I'm just mystified. I don't understand why we are even talking about our reserves,” Davison said.

Councilor John Purdon (Central Frontenac) thought the matter of reserves should be referred to a newly constituted finance committee of council.

Dennis Doyle explained that his intention was not to deplete any of the county’s capacity to act, but to make sure that monies that are collected in one tax year and are not spent, are not then collected again following year.

“The perception among the public is that we are recycling money - that we are collecting taxes, not spending the money, and then taxing people again for the same programs,” he said.

“I have a question for the treasurer,” said Councilor David Jones. “Is a $5 million working reserve sufficient for a $40 million operation? Is there a standard to go by?

Chief Administrative Officer Liz Savill replied, “There isn't anything established. I can report that among Eastern Ontario municipalities we are higher than average, but are certainly not the highest.”

At this point, Warden Gutowski relinquished the chair so she could speak freely on the motion.

“As I read this motion I certainly cannot support it. This is a thinly veiled attempt by Frontenac Islands to reduce their levy from the County. I disagree with handling budgets in that manner. This implies that past county councils have been careless, which has no basis in fact. My opinion is that we have a couple of councillors here who are looking at the county budget from the perspective of their own township.”

John Inglis, the only representative from North Frontenac at the meeting (NF Mayor Bud Clayton was not in attendance) stood up for his compatriots from the Islands.

“I categorically disagree with your analysis of the situation,” he said to Gutowski, “I believe Councilor Jones and Doyle are working for the county as a whole.”

“All we are trying to do it effectively manage the reserves; that's what this is all about,” reiterated Denis Doyle.

Gary Davison then softened his own position somewhat.

“If you are going forward with this I suggest you lower the figure to $150,000.”

At that point the meeting went into recess for a 15-minute break. After the break, Dennis Doyle proposed transferring $200,000 from the working reserve to general revenue to offset the tax levy.

The motion was approved. Mayor Davision did not vote on the motion, and Warden Gutowski, seeing five hands raised in favour and none opposed, declared the motion approved.

The final county levy for 2012 is $8.28 million, down about 1.4% from the 2011 levy of $8.4 million.

Other items -

150th anniversary gets $30,000 backing

Gary Davison returned to a matter that had been before council at their previous meeting. At that time, Davison proposed that the county allocate $150,000 from already existing reserve funds towards a new reserve fund for events to mark the 150th anniversary of Frontenac County. The proposal sparked opposition, particularly from Councilor Jones.

“This isn't just 10 people getting together waving a flag,” said Davison, “we've talked about a three-day celebration on the last weekend of August, 2015. We're not talking about just the mayor of Kingston being invited. We're looking at inviting a representative from the Queen, the prime minister, former politicians from the county, an honor board, all kinds of events, etc. As a committee, we need to be able to say we have a commitment of some money of our own before we can ask for sponsorship. I'd say we need at least $30,000 to point to.”

“I'd support the $30,000 on the understanding that you will come forward with a more complete plan,” said Dennis Doyle.

Janet Gutowski, who sits with Gary Davison on the 150th Anniversary Committee, said, “The committee will certainly be coming back with more detail. I personally am not thinking about the same type of event as has been described today. I think the county is too localized. But we will come back with detail before any of the money is spent.”

“Committees cannot spend money,” pointed out CAO Savill, “all spending must be approved by county council. Creating a reserve does not approve spending that money.”

Council agreed to create the reserve.

Editorial by Jeff Green

North Frontenac Township needed $600,000 more from its ratepayers in 2012. Central Frontenac needed $225,000, and South Frontenac over $1.2 million more. All told, the three townships will be collecting about $22 million to run their local operations.

At the same time all three townships have seen decreases in their reserve funds year after year.

The major cost facing local municipalities is roads and bridges, and the reason that both North and South Frontenac put up local taxes in 2012 was to finance multi-year road paving programs that are aimed at maintaining roads at current levels over the long term. Central Frontenac kept their increase to a minimum by not embarking on a road re-paving program, but sooner or later they will have to, and the budget will go up accordingly.

There is not much that anyone can do about this. Much of the road costs come from roads that were once provincially maintained. This point was made by the mayor and CAO of South Frontenac Township to the provincial Ministry of Transportation at a meeting during the annual ROMA/Good Roads Conference in Toronto in February. The gulf between municipal resources and the costs of maintaining arterial roads and bridges has been the pre-occupation of the Eastern Ontario Warden’s Caucus and was the subject of a recent study and report that they sponsored.

It is clear, at least in the medium term, that the federal and provincial governments are concerned about reducing their own fiscal deficits right now. Roads and bridge money for municipalities is not coming for the next five years.

Frontenac County has been floating the idea of a regional roads system, of some way of pooling resources to do more road work in the county at a lower cost, but these efforts have been re-buffed by the townships.

There are a number of reasons for this, one being the fact that the county has no expertise in road construction or maintenance, as it has no roads department. A second has to do with lingering resentment over the fact that while municipalities across Ontario have been using gas tax rebate funds from the federal government to finance road and bridge projects for the past five years, Frontenac County has been banking their share of the funds and financing sustainability projects with the money, against the desires of local councils.

The township councils believe, and they may indeed be right, that entering into a relationship with Frontenac County over roads will only lead to more bureaucracy and less available money for actual roadwork.

One thing that has not been looked at, and particularly in the case of North and Central Frontenac, it might be relevant, is the fact that for a combined permanent resident population of about 6,500 people, the two townships each have a full-fledged administrative structure.

There are two CAOs, two IT managers, two planning co-ordinators, two treasurers, two assistant treasurers, and the list goes on.

I am fully aware that the history of amalgamation is one of promised administrative savings vanishing into thin air and leading ultimately to increased costs.

However, it will certainly have to occur to someone that the current scenario will only lead to higher taxes and a lessening ability to maintain services over time.

With current technology there must be a way to run all the services offered by North and Central Frontenac out of one office, and there must be a way to make it cheaper than running two almost identical offices in Plevna and Sharbot Lake.

If this idea is ever going to be discussed seriously - and to be honest I don’t think it will be - there would be a concern about cohesion in a “mega-township”. To that I would say two things. Firstly, 6,500 full-time residents is not exactly mega, and secondly, there is already a lack of cohesion in both North and Central Frontenac. In each case the "wild westerners", former Kennebec residents in Central Frontenac and Barrie residents in North Frontenac, feel they are on the outside looking in as far as their township council is concerned.

In a single township (let’s hypothetically name it "North Frontenac" to save on stationary costs), it wouldn’t be that different.

With 6,500 permanent residents, and the cash cow of almost 13,000 seasonal residents, if done right, "North Frontenac" would have be able to put a bit more money on the roads than the combined North and Central Frontenac townships do now.

At one time David Graham was a pharmacist/manager at a Shopper's Drug Mart in Calgary. He returned to Kingston, where his family is from, and was doing relief work at local pharmacies when he was approached by the Jetha family to manage their pharmacy in Sydenham.

“One of the things they were trying to do with the store was to expand its services to other areas of health care, to move beyond filling prescriptions and selling retail items,” he said. “And for me it brings an opportunity to evolve in what I do, to have less of technical workload and do more on the clinical side, to make the pharmacy more of a wellness centre.”

It's easy to see why this would be a way forward for a small, rural chain of pharmacies such as the Jethas have been building. Rather than competing with super-pharmacies such as Shoppers and Guardian, Sydenham Drugsmart has been working on providing the kinds of patient care that is only possible in a community setting.

David Graham is one of a few pharmacists in Ontario who has been trained as a diabetic specialist, and he has forged relationships with the Sydenham and Verona medical clinics. As well, Drugsmart has developed a smoking cessation program for patients who are trying to quit smoking.

The pharmacy has been renovated to create some clinic space at the rear of the building, and that has enabled Registered Physiotherapist Curtis Murray-Watters to bring the services of Limestone Health Physiotherapy to Sydenham. At the clinic, Murray-Watters provides manual therapy, a number of modalities for pain amelioration, home exercise programs, taping techniques, patient education and other services. He is also available for a free 15-minute consultation to help patients decide on a course of treatment.

“This is a great environment for me to work in,” Curtis said. “Since I started working here in September it has been very easy to get to know people in the community, and to start helping people with pain prevention and pain management, and promote fitness and wellness through activity.”

The physiotherapy services are often covered through insurance or workplace health plans.

Katie Casselman, a Registered Massage Therapist, also provides service at Sydenham Drugsmart through Limestone Health.

With the new services being offered at Sydenham Drugsmart, Sydenham now has a wide range of medical services available to serve the South Frontenac community, including the Sydenham Medical Centre, and the chiropractic and naturopath services that are also available.

“In the time that I've been working here I've learned that this is a close-knit community,” said David Graham. “There are also some issues around it being an ageing community, around osteoporosis and the need to stay active. Our goal is to make the services we offer fit the needs that people have. This is the future of the practice of pharmacy, to work with patients, to work with Limestone Health and others. We handle people’s pharmaceutical needs of course, but there is now a lot more to what we do than that. It's an exciting time.”

For more information call the pharmacy at 613-376-3842, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; or physiotherapy at 613-376-1073; email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Photo: In the past, the only way to cope with the stress of the annualpothole season was to make lemonade out of the lemons of life,like this optomistic chap is doing. But now there’s high-tech help- the new PH-APP (or Pot Hole - APP) for beleaguered drivers.

The Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN) was established in order to bring a robust Internet backbone to Eastern Ontario and to extend services to the rural outreaches of the region as well.

With the help of investments from all levels of government, EORN is well on its way to accomplishing its task, but instead of folding up its tent, EORN has decided to branch out.

“With the infrastructure in place, we thought we might as well begin working on services that are geared to residents of Eastern Ontario,” said EORN co-ordinator Julius Sparks, “so we started working on EO-APPS.”

Apps, or Applications, bring everything from bus schedules to video games to Smart phones, tablets and laptop computers.

“There is no point bringing a bus schedule app to Eastern Ontario because there are no buses, but helping people get where they are going is still essential,” said Sparks. “So we have worked with the Queen’s University IT department and the Innovation Centre in Kingston to incorporate GIS and satellite imagery from all of the municipalities in Eastern Ontario to develop the PH – APP.”

The PH stands for pot hole, and the application is being introduced on April 1 in order to be of maximum use to wired-in drivers in Eastern Ontario during the spring pot hole season.

The app is a sophisticated map of all the known pot holes in the region. When tied in to the GPS systems on Smart phones and tablets or even some newer GPS enabled vehicles, not only does the screen light up at the approach to a major pot hole, but as well the app prompts the device to emit a high-pitched beep to warn the driver of the impending hazard.

“This app will save drivers from significant grief,” said Julius Sparks, “and it is really an offshoot of the technology we have developed to help municipalities identify and fix pot holes. We wouldn’t want people to think that we are only finding the pot holes and making them beep. It is always better when they are fixed.”

Sparks added that the APP has been well received, although he has received some complaints from drivers on gravel roads in some municipalities that the unending beeping has triggered migraine headaches.

“But those are really isolated cases,” he said.

Photo:Frontenac County CAO Elizabeth Savill receives input from Verona and area seniors in one of eight public meetings held across the county.

On March 14 close to 50 seniors from Verona and the surrounding area attended one of eight public consultation meetings organized by the County of Frontenac. The meetings were held to gain community input from seniors in order to identify a preferred seniors community housing project for the county.

County CAO Liz Savill led the meeting, which took place at the Verona Lions hall. Savill said the aim of the study is to “research the options currently in place, assess seniors’ needs, identify possible options based on county needs, recommend a preferred pilot project based on a ‘best fit’ location within the county and to come up with a plan for the development of a pilot project that will include a financial assessment identifying potential funding sources and anticipated costs”.

Savill pointed to some of the realities seniors in the county are facing. Their numbers are expected to increase in the next 25 years. The average household income in Frontenac County is lower than in Kingston and the province as a whole, and also, in Frontenac County, from 1996 to 2006 the proportion of seniors spending over 30% of their household income on housing increased.

Other statistics Savill cited show that 90.5% of dwellings in the county are owned. The rental market in 2006 offered a total of 970 units, with a low vacancy rate and average rents ranging from $500-$1200 per month. Current options for seniors, including retirement homes, seniors housing and long term care homes, are much more expensive, ranging in price from $1600 – $3500+ per month. The options range from independent, semi-independent to dependent living and offer differing levels of care and support.

The county has identified several major issues facing seniors’ housing: an increased demand over time for a range of options and support services; a gradual increase in population, predominately in South Frontenac; increased housing affordability issues for a large proportion of seniors; and the need for increased support services that enable seniors to remain in their own communities.

Savill then offered four existing models for comparison as possible options. The largest model is a non-profit facility that houses 3,400 residents in various-sized independent, private apartment units. Stonebridge offers numerous on-site services; residents pay a one-time entrance fee and then regular monthly services fees.

The second, the Adair model, one of which currently exists in Tamworth, is a smaller, privately owned facility that offers private rental suites with common dining and living areas. Meals are provided and other in-house services are available.

The third model is the Abbeyfield model, which is a non-profit international organization that currently has 30 homes across Canada, including one in Kingston. The homes are run by local volunteers and can house 10-12 residents in private rental bed/sitting units with common dining and living areas.

Last was the Sharbot Lake model, based on the existing model owned and managed by Central Frontenac Housing Corporation, which contains five private one-bedroom rental units for independent living. Following the presentation Savill opened up the meeting to discussion and attendees pinpointed what amenities they considered most important, what levels of privacy and independence they preferred, and whether they preferred to be located in a larger center or in a smaller settlement.

Though the feedback varied, it was generally agreed that a wide range of services should be available, pets should be welcome and safety concerns should be tantamount. It was also agreed that degrees of privacy and independence should to be geared to individual needs. There was also a general consensus that housing should be located in a larger center rather than a more isolated setting.

In a second discussion regarding the preference of renting or owning, it was determined that each would depend on individual cases. There was a general consensus on the need for more support services to be available to those wishing to remain in their own homes.

Dr. Lynn Wilson, administrator with the Rural Kingston Family Health Organization, attended the meeting and said she was hoping to see the seniors develop “a consistent notion of what will meet their needs” as they progress from being well and independent through the gradations of what it means to age.

“My particular interest is to ensure that we have an integrated set of health and social services that will support that, and that will not be easy in the face of the Drummond report, which is marginalizing everyone who has already been marginalized,” Wilson said. “The ministry has stripped out a huge number of clinical services between Highway 7 and the 401 right across the province, which abandons the farming population essentially. So my question is - why is the health of a senior or a child who lives in that area worth less than those who live in urban areas? And the answer to that is that it costs more to service them.”

Councillor John McDougall from South Frontenac weighed in with his hopes for the future pilot project. “From a county perspective, we realize that there is a real need for people to find alternatives to living in their own homes when it comes to that certain point in their lives and that there will be different needs for different communities. What we need to do is build a model that will demonstrate the variety of those needs that will serve them best.”

Following the series of eight meetings, county staff will be looking over the information gained and will be coming up with a proposed pilot location for seniors housing that will offer the supports and amenities pinpointed by the seniors in the county.

Photo: Primary health care provider and registered midwife Amelia Drydyn of Village Midwifery Care is now offering her services to expectant moms in a large catchment area.

Here is some good news for moms-to-be. Amelia Drydyn, a registered midwife with the College of Midwives of Ontario, is now offering her services to expectant moms in a catchment area that includes North and Central Frontenac, Addington Highlands and the Rideau Lakes area.

Amelia recently opened her business, called Village Midwifery Care, along with a colleague Genia Stephen who is also a registered midwife. Amelia is no stranger to the area. She recently made her permanent home at a long-time family cottage near Sharbot Lake and is thrilled to be able to bring her services to clients in the area.

Amelia, who grew up in Toronto and Ottawa, first graduated from the University of Toronto with a science degree in 2001. She then completed a four-year bachelor’s degree program in health science, specializing in Midwifery at Ryerson University in Toronto. She worked at Riverdale Midwives in Toronto while studying at Ryerson and completed her final placement at Seventh Generation Midwives in Toronto, after which time she was hired on as a full time midwife.

With over 100 births under her belt she and her colleague Genia will be providing clinical care to women during their pregnancy, the delivery, and for six weeks following. Their practice specializes in low risk pregnancies and Genia also offers her services as an IBCLC, an internationally certified lactation consultant. Their aims in a nutshell, according to Amelia, are: “To help women have the best birth experience possible. We focus on safety and have all of the necessary equipment and training to make that possible.”

Amelia pointed out the main difference between her services and those offered by other primary health providers like family doctors and obstetricians. Firstly, midwives are the only primary health care providers who can attend a home birth. The other main difference is their philosophy of care.

Amelia said, “While we offer the same tests and clinical care as family doctors and obstetricians, the main differences is that we as midwives offer continuity of care and are on call 24/7 for our clients. One of our primary goals is to form a strong relationship with the client. Our regular scheduled visits are anywhere between a half and one hour so that women are given the time they need to process all of the information and ask any questions that arise. Lastly we use a principle with all of our clients called ‘informed choice’ meaning that every single routine procedure and test is discussed in depth so that our clients can make an informed choice of how they wish to proceed. We discuss all of the options and the client then decides if she would rather deliver at home or in a hospital; the choice is theirs.”

Another service they offer is post-partum home visits. “We will come and check mom and baby in the comfort of their own home after the birth until the mom is comfortably back on her feet.”

Breastfeeding consultation is another area of expertise that their practice offers.

Amelia and Genia are in the process of finding a permanent location for their new clinic. They are also currently conducting home visits in their catchment area (and beyond if needed) and are also offering pre-natal classes that run for six weeks. Amelia is thrilled at being able to offer her services in this community, which she now calls home. She demonstrated her passion for the work she does and ended our interview with these words: “Birth is one of the most important experiences in a woman and her family’s lives and the importance of her receiving thorough and respectful care at that time can have a lasting impact for everyone involved.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about the services offered at Village Midwifery Care can call 613-888-6623, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.villagemidwifery.ca