Nov 13/08 - CF Council

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Feature Article - November 13, 2008 Central Frontenac Council – Nov 10/08By Jeff Green

MPAC presentation – Bev Disney from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation made a comprehensive presentation on the new property assessment notices that have been sent out to Central Frontenac residents over the past three weeks.

Highlights of the changed assessment regime include a four-year phase in of assessment increases so property owners will not face large increases in property taxes all at once, as well as an enhanced, interactive website.

Information relevant to individual assessments is available using unique key codes that are included in the assessment notices.

It is also now possible to file a request for reconsideration of an assessment online.

Further information is available at MPAC.ca or by calling 1-866-296-6722.

First Impressions – Brian Ritchie, from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), made a presentation at the behest of Mayor Janet Gutowski about the First Impressions program. First Impressions involves arranging “secret shopper” style visits between two communities that are of similar size and character. The findings are presented to each community by a team of First Impressions visitors.

Although Ritchie said First Impressions would probably best serve Sharbot Lake and perhaps one other community in Central Frontenac, it is something that Central Frontenac Council may consider doing in 2009.

“One of the key things is finding a co-ordinator,” said Ritchie, “because that person could have to put in a total of five full days all told. But First Impressions is cheap,” Ritchie said,” and it could generate lots of energy in your community.”

Verona and Sydenham both participated in First Impressions this past summer.

Road 38 maintenance contract – Public Works Manager John Simcock received leave to put out a tender for contracting out winter maintenance on Road 38, which has been done in-house for many years.

Council agreed that if the price were lower or equal to what the township is paying to do the work, it would grant the tender.

Four companies answered the call, and each bid on a cost per hour of work basis. The bids were: Wills Construction, $258/hr, Cruickshank, $235/hr, Jim England $152/hr, and Scott’s Snowplowing (Dennis and Jill) $129/hr.

Simcock said his estimate of the cost to the township running their own truck is about $123, not including fuel, maintenance, training, and insurance costs, which would bring the cost up to $145 to $150 per hour.

“Would there really be extra insurance costs?” asked Councilor Norm Guntensperger, “don't we pay a fixed rate for insurance?”

“You have to remember that we are planning to use all of our trucks for the ten snow routes we've set up,” said Councilor Jeff Matson, “so we would be looking at buying a new truck if we don't go for this.”

“We said if it costs the same or less than what we are paying, we'd try it,” said Councilor Frances Smith. “So let's accept this tender from Scott’s.”

Council accepted the bid from Scott’s, and the contract will run for two years.

One December meeting – If there are no urgent matters, Council will meet once in December, on the 8th at Mountain Grove. The meeting will start early, at 5:30, to allow for a 90-minute presentation from the public works manager of a roads capital report and long-term plan. The fire chief is also scheduled to present a fire master plan at that same meeting.

Township Office closing – The township office will close at 4:30 pm on December 23, and will not re-open until Monday, January 5 at 8:30am (barring any unforeseen ice storms, that is) in line with the practice of previous years.

Nov 6/08 - NF Council

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Feature Article - November 6, 2008 North Frontenac Council – Oct 26, 2008By Jeff Green

Ardoch’s chicken question still unanswered.

Council received a letter from Edward Kennedy of the Lanark Frontenac Landowners Association on behalf of Scott Cooper and Charles Johnston of Ardoch, who were informed this past summer that the animals they keep on their seven acre hobby farm put them in contravention of a township bylaw and must be removed.

Kennedy appeared on their behalf in September, and at that time a motion deferring enforcement until November 4 was passed to allow for an application for an exemption to be completed.

The issue stems from the fact that the Johnston/Cooper property is located within a defined “hamlet” and agricultural uses are forbidden in hamlets unless they are “pre-existing agricultural uses”.

Township staff sought the advice of planner Glenn Tunnock, in whose opinion that is not the case for this property, because “animals were introduced on the property after July of 2004 and the barn was only recently constructed”.

Several councilors said they had no problem with the chickens.

“Ardoch has always been a farming community,” said Councilor Lonnie Watkins. “We need to look at our definition of hamlets.”

Scott Cooper asked for leave to address council, which was granted. He said that the property has been in agricultural use since 1860, and although there were no animals for a time before the property was purchased in 2004, “just nine days after the bylaw came into effect, it has never stopped having an agricultural use. The fields were always used for crops.”

The township is in the midst of reviewing its Official Plan and will be considering its Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw. Township clerk/planning coordinator Brenda De Fosse said the designation of hamlets could be on the table. They were taken from the designations in mapping provided by the pre-amalgamation townships and were not looked at when the zoning bylaw was approved in 2004.

But it could take a year or more to sort out zoning, and the question of how to deal with the Cooper/Johnston matter in the interim was facing Council.

Council agreed to extend the deferral of bylaw enforcement until the township’s planner is available to come to a meeting.

Maintenance request refused: Murray and Beverly Elliott of 1460 Ragged Chutes Lane asked that Council consider providing grading and plowing on their road. The township maintains Ragged Chutes Road up to a point that is 1.6 kilometres from their house, to the Sproule farm, but no further.

“If we accept this, we would have to provide maintenance on all private lanes” said Works Manager John Ibey.

The request was denied.

Winter maintenance refused, but will be studied further: A request from Terry and Karin Reynolds, who have been permanent residents on the Crotch Lake access road for four years and would like the township to plow their road in the winter, was refused by Council on the grounds that the road is an “unmaintained road”

In their letter of request the Reynolds had made the point that Crotch Lake Access road is a township owned road. They noted that in 2004 Council had accepted a similar request from the Killam family in the East Bay Road on Buckshot Lake. The letter also said the cost would be minimal since they live less than 100 metres down the access road.

Public Works Manager John Ibey said, “If we run a plow in there...we would have to physically turn in there; you can't back a 50,000 lb. truck onto a busy road like the Ardoch Road,” he said.

The township would need an agreement to turn around on private property, on land that Ibey said is owned by the Fergusons, Karin Reynolds parents.

“I misunderstood the situation,” said Deputy Mayor Jim Beam, “I think we should reconsider this. I thought it was an unmaintained road.”

“If we get into turnarounds on private property, there will be all kinds of other requests,” said Councilor Wayne Good, “I don't think we should do this.”

“We've voted,” said Mayor Maguire, “let's move on.”

Later in the meeting, Councilor Lonnie Watkins raised the issue again. “We have a young family that is committed to living in our township and we won't provide service on a township road. I don't see it,” he said. “We should revisit this.”

“We went the extra mile for Killams because they are permanent residents,” said Mayor Maguire. “But we need more information before we do this. How many more situations like this are there?”

Township staff was left with the task of reporting back on the number of seasonally maintained roads in the township.

Immigration to North Frontenac: Mayor Ron Maguire drew Council's attention to an initiative on the role of municipalities in attracting immigrants, which came from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO).

“I know rural municipalities are not the focus of this, but we are not excluded,” said Mayor Maguire. “We are finding ourselves at a point where we are struggling with keeping the facilities we have. Unless we do something tangible, it’s going to be inevitable that we lose them.”

Councilor Councilor Elaine Gunsinger wondered how North Frontenac could attract people when there are few jobs to be had in the township. “If we don't grow, we die,” she said.

Council agreed to write to AMO expressing interest in the initiative.

Secession quietly recedes to the back burner: A standing agenda item “Draft Request for Proposal to investigate the feasibility of separation from the County – update” was apparently left on the agenda by mistake and is to be removed from upcoming council agendas.

Nov 6/08 - SF Council

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Feature Article - November 6, 2008 Sydenham Water Plant Faces Potential $1.4 million UpgradeBy Wilma Kenny

Only days after Sydenham residents paid their portion of the capital costs for the village water treatment plant, a bill that averaged $5.000 per household excluding hook-up and internal plumbing changes, Council learned they were facing additional costs up to $1,420,000 for improvements to the plant necessary to bring the village water up to Provincial drinking water standards.

When chlorine is used for disinfection, it combines with organic substances to form disinfectant byproducts, primarily triahalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids.

Plant manager Kevin Riley, of Utilities Kingston, reported that total THM results in Sydenham have "routinely been detected at levels greater than 100 Fg/L (micrograms per litre), which is the current maximum acceptable concentration." To further complicate matters, Health Canada is expected to lower this limit to 80 F/L, in line with the US standard.

Del Stowe led off the Council reaction by asking why the MOE had approved the present system.

"That’s why you have experts,” he said “this plant is only three years old. I’m at a loss for words."

Councilor David Hahne said "You buy a new car, it comes with a warranty. Why doesn’t this system work? What did we get for our money?"

"I’m really cheesed, said Deputy Mayor Bill Robinson. “We paid a lot of money, and I don’t think we got a lot of bang for our buck."

Utilities Kingston has consulted XCG Environmental Engineers, and Cameron Smith of XCG presented his report. Early trials showed that byproducts of disinfection were formed relatively quickly, and so the problem did not appear to result from low use of the water system, as had been suspected.

Two alternative solutions were proposed.

1) Use of granular activated carbon to remove organic matter prior to chlorination. This has the additional benefit of removing taste and odour, or 2) A combination of ultraviolet irradiation and chloramination, which although less expensive ($.6 million), would be "apt to lead to public awareness/concern related to the addition of ammonia to the drinking water," according to Smith.

As well, this process has potential for nitrate formation (one of the problems the water system was originally intended to address.) XCG recommends that the granular activated carbon (option 1) be the preferred treatment alternative.

On the day of Council meeting, No. 4, Ministry of he Environment (MoE) representatives said that in combination with the proposed carbon pilot test, additional coagulation/flocculation jar testing should be done.

CAO Gord Burns said he and the Mayor had met with the Minister, and had been told the THM problem had to be solved.

"Time is of the essence," agreed Plant Manager Riley.

Councilor Ron Vandewal said "I don’t like what’s happened, but the reality is we have to do something about it."

Councillor Hahn argued that there must be a public information meeting, once the pilot study is complete. Mayor Davison agreed, "We must be open and transparent," adding, ‘we’re just trying to be a little low-key at the front end here."

As for funding, gord Burns said the province’s 5-year grant of $20,000/year would cover the $50,000 cost of the pilot study, and application was in process for a Build Canada grant: both the MoE and Public Health had written letters of support. Council agreed to proceed with the pilot study. (Neither Councilors York nor Fillion were present for this meeting.)

CAO Search Committee

CAO Burns is retiring August 09. Mayor Davison, Deputy Mayor Robinson and Councillors York and Stowe will form a search committee for a new CAO with the assistance of William Winegard.

Sydenham Triathlon, 2009

Council expressed interest in a proposal for a one-day race event to be held July 5 in Sydenham. It would include swimming, running and bicycling at a range of levels, all the way from Olympic to a children’s one-km run. The village has nearly ideal conditions for such an event.

Restarting the Clock on Severances

Council plans to vote on this issue at their December 2nd meeting.

Sydenham Library Expansion Committee

Council approved a budget of $15,000 for a topographical survey, soils investigation and architect fees to include analysis of the resulting information and siting of the proposed building.

Coyote Predation

Coyote kills were high this month: four sheep, a goat and a calf, at a total of four different locations in the Township.

Santa Claus Parades

Sydenham’s parade will be 10 am November 29, and Harrowsmith’s will be the same time the following week: Dec 6.

Dec 18/08 - Letters

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Letters - December 18,2008 Letters: December 18

Fed Up, Elinore Duncan

Harper and Mugabe, Doug Steele

Thank You Sydenham Safe Water Association, Pat and John Haney

Re: Letter Democracy is a Messy Business, Wolfe Erlichman

Fed Up

During the last election campaign the Conservative Party's diatribe directed primarily at the Liberals and NDP and also the disrespect for the Green Party and the French was difficult to condone. Now the malicious attack on the Liberals, NDP and the French is unacceptable.

With regard to the current economic situation, how can the Conservative Government be trusted to plan our economic future when they have disregarded the opportunities to make so many corrections in our economic system while in power.

They include:

Available Skills Training for unemployed workers and young people;Access for universal childcare to better allow for people to go to work;More affordable housing;Providing a single tier medical system and easier access to medical school education so there are sufficient numbers of doctors to include preventative and acute care for all citizens;To correct the shameful treatment of Aboriginal peoples;Opening the NAFTA agreement for re-evaluation and change;Make adjustments to the (EXCUSE Me) Employment Insurance Act for the unemployed.

It might be time for the Transnational Corporations to discontinue the right to decide the Economic and Social life for Canadians.

Elinore Duncan

Harper and Mugabe

I am blown away by the unreasonable and irrational comments made by all political parties as if their main purpose is to destroy Canada.

I am disappointed in the Conservative Party since they called the election in September. They have engineered a media campaign of browbeating and smear similar to Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe’s government in Africa, without the guns and murder. Mugabe’s Zimbabwe’s economy has gone from bad to worse to disastrous in recent years. Is this what we can expect?

I support the coalition as I will not be bullied by Conservative arrogance. I believe that if one can get the majority of political parties to agree on any issues, they should form the government. The coalition group has agreed to govern and they will do as good a job as a group of bullies whose aim is to destroy all future opposition to their control of government. Harpers’ Conservatives and Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF Party have so much in common.

Doug Steele

Thank You Sydenham Safe Water Association (SSWA)

As newer residents of Sydenham my husband and I have listened and read about the ongoing water debate that has taken place in the village. We also learned about the Sydenham Safe Water Association (SSWA) and found it amazing that a small group of people, a committee elected by the local homeowners, have spent countless hours on behalf of the people of Sydenham, investigating and presenting their findings to the Township Council.

In spite of the MANY reasons for not building the system, including the fact that the population is not large enough to support such a scheme, (recently substantiated by the Ontario Government) and without popular support, the township went ahead with the expensive project. So now it's done and it's not working too well. It's full of a chemical that causes cancer and recently the SSWA were at least able to convince the council that the plant was overbuilt and that the current residents should not be paying for water that future developments will be using. Because of their work the costs to Sydenham householders was reduced quite a bit. Now the Council is having a study done on the possibility of an old landfill at the Point leaking into our drinking water. From what I heard the SSWA warned them about that from the start.

The purpose of this letter is to thank the SSWA for their determine efforts on our behalf and time spent without expecting any recompense. They've saved us money, held a concert to help low-income families whom without help may lose their homes, they keep on top of the health situation and also, as a footnote, I noticed in a local paper that our council is to conduct a water review on an updated settlement area that may connect up to the water system, resulting in future revenue. Can we perhaps give credit to the SSWA for this also?

Thank-you for fighting our fight, thank-you for saving us money, thank-you for keeping an eye on a situation that needs watching.

Pat and John Haney

Re: Letter to the editor, December 11,"Democracy is a Messy Business"

Mr. Cameron refers to the, "failed economic theories of the NDP". Since there has never been a federal NDP government, it would be difficult to have failed theories at the federal level. Provincially, there have been successful NDP governments and some which were not so successful. Of course, the same applies to Conservative and Liberal governments.

If Mr. Cameron was a little more charitable about the motives of politicians, he would not be imputing bad motives and using pejorative phrases such as, "cadre of insiders". After all, Mr. Harper is famous for being a cadre of one inside the very tightly controlled Conservative Party.

Wolfe Erlichman

Dec 11/08 - SF Council

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Feature Article - December 11, 2008 South Frontenac Committee of the WholeBy Wilma Kenny

2009 Roads Plan Draft

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth presented Council with a proposal for the 2009 roads capital budget, based on last February’s 5-year plan, with updated cost estimates. Segsworth emphasised that this was a draft proposal based on need and available funding, and included not only resurfacing but also drainage, platform (road base) and guide rail requirements, as well as bridges and culverts. The proposed roads budget of just over $4.5 million was based on a 3% increase in money raised by taxes, which would still leave a shortfall of $1.8 million to be covered by ‘funding from other sources.’ This latter category would include grants, reserves, development charges and, if necessary, reductions in the proposed programs.

Council debated the pros and cons of a 3% increase in the roads budget, but deferred their decision to next week’s Council meeting. Councillor Robinson asked whether requests for road work that he gets from local residents would be taken into account: Segsworth said the pavement management program was based on information from those responsible for maintaining the roads, and statistics on traffic volume, etc. However, final approval lay with Council. Mayor Davison reminded Council that the 5-year road plan was a living document. Several councillors congratulated Segsworth on a well-written, comprehensive proposal.

Waste Management Recommendations

The public, Council and the township’s Sustainability Committee have all agreed that the three most significant issues of the Waste Management Plan Study are: 1) Extending collection into Bedford, 2)Waste generated within the Township is disposed of within the Township, including managing each waste disposal site as a Township wide asset, and: 3) $2. tag for each bag of garbage. At Council’s request, Segsworth presented the Committee of the Whole with further information, analysis and recommendations in regard to each of these issues. He opened with the observation that perhaps more thought should have been given to looking at "how might we roll all this out over the next 5-10 years," prior to the pubic meetings.

Some highlights from Segsworth’s presentation: there are six active waste sites in South Frontenac, serving an equivalent population (ie, counting in short periods of residency by seasonal residents) of 15,000 residents. In addition, an equivalent population of 6,000 have their garbage disposed of externally. This present situation for a population of 21,000 is not cost efficient or effective solid waste management. None of the landfills operate consistently in compliance with the conditions of their Certificates of Approval. This cannot continue, even though managing in a more sound environmental manner will lead to higher operating costs at each site. In 5-10 years, we should be operating 50% fewer waste disposal sites within the Township. However, rather than close sites which still have approved capacity, while at the same time paying to export Storrington’s waste, it would be possible to treat Storrington’s waste as an asset. Storrington’s annual disposal fees, which are considerable, could be kept withing the Township and their waste could go to maximizing the capacity of whatever waste sites are slated to be closed. As waste sites in Bedford close, the areas they served may well want the convenience of pick-up. Because one of the more significant challenges for collection is the number of households located on private lanes, the Township needs accurate inventories and assessments of these lanes. This could be done in cooperation with the fire department.

User pay has been proven to be the most effective way to reduce waste. The neighbouring townships to the East and West have successfully instituted user pay, and find it works well. However, because of a number of issues and misunderstandings related to bag tags, a compromise solution might be to phase the program in by allowing one bag per household per week, any other bags to be tagged with purchased bag tags. Although illegal dumping is, and always will be an issue, neighbouring pick-up staff report that over 90% of residents are willing to comply with user pay.

Less controversial waste-related issues that are in the process of being addressed include: bale-wrap, recycling schedules, yard waste disposal, hazardous waste, and communal bins.

Councillor Robinson spoke at length of his opposition to the report and the recommendations therein. After considerable discussion, Mayor Davison called for straw votes on the most controversial issues. Council agreed to receive the sustainability report in principle, to work toward reducing the total number of waste disposal sites by 50%, to allow one bag per week, any other bags to be tagged with purchased tags, and to issue universal dump cards to township residents, because anyone bringing waste directly to a site would have to pay the Township’s agreed-upon disposal fees. They did not agree to support extending household collection to cover areas where local landfills were closed, or to manage all township waste within the township. However, Councillor Vandewal said that if the latter wording were changed from "within the township" to "by the township’, he would support the proposal, which had been defeated by one vote.

Segsworth remained calm in the face of the extended arguments, summarizing his reaction to the negative votes with the comment, "I think you’re wrong, but I’m not offended." He continued, "I just don’t want you leaving this meeting wondering where I stand on this. You’re paying me fairly good money to manage the roads and waste programs, and it’s up to me to give you, based on my experience and training, what I feel is the best route to follow. But it’s up to you to decide. That’s the democratic process."

Dec 11/08 - CF Council

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Feature Article - December 11, 2008 Central Frontenac CouncilBy Jeff Green

Roads plan deferred; Council moves to freeze budget for 2009 in final CF Council meeting of the year

Central Frontenac Council has asked senior staff to work towards a budget with a 0% increase in the levy to taxpayers for 2009, hoping that infrastructure grants from higher levels of government will help to address some of the $10 million cost of upgrading the township’s crumbling roads and bridges.

“We've got a major economic crisis and a lot of people are going to be let go from their jobs. It will be hard for people to pay their taxes as it is. I believe we need to be very stringent,” said Councilor Gary Smith in echoing the view of Councilor John Purdon, who made the initial case for no increase.

Mayor Janet Gutowski had begun by talking about possible spending to improve the township’s office, saying, “We have a pressure point with regard to our administration building. The rent is $700 a month for the portables where our public works department is housed, for example.”

She was quickly deterred, however. Councilor Norm Guntensperger said, “We need to make sure that investments are really necessary, when we have buildings that are heated, but not used, even if they are located some distance from the township office, such as the former school building in Mountain Grove.”

Gutowski then said “I couldn't agree with you more, we do need to be careful.”

This call for fiscal constraints will have to vie with the needs identified by Public Works Manager John Simcock, who presented a Draft Road Capital Investment Plan to Council earlier in the meeting.

“This is the math that frightens people,” said Simcock. “Central Frontenac has a total road system of 562 kilometres, and on 259 kilometres of the system there is a known need for repairs. They would cost $9,930,000 to repair. That is $1.9 million per year to bring them up to standard. It's not going to happen. We are so far behind we can never catch up, but we have to do the best we can in a methodical manner.”

The plan Simcock presented uses mapping infomation from the township’s IT department, and “from the ground information” that has been gathered by roads department members Crystal Nedow, Steve Reynolds, and Simcock himself. It was also worked on by consultant Hans Munz.

Simcock suggested that because of the detailed information that the township now possesses, a “cookie cutter” approach can be used to repair the worst parts of the roads in all corners of the township.

“In the past, you've picked a couple of roads to fix each year. Now, you have all the information in front of you. It's up to Council to prioritize, and you can develop a five-year, 10-year, or a 12-year road improvement plan,” Simcock said.

Once a plan is in place the township will be able to more easily apply for any kinds of infrastructure programs that the federal or provincial governments come up with, which now look likely in light of recent political noise about spending to counter the much talked about global economic crisis.

A motion that included nine recommendations accompanied the report, dealing with ways to consider and implement the information that was included in the details of the report. Council focused on one recommendation in particular: the call for public consultation. “I agree in principle with this, but I think we have to consult first ... I think we should defer this and move forward with public consultation,” said Councilor Guntensperger.

A motion to table was approved, and some means for public consultation, prior to the 2009 budget deliberation in February, will be sought.

CAO resigns – Mark Hall, the township's chief administrative officer, who has been on the job for less than three months, has resigned.

Hall was hired after an extensive search, and was one of two candidates on the short list for the job. There was no comment from Council regarding the resignation, which was accepted “with regret.” However, concerns had been expressed about a number of instances where Hall was unavailable for work because of migraine headaches.

Prior to hiring Mark Hall, the township was overseen by interim CAO John Duchene for over 18 months, before his resignation in late August.

Cathy MacMunn, the township planning co-ordinator, was appointed acting CAO/Clerk. MacMunn has been serving as deputy CAO.

Tax estimator online – In an ongoing effort to help residents understand the impact of tax assessment increases, the township has placed a tax estimator on its website.

By clicking an icon at the bottom of the township’s home page, the MPT estimator comes up. By entering two numbers, the property tax value from 2005, and the value from 2008, (these figures were included in the property tax notice ratepayers received in October) an estimate of taxation for the next four years comes up.

The results can be surprising. For example, a residence valued at $150,000 in 2005, which has been increased to $200,000 in 2008, would have paid $2,100 in taxes this year, but would see a tax decrease in 2009, to $2060, if the township council itself does not raise taxes.

Even projecting a tax increase of 3% next year, the property would only see a tax increase of $100.

Emergency road work – Council approved an emergency culvert repair for Crow Lake Road, which was awarded to Crains’ Construction for $16,978.50. Four contractors were asked to quote on the project, and two quoted on it. Crains' bid was the lowest.

A short stretch of the Boundary Road between Central and South Frontenac will be raised to alleviate a flooding problem due to persistent South Frontenac beavers. The township will pay $8,245 to Crains’ for the repair, which includes a new culvert, on the expectation that South Frontenac will pitch in for half the cost.

Public Works Manager Simcock said that repeated blasting of the beaver dams in South Frontenac have had little effect, but “I personally think we need to address the immediate road problem, as a health and safety issue; the road is consistently flooded.”

Blown engine to cost $24,554 – John Simcock said that the township was short four trucks during the first snow storm of the season two weeks ago, but is now down just one truck, due to a blown engine. A new engine will cost $24,554 from Oakes Truck Sales. Council approved the expenditure.

Fire department recognised - Melanie Arsenault, from the Fire Marshall’s office, presented a certificate to Fire Chief Mark MacDonald to mark the completion of a comprehensive survey by the township’s fire department, making Central Frontenac one of the first departments to come into compliance with the requirements in the Fire Protection and Prevention Act of 2007, which codifies municipal requirements in fire protection.

Dec 18/08 - SF Council

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Feature Article - December 11, 2008 South Frontenac Council -Dec 16/08By Jeff Green

South Frontenac passes major hurdle in Official Plan Review.

South Frontenac Council has finally put the contentious issue of the number of new building lots that can be created out of an existing lot, to bed.

At a meeting on Tuesday night (December 16) Council decided to amend the existing Official Plan, which as of the year 2000 has limited the number of severances to an existing lot, to three.

A compromise reached among a majority of Council members will result in raising that number to five, pending the approval of the Provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Several Councillors wanted to leave the same rules in place but to “restart the clock” so that any lot of record as of January 1st 2009 could be severed three times, even if the lot itself was created as the result of a severance over the past nine years.

The townships planning department vociferously objected to this proposal. Department head Lindsay Mills has argued for months that ‘restarting the clock’ “would violate approximately seven existing goals and objectives in the Plan, effectively requiring the Plan to be extensively changed.

While Mill’s recommended that no change be made, his fall back position, which he said would not have the same kind of impact on the plan as the ‘restart’ option, would be to increase the number of lots that can be created from an existing lot to 4.

Mills argues that this change “tends to still be consistent with the other policies in the Official Plan … this much more minor change has a better chance of being approved by the Ministry.”

In debating the issue, it quickly became clear that a majority of Council were not going to support Lindsay Mills initial recommendation and the ‘4 lot solution’ was also not likely to pass.

“We have some of the strictest regulations in Ontario that people must follow when creating lots and building on them. I don’t really see the problem with re-starting the clock,” said Councillor Ron Vandewal.

Councillor David Hahn took up the argument in favour of the status quo.

“There are two ways of making lots, by severance and by plan of subdivision. With severance you don’t have controls, and you don’t get groundwater studies. People come to the Committee of Adjustment; they apply and get the severance. With a plan of subdivision there are groundwater studies, environmental impact studies, and the developer builds new roads to a high standard. It is the best way to go.

“But why should people go to the trouble, and cost, of the plan of subdivision process just to create lots that are more expensive than severed lots. It’s not fair to the people doing subdivisions … We need to listen to our planner, who we pay good money to. He is talking about the future.”

Deputy Mayor Larry York said, “If we add two more lots that will make it five. Farmer’s around here are pretty necessary, and with a downturn in the economy farmers are not going to make much money next year or the year after. They need another tool, like selling a lot, to survive. Let’s protect the farmers.”

“We’re not just talking about farms and roads here, we are talking about waterfront. Changing the three severance rule is a mistake,” said Mayor Gary Davison.

Three votes were taken.

The first, a proposal to follow Lindsay Mills’ recommendation, went down in a 6-3 vote, with only Councillors Hahn, McPhail, and Mayor Davison supporting it.

The second, to increase the maximum severances on an existing lot to 4 also went down 6-3, with only Councillors McPhail, Stowe, and Davison supporting it.

Finally, the proposal to increase the maximum severances on an existing lot to 5 was carried with Councillors Fillion, Hicks, Robinson, Stowe, Vandewal and Deputy Mayor York in favour and only Councllors McPhail, Hahn and Mayor Davison opposed.

“People should not think they can apply for these new severances next week,” said Councillor Stowe. “This won’t happen if the Province doesn’t like it.”

“And they will take seriously that our own planner opposed it,” said Mayor Davison.

The townships Official Plan review will now move to a public meeting in the new year before being submitted to the Province.

Other Council news

Tanker purchase approved

Council accepted the tender from Seagrave inc. for a new fire truck at a cost of $294,234.85, including taxes.

The purchase is in line with the townships ongoing fire truck replacement plan.

Fire Chief Cheeseborough explained that in 2005, a levy of $35 for every $150,000 in property assessment was approved to create a fund of about $250,000 per year for new fire equipment. Since then a 25 year replacement plan for all equipment has been instituted.

“To compensate for the $35 special charge, a water shuttle program was brought in to assist people who live within 8 kilometres of fire halls with their insurance costs, resulting in decreases as high as 40%,” Cheeseborough said.

He added that the cost of fire equipment is going up 15% next year because of new regulations, so it pays the township to order a truck before the end of the year.

Municipal waste – In order to put substance to some of the matters that had been agreed to at a Committee of the Whole meeting one eek earlier, CAO Gord Burns brought two motions forward.

The first was that South Frontenac establish a township wide dump card which, the motion said, “will allow any resident of South Frontenac to take their garbage to any landfill within the township” as long as the proper fees are paid.

This was approved without much debate, although the vote was very close, 5-4. Councillors Hahn, Stowe, McPhail, Vandewal and Mayor Davison supported it, and Councillors Filion, Hicks, Robinson, and Deputy Mayor York opposed it.

”That’s what I’ll be campaigning on next time around,” said Bill Robinson after the vote.

The second motion was more widely supported, but it prompted quite a bit of debate over wording.

The motion proposed that the township waste management plan be received, that the number of active dump sites be reduced by 50% within 5-10 years, and that a one bag limit for each property be established, with all other bags requiring $1 tags.

This final point led to a ten minute debate over wording. The bulk of Council agreed with the idea that pick up crews will take a single untagged bag from each property each week, and that any other bags will require tags. How to word that in a motion proved elusive, although Council eventually got there.

Councillor Filion, however, was having none of it.

“We’ll all be unemployed soon anyway, so we’ll be eating garbage,” he said at one point.

Council will not be meeting until the New Year.

Dec 4/08 - NF Council

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Feature Article - December 4, 2008 North Frontenac Council -by Jeff Green

Solution offered for Ardoch livestock: chickens may come home to roost after all.

Glenn Tunnock, the North Frontenac Township Planning consultant, offered up an option which could allow Scott Cooper and Charles Johnston of the hamlet of Ardoch to keep the livestock they have accumulated on their property. In September they received a notice from the township’s bylaw officer informing them that the livestock they tend on their property is illegal and must be removed, as Ardoch is considered a “hamlet zone” in the township's comprehensive zoning bylaw, which came into force in 2004.

Cooper and Johnston asked for a delay so they could apply for a zoning change, arguing that their property has been continually used for agricultural purposes since 1931, and pre-existing uses are not generally prohibited by new bylaws.

However, the township’s solicitor expressed the opinion that the property was only being used for crop production when Cooper and Johnston bought it a mere nine days after the bylaw came into force. Bringing in a few goats, sheep, and chickens represented a change in use, and thus contravened the bylaw. For the township to alter the zoning now would set a dangerous precedent.

In his presentation to Council on November 27, Tunnock said that there is a provision in the Planning Act whereby property owners can apply to the township’s Committee of Adjustment for a one-time alteration in land use, which would allow them to expand their agriculture cropping operation to a livestock operation. Limitations on the number of animals and the location of the barn or shed for the animals would apply.

“That one-time approval should be based on a cap of the number of livestock units. The issue is the potential impacts on the neighbours,” Tunnock said.

The advantage of this kind of solution, according to Tunnock, is that it does not require a change in zoning, and thus does not set any real precedent that could come back to haunt the township.

Council was generally happy to see a solution to the bureaucratic tangle in this case, and agreed to follow Tunnock's advice, but there were questions raised about the definition of a hamlet, which was at the root of the issue.

“Is there such a designation as rural hamlet?” asked Councilor Wayne Good. “We have hamlets that have only one or two houses”.

“What we tried to do with hamlets is recognise the potential for new development by encouraging residential uses over other uses in these zones,” said Tunnock.

Tie goes to the loser – Tie votes on two competing motions symbolized the split in council over whether to plow a small section of the Crotch Lake Access Road for permanent residents Terry and Karin Reynolds.

Ms. Reynolds appeared before Council and pointed out that the road is a township owned and maintained road, and although maintenance has only been on a seasonal basis for boat access to the lake, the presence of permanent residents puts the onus on the township to maintain the road for the first 500 feet, where the Reynolds live. A report from Public Works manager John Ibey pointed out that the township could have significant expense plowing the road because the preferable means would be through a contractor and the road is not located near any other contracted road. As well, he suggested that the township might want to consider how many similar roads there are in the township before approving an increase in service.

A motion had been prepared as the result of Ibey’s report, calling for the whole matter to be considered in budget talks, with the possibility of hiring a consultant to look at all the roads that may be involved.

With Councilor Lonnie Watkins absent from the meeting, Mayor Maguire surmised that the remaining six members of Council were split. Half of them would support the motion that came out of Ibey’s report, and half would support providing the service to the Reynolds.

He was right. Councilors Perry, Good, and Mayor Maguire supported the motion, while Deputy Mayor Beam, as well as Councillors Gunsinger and Olmstead, voted against it.

A second motion, to provide the service, was supported by Beam, Gunsinger, and Olmstead and opposed by Maguire, Perry, and Good.

In municipal politics, tie votes are lost.

“I wish Lonnie were here,” said Karin Reynolds, referring to the absent Watkins, who has indicated his support for her cause.

Maguire disappointed with county process – Mayor Maguire reported to council on the all day meeting that was held to kick off the public consultation on the Frontenac County Integrated Community Sustainability plan.

“There are issues and solutions that are characteristic of the southern half, and different issues in the northern half and the two don't seem to be mixing here,” said Maguire. “They've begun the process of meeting with citizens of local communities, but they picked the wrong time of year. Back in the spring I told Don Grant, their senior consultant, that 2/3 of our residents are seasonal, but that did not seem to make any difference to them.

“In sum. Nothing new was said; there was nothing new that we heard. Was anything accomplished? No. I did tell them that I think maybe the County itself is not sustainable, but they are used to that from me by now.”

Mississppi Valley budget - Deputy Mayor Jim Beam, the township representative to the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA), informed council that the authority will be doing a lot of work on water facilities next year, seven of which are located in North Frontenac. The draft budget for the MVCA calls for a relatively small increase in the base budget, about 62 cents per resident in North Frontenac, and an extra levy, for the next four years, to help pay for a new headquarters. For 2009, this would mean the levy for North Frontenac would rise from $12,000 in 2008, to over $16,000 in 2009.

“We still do pretty well when we consider how much work they do on the township,” said Beam.

The City of Ottawa pays the vast majority of the MVCA budget, which is levied according to population, in excess of 95% of the budget.

Recycling plant – The township will contribute to the costs of a business plan for the purchase and operation of a recycling plant in Renfrew. The plant would serve eight surrounding townships.

Dec 4/08 - Letters

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Letters - December 4,2008 Letters: December 4

And So It Goes, Robert Lovelace

CF Road Capital Improvement Plan, Logan Murry

Open Letter to CF Council and Public Works, Juergen Reinecke

And So itGoes

After centuries of failure, some things never change. Canada and its provinces have yet to learn that colonial muscle only leads to more resentment and conflict. The recent agreement between one First Nation, a surrogate First Nation, Ontario and a prospector have left a bitter taste in the mouths of honest people. For the most part, Shabot Obaadjiwan will be permitted to look over the shoulder of Frontenac Ventures while deep core drilling for lucrative uranium deposits takes place. Ontario calls it a victory, while many residents know that it was a defeat brought about with the threat of a $77 million lawsuit, court costs, fines and jail sentences.

The agreement between these colluding parties allows Frontenac Ventures to do what they intended to do in the first place. If they are not stopped the results of their exploration will be sold to a larger mining company that will develop an open pit uranium mine. That mine will operate for a decade or so and then close, leaving behind toxic tailing that will poison the Mississippi watershed. The most conservative research indicates that no environmental or health protection regulations have ever limited the development of an open pit uranium mine in Canada. Governments just don’t care to get involved. The aftermath is as predictable, every uranium mining site opened in Canada remains a toxic wasteland. There is no technology for containment of radio-active tailings that is good beyond 30 years; just long enough for your grandchildren to grow up.

The affects are already obvious. Beautiful land near Crotch Lake has been scraped clean for drilling and roads (called trails) have been forced across cold water streams and wetlands. Local real estate values have plummeted around the exploration area and lifelong tourists are relocating or looking elsewhere for other “little pieces of heaven”. People who are the “salt of the earth” have been threatened and feel powerless as Ontario ignores their petitions and intelligent concerns. I suppose for some, the fortunate few, Shabot Obaadjiwan, can at least relax now, their fight is over, they have played their part in the colonial dance with Ontario. For the rest of us it is not over, our responsibilities to the land and one another will continue.

Robert Lovelace

CF Road Capital Improvement Plan

I have a serious concern about the Road Capital Improvement Plan (RCIP) that will be discussed during the next meeting of council. It seems, from information gleaned on the township’s web site, that the public works department is proposing a long-term road budget that will effectively ensure that no money is available for approximately one third of the roads in the township. If it is passed, those of us who live on D and possibly some C classified roads can look forward to no monies being budgeted on our roads. The plan is very vague in certain areas and does not seem to deal with the roads from primarily a safety issue, and secondly from a cost benefit issue.

As an example there are several very unsafe areas of the Cranberry Lake Road and several areas where, given any significant rainfall, the road surface washes away. Surely fixing such problems brings a great degree of safety to the citizens who use that road and saves us from trucking gravel to the same areas over and over and having to grade those areas constantly. Fixing these types of areas properly and quickly insures that greater resources would be available on the rest of the road system and eliminates a significant waste of material and fuel.

The preamble to the plan recommends that council should “consider consultation with the public with regard to the implications of a RCIP”. Do we consider posting the plan the web site consultation? Do we intend to have this consultation when a significant number of ratepayers are not in the township? And on top of it all we paid a consultant to facilitate the plan. How much did that cost?

A number of these roads are already in abysmal condition and very poorly maintained, it would be ridiculous to exclude them from potential upgrading. If we simply dealt with road issues with some common sense and made sure the work, wherever we choose to upgrade our road stock, was done well and efficiently, not the case in way too many circumstances I have personally witnessed, then we can improve our roads at a sensible cost.

Logan Murray

Open Letter to CF Council and Public WorksI live on the Clarendon Road in Central Frontenac Township. After much conversation with various members of the community, I decided to voice my concerns in this form.

The subject is fairness and equality for all the residences of this township. I cannot give you an opinion on the road condition of the whole of Central Frontenac. However, I can give you the facts on the road system in my immediate proximity.

Starting in June there were multiple phone calls made to the public works department about the potholes, washouts, and general disrepair of the Willis Armstrong - Clarendon Road.

No return of my calls. Nothing happened. IGNORED.

After several more calls a grader was sent to grade the road but only part of it. Fed up, I tried to improve the rest of the road (2 miles) as best as possible, which I had to do another three times. Because of the horrendous roads, my farm equipment incurred damage costing $300. Thanks!

In August the road was graded the day before Blue Skies festival began (I guess so the locals couldn’t ruin the road before the festival). On that day the grader wanted to turn back again but my wife BEGGED him to complete the rest. He actually did and this was the first time that road was completely graded. Many thanks to the driver.

After the Blue Skies festival was over, the road was worse than before. Calls to the road department go unanswered - IGNORED AGAIN. All that time there is major roadwork on the Zealand Road and lots of times there are two graders sitting beside the road for days - 10 minutes from a road that is unsafe to travel on.

After more calls, nearing the end of the summer the roads finally got graded - that was the last time we saw a grader. Now the snow is flying and we are BEING IGNORED again. After seeing the snowplow not plowing some of the roads, which are connecting roads to other townships, I was informed that the duty to maintain these roads has been given to private contractors - undoubtedly to allow the roads manager to keep the promise to have all the roads serviced in under seven hours after a snowstorm.

Let all the roads be done by contractors and the township crews will be breaking records in snow clearing.

The township plow went by and six hours later the contractor came. It took him four trips to clear this part of the road. We now have a single lane road with no sand, making it nearly impossible for emergency vehicles to respond to any of the residences.

All the side roads were cut off for six hours because the township truck deposited snow banks blocking every intersection. Meanwhile I saw dead end roads with one residence on it close to town being plowed and sanded Thursday morning.

Saturday morning here. Single Lane - No Sand! The property owners in this area pay their share of the taxes and should get their fair share of services. People’s rights are being trampled on. They live and work here and these problems need to be corrected now.

As I complained to a township official, we spoke on my opinion that the closer you live to the main populated area the better service you get. I actually got to hear that people with half million dollar cottages expect proper service! I guess we little guys in the bush should pay our taxes and repair our damaged vehicles. Meanwhile our services should go to ****.

Juergen Reinecke

[Editor’s note: this is a condensed version of a letter that was sent to the township]

Dec 4/08 - SF Council

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Feature Article - December 4, 2008 South Frontenac Council -Dec. 2/08By Wilma Kenny

Councillor Larry York was sworn in as deputy mayor for 2009, and in the absence of the mayor, York chaired the Dec 2 meeting.

Sydenham Water: Public Meeting Requested

Speaking on behalf of a delegation from the Sydenham Safe Water Association (SSWA), Bob Forbes asked Council to hold a public information meeting with Sydenham residents as soon as possible. Residents, he said, need to be informed of the presence of undesirable chemicals in their drinking water, the risks involved in drinking the water, and the estimated length of time before the chemicals in the water will be lowered to levels considered acceptable by Health Canada.

Not only has the Trihalomethane (THM) level been over 100 (Health Canada states the level should be below 100, and is lowering that to 80) for 2 years, but now another group of chemicals called haloacetic acids (HHA) has also been found in the water. Forbes spoke of studies which showed both chemical groups to be carcinogens.

Both Council and Forbes referred to a year-old letter from Dr Gemmil, the Medical Officer of Health, which stated that as long as THM levels were under 200, they were "not at a level that would lead to any health effects." Forbes noted that Gemmil didn’t make any reference to more vulnerable individuals such as pregnant women, babies, and adults in poor health, or with cancer. "We have no information about HHAs,’ said Forbes: "What’s their effect? Do they combine adversely with the THMs? Is it even safe to bathe in this water? Lack of information creates fears, rumours, discontent."

Forbes asked for a meeting by or before January 15, which would include Dr. Gemmil and representatives of the Ministry of the Environment, XCG (the consulting firm trying to address the problem) and Utilities Kingston.

In general, councilors agreed that the public should be informed, but several said they had no ‘new’ information. At several points in the discussion, councilors seemed to assume that as long as members of the SSWA were informed, all the rest of the village water users were also informed. Forbes pointed out that although some members of the SSWA were aware of the Health Unit letter, etc, many of the village residents were not, and added that if the MOH was not in agreement with Federal Health regulations, "We want to hear that directly from him." Acting Mayor York asked Forbes to bring Council copies of the studies that showed the dangers of the chemicals in question. Alastair Lamb said, "The problem is communication. Open communication is what we’re asking for, so residents can make informed decisions. Right now, many are ignorantly and innocently consuming (the treated water.)"

York agreed that a public information meeting about the water would be arranged as soon as possible.

Township Policies: Council was given a list of township policies, 50 in all, organized by department. CAO Burns offered to make copies of any that council wished to examine. Stowe said he didn’t see any policy addressing use of township vehicles: i.e. who could ride in them; when a vehicle could be taken home, etc. Burns said he didn’t think there was any written policy, & Stowe noted the policy list might be a way of identifying areas where written policies should be created.

Farmland Designation in Official Plan: Council passed an amended motion instructing staff to remove the Agricultural 2 designations from the proposed update to the SF Official Plan, but included an amendment: "However, any property owner who wishes to have their property included in the A2 designation may do so if they indicate their wish in writing to the Township."

Private Lane Upgrading Assistance for Bedford: Contained within the 2008 Bedford District Road Construction Budget was an amount of $20,000 for the purpose of subsidizing private lane improvements up to a maximum of 50% of any application received. The purpose was to improve access for emergency vehicles. Of the original 12 applicants, only 6 requests accompanied by receipts were received by the deadline. All were granted the full 50% subsidy, for a total of $10, 695. Public Works Manager Segsworth recommended the program be continued next year.

Predator Bounties: A letter was sent to the minister of Natural Resources asking that he re-examine the position on wolf/coyote bounties, in view of the economic hardship they pose to the farming community in this area.

Frontenac Arena: Councilor Vandewal brought a request from the North Frontenac Arena Board asking that the "North" be dropped from the arena name. Although a legal name-change would be time-consuming and expensive, all agreed there would be no problem with an informal name change to more appropriately represent the area served by the arena.