Million Dollar Signage in South Frontenac?

Alan Revill | Mar 22, 2023

It is somewhat tongue in cheek that I applaud the expenditures of over a million dollars to provide gateway and interior wayfinding signage. This will undoubtedly help guide the motoring public to avoid travel on certain roads that are in need of upgrading.

Based on the staff report presented to Council on February 21, 2023, the plan would use your tax dollars in the amount of $1,020,000 for this project in the next three years with the entire signage improvements to be completed over a 5 to 8 year time period. I assume there would be additional expenditures beyond the million dollars planned for the current three-year period. While the Township is applying for a RED (Rural Economic Development) grant in the amount of $240,000 (your other pocket), even if successful, it would still require local tax dollars ($780,000) and while the Township proposes to fund the first 3 years from a Working Fund Reserve, those monies came from your taxes. Of specific note is the expenditure of $20,000 in each of 11 different locations (total $220,000), to let you know that you have arrived in South Frontenac.

While there may be parts of the program that have merit, I believe most of these tax dollars could be better spent on the repair of our gravel and surface treated roads or climate adaptation and mitigation measures or physician recruitment among other needs.

Alan Revill