Back to HomeFeature Article - April 2, 2009 Gray Merriam wins Green Cottager Award

Terry Kennedy (l) from the Kennebaec Lake Association congratulates Grey Merriam (r) with his Green Cottager award.

In recognition of his role as founder of the Friends of the Salmon River and chairperson of the Frontenac Stewardship Council, Gray Merriam won the Green Cottager Award at the Cottage Life Show in Toronto last weekend.

Merriam lives with his wife Aileen on Kennebec Lake just north of Arden, at the headwaters of the Salmon River, which runs through Frontenac and L&A Counties before draining into the Bay of Quinte at Shannonville.

The Friends of the Salmon River was founded several years ago, not because the Salmon was in trouble, but in order to educate people who use the river about “the inherent importance of the river to the landscape and the ecosystem”.

The Frontenac Stewardship Council is an independent group that receives provincial support and is devoted to stewardship activities, such as tree planting, landscape preservation, wetland enhancement, spawning bed improvement, stewardship education, etc.

Lately the council has been trying to move away from what Gray Merriam calls “random acts of stewardship” to a more comprehensive role as a county-wide resource that fosters an understanding of the range of natural resources that are the life blood of the county.

“I don’t work on regulations,” Merriam says, “I prefer to use education.”

Gray Merriam taught ecology at Carleton University until he retired and moved to Kennebec Lake in 1999. Since then he has been trying to answer the question “Can you take what you learned as an academic and find an application for it on the ground?”

The Green Cottager award, which came with $2,000 to be donated to a project or group of Merriam’s choice, suggests an affirmative answer to that question. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - April 16, 2009

Notes on Municipal Budgets

Central Frontenac BudgetNorth Frontenac Budget

North Frontenac CouncilBy Jeff Green

Compactor expands NF budget

A last-minute decision to purchase a trash compactor in 2009 at the final North Frontenac budget meeting added $60,000 to the Township of North Frontenac’s budget, bringing the increase in township taxation to $265,000, or 7.7%.

After the final day-long budget session eight days earlier, council had tentatively adopted a budget with a $205,000 (6%) increase to the levy, and asked Treasurer Cheryl Robson to prepare two additional scenarios, one including an extra $50,000 in contributions to reserve funds, and another including $100,000 more to be put to reserves.

The next day, at a regular council meeting, the advantages of purchasing a heavy compactor, to be financed over three years (which will swell the 2009 budget by $60,000) was touted by the township’s waste management consultants, Aecom Engineering.

So, a third scenario was prepared, which does not include any additional contributions to reserves, but does include an extra $60,000 for the compactor. Ultimately, that final scenario was adopted, but not everyone on council was happy with the decision.

Councilor Wayne Good made reference to the report that was delivered by Guy Laporte of Aecom as he argued in favour of the expenditure. “Guy Laporte said we will add five years to the capacity of each site in the first year of compaction. This is in the long-term interest of the township”.

“The big thing that sticks in my mind is the cleanliness of the sites,” said Public Works Manager John Ibey. “By compacting through the winter we will not have debris everywhere in the spring”.

The township had originally planned to spend $10,000 in 2009 renting a compactor and using it in one or two sites, as a sort of pilot project.

“When we talked to Tackaberry, [a company that rents out compaction equipment], they said it would take a lot of work to do compaction here because it has never been done before,” said John Ibey.

Deputy Mayor Jim Beam had trouble reconciling the desire for a compactor with the budget increase that will be faced by ratepayers this year.

“We shouldn’t be saying more and more and more. I can’t even accept that it is going to cost this much more to run the township in 2009 than it did in 2008. I have a problem with the 6%. I cannot tolerate any increase to the 6% and I think that it is out of line to do so. We said it would cost $10,000 to see how it worked and we should stick with that”.

“I have to agree with Jim,” said Councilor Bob Olmstead.

“If I go fishing, I’d sooner fish from shore than go buy a big boat and get deep into the lake right away,” said Councilor Lonnie Watkins in explaining his opposition to buying the compactor.

“I think it’s a no-brainer,” said Mayor Ron Maguire. “Seven years ago we were informed that we have to put $750,000 away each year towards dump closures and through recycling we have turned that around. With this compactor we are going to solve the waste management problem in our township for our lifetime. I think $10,000 would be $10,000 thrown away if we are going to do this on an experimental basis”.

Members of the public who were in attendance at the public budget session had differing views on the compactor issue.

At the end of the public meeting, Mayor Maguire asked for a straw vote among members of council to see who supported the version of the budget that included the compactor and a $265,000 increase in the levy to ratepayers.

Councilors Olmstead and Watkins and Deputy Mayor Beam said they were opposed, while Councilors Good, Perry and, after some hesitation, Gunsinger said they supported it.

“There is a tie so I cast the deciding vote,” said Mayor Maguire. “I support the compactor.”

Treasurer Cheryl Robson had earlier outlined other spending changes that are also included in the budget.

There are some capital expenditures for the fire department in the budget, including a half-ton truck for the Barrie station, a new fire pumper, a four-wheel drive SUV and a wildfire half-ton for the Ompah station, and increases in the training and equipment replacement budgets.

A new helipad will be built on Hwy. 506.

In terms of road work, 10 kilometres on Roads 506/509 will receive single surface paving in line with an annual maintenance program. As well, the budget includes money for 3 km of single surface paving on Kashwakamak Lake Road, 1km double surface paving on Robertsville Road, paving and shouldering on Harlowe Road, rehabilitation and 2km single surface paving on Mountain Road, 2.7 km construction on Boundary Road, and ditching and gravelling on River, Head, Smith, and South Roads

On the waste management front, three hazardous waste depots will be set up this year, and an e-waste collection will be held this summer.

The township has also set money aside to turn a donated portable classroom into a temporary Plevna branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library at the old MNR building on Buckshot Lake Road. 

North Frontenac roundly rejects ambulance study

The latest chapter in North Frontenac Council’s ongoing enmity towards Frontenac County is being played out over ambulance service.

North Frontenac Council passed a harshly worded resolution last week (April 9). The resolution described the consultation process that preceded the report as “terribly flawed” in regards to residents of North Frontenac Township.

Currently ambulance service in North Frontenac is provided between 7:30 am and 7:30 pm from an ambulance station that is located at the township garage at Lavant Road and Road 509 (between Snow Road and Ompah). The ambulance is located out of doors, and must be kept running all day during the winter-time because of the equipment it contains.

The ambulance review of the Frontenac County Rural service, by the IBI consulting group from Toronto, recommended that the current North Frontenac base be closed and a new base be built at Ardoch Road and Road 509, which is close to Sharbot Lake and is at the northern edge of Central Frontenac Township. It also says that alternatively a heated garage could be built at the current location at Lavant Road.

The report also recommends that a new station be built in South Frontenac to house a 24-hour a day ambulance. It recommends maintaining the 24-hour station at Parham in its current location.

The North Frontenac Council resolution said that the report’s flaws include its exclusion of “the influx of seasonal residents and tourists to the northern end of the county from May to October.” It also says that a reduction in ambulance service would run counter to economic development plans in the township, and points out that most northern residents live at least one hour from a hospital, making the maintenance of existing service levels “gravely imperative”.

The North Frontenac resolution resolves by “respectfully requesting that the ambulance service be maintained and continue to be housed in its present location, with enhancements to the existing Lavant Station ambulance location to accommodate housing the ambulance inside year round and enhancing the present service to 24/7 coverage; or in the alternative that the County of Frontenac and the Township of North Frontenac enter into discussions to change the Lavant Station ambulance location to a combined ambulance fire/station in the village of Ompah”.

It also asks that the County of Frontenac not make any decisions about northern service until the ambulance service issue is resolved in neighboring Lennox and Addington County, which provides service to North Frontenac residents in the west and north-west regions of the township.

It also says that the province should “resume responsibility for the delivery of land ambulance services” because counties are inappropriate jurisdictions for ambulance service.

The IBI report was presented to a meeting of Frontenac County Council in March and was referred to the emergency services department for a staff report to be presented back to council at a later date.

“The report is only the beginning of the process” said Emergency Services Manager Paul Charbonneau at the time. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - April 23, 2009 Addington Highlands CouncilBy Jeff Green

No major tax increase in the cards for Addington Highlands

Addington Highlands Council has not completed deliberating over the 2009 budget, but Treasurer Jack Pauhl brought some draft numbers to a Council meeting on Monday Night in Denbigh.

At that point, the levy to ratepayers for local taxes stood at $205,000 below last years’ levy.

“The major reason is that we’ve received about $400,000 more in our OMPF funding this year,” said Jack Pauhl.

Ontario Municipal Partnership Funding (OMPF) comes from the Provincial government and is intended to partially compensate municipalities for the cost of running services that were downloaded to them from the Province ten years ago, including policing and social service costs.

The township budgeting process is not complete, however, in the in camera meeting that followed the meeting on Monday night there were potential property purchases being discussed that could swallow up some or all of the $205,000 levy decrease.

County taxes in Lennox and Addington, which make up 21% of the municipal tax bill for Addington Highlands residents, rose by 3.8% this year.

Once the dust settles, the total amount of taxes paid collectively by all of the ratepayers in Addington Highlands will likely be about the same as last year, but how those costs will be distributed among individual property owners will change.

As the result of property reassessment late in 2008, the average Addington Highlands property received an increase in value of 10.34% to be applied to 2009 taxes. (Property values actually went up about 40% on average, but the increase is being phased in over four years.)

The upshot is that Addington Highlands ratepayers whose property values are up less than 10.34% will likely pay less tax this year than they did last year, and properties that went up more than 10.34% will pay more than they paid last year.

The trend is for waterfront properties, which have jumped in value over the past ten years, to shoulder a higher and higher share of the municipal tax burden.

Asking for infrastructure grants – Addington Highlands Council decided that when it comes to federal infrastructure grants, there is no sense in being shy. They approved requests for $1.5 million for a rebuild of the Matawatchan Road, $125,000 for the Denbigh garage, and $500,000 for the Northbrook Fire Hall from the recently announced Infrastructure Stimulus Fund. They also applied to the BUILD Canada fund for the Matawatchan Road rebuild.

If successful, there will be local costs to match the federal portion to be taken from township reserve funds, which will need to be replenished.

Back to HomeFeature Article - April Fools, 2009 Plevna Loses Rights to Village NameNorth Frontenac Council Scrambles to Find New OneBy Katie Ohlke

Plevna will not be named as such for much longer.  Representatives from the first established Plevna, in Bulgaria want exclusive rights to the hard-won name.  North Frontenac councilor, Lonnie Watkins received the bad news on April 1 in an emergency council meeting.  “The Bulgarian Consulate sent us a letter, very upset that we were using the name without permission. It was a group of Bulgarian high school students doing a town project who discovered our Plevna on Google,” said Watkins, “And their mayor [Mr. Nayden Zelangorsky] is none too pleased.”

Historically the town of Plevna, Bulgaria, was key in the 1877 Russio-Turkish war. After five bloody months of fighting, the taking of this city ended the skirmish on December 10, 1877.  

It is a locally known fact that Plevna Ontario was named after a verbal fight of sorts in regards to naming the village.  One faction wanted to name the village “Buckshot” and another group did not.  A man stood up in the middle of the argument and in frustration relayed the tale of the fighting in his birth village of Plevna that was essentially created out of war. The name seemed appropriate and the post office soon changed its name. At the time no one thought to ask permission. No one has thought to since.  Other “Plevnas” in Indiana, Kansas and Montana all requested and were granted permission before 1920.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Lawrence Cannon was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.  

Council has considered suggesting a compromise, by renaming the local Plevna, “West Plevna.”  They are also considering a village renaming contest.  Regardless, the decision needs to be made quickly.  “Without a village name, there will be local chaos,” said Councilor Watkins, “The post office will have no name and it could really affect people receiving mail. Also, local businesses would have nothing to put on their advertisements for location; it would be like we were living in a black hole.”

Councilors hoped to have a decision by Thursday (which will be reported in next week’s Frontenac News).   

Back to HomeFeature Article - April 16, 2009

Notes on Municipal Budgets

Central Frontenac BudgetNorth Frontenac Budget

Central Frontenac Council - Apr 14/09By Jeff Green

Last-minute slashing brings Central Frontenac budget to 2% solution

When Central Frontenac Council sat down to finalise their 2009 budget, they were faced with a more than $350,000 (over 10%) increase in the amount they were planning to levy from Central Frontenac ratepayers.

This did not sit right with many of them, and Councilor Norm Guntensperger was first off the mark, proposing that a $100,000 line in the budget for “village rehabilitation” that was put in the budget a week earlier be cut down to $5,000. “That proposal was not developed and was pretty vague,” he said.

“I agree with that cut,” said Councilor Frances Smith, “I truly believe that we can't leave the table with a 10% increase; if we do, we'd all better look for new jobs”.

Deputy Mayor Gary Smith, who had proposed the $100,000 village rehabilitation line in the first place, said, “We know what is needed to make our hamlets hospitable. If we don’t set an example, how can we expect the commercial sector to come and invest, to open a store?”

“The best economic development we can do in any community is to keep taxes down,” replied Frances Smith. “There is not a business in our communities that can afford a 10% increase in taxes. '09 is not the year to do this”.

Councilor John Purdon said he thought the best place to look for savings in the budget was the roads department budget, which he said has been increasing steadily over several years, including a $1 million increase in 2009.

“This has been going on for years. The budget was $2.2 million in 2002 and now it is $4.8 million. Cutting $100,000 from a budget like that should be possible,” said Purdon.

Guntensperger's motion to cut the village rehabilitation line by $95,000 was supported by seven of nine members of Council (Gary Smith and John Purdon voted against it) and the budget increase was cut to 8.5%.

Council then took John Purdon’s advice and talked about a global cut to the public works budget.

Councilor Jeff Matson wanted to look at the decision to fund four permanent employees in place of casual labourers that was made at the previous budget meeting. “We asked the public works manager to report back about what those people would be doing if they were hired, and we haven’t heard that report. So we could cut those people out of the budget,” he said.

A proposal was then made to cut $100,000 from the public works budget.

Mayor Gutowski said, “If we do that, I would recommend that we let the public works manager decide where to make the cuts. It is our role to say we don’t have the money for everything, but let him find the scope within his budget”.

Councilor Purdon then upped the ante, saying, “I would like to amend that to a $200,000 cut”.

Council approved that motion, bringing the township levy increase down to 3.85%.

During the ensuing coffee break, Deputy Mayor Gary Smith asked Treasurer Judy Gray what it would take to bring the increase to under 2%, and she said $80,000.

After the break, Smith proposed taking $80,000 out of the township’s general reserve fund.

Councilors Philip Smith and Bob Harvey said the township should not deplete reserves. “It will only put us back into a bind next year,” said Philip Smith, but in a 7-2 vote the proposal was accepted.

The resulting budget features a 2% increase in local taxes, and with increases in county taxes standing at 2.9% and education taxes at something less than 2%, the overall increase in the municipal levy in Central Frontenac will stand at 2% in 2009.

The impact of the budget on ratepayers will vary according to their own property assessments. (Please see Note on Municipal Budgets) 

Medical Centre project finally coming to an end

The renovation of the Sharbot Lake Medical Centre to establish a Family Health Team with a basket of services is now “substantially complete” according to Central Frontenac Chief Administrative Officer John Duchene.

Duchene presented a report to council that shows that the project, although it is over a year late in being completed, has come in within range of its original budget. As of April 1, the project was $11,000 over its $1.6 million budget, but there are a few minor items that have not been completed yet and will push the costs a bit more over budget.

A grand opening of the facility, complete with politicians (and cake we hope) is scheduled for May 23.

While the construction costs for the medical centre renovation are almost finalised, operating costs are still under negotiation.

A planned rental of a 633 sq. ft. space to the Community Care Access Centre has fallen through, but John Duchene said that Dr. Peter Bell will be looking to fill that space with another service.

“I would like to thank John Duchene for all his work on this project,” said Councilor Frances Smith,

“And it was only a year late,” replied Duchene.

Process for snowmobile club request

Township staff have developed a process whereby the request from the Ridgerunner Snowmobile Club to use a public road allowance onto Horseshoe Lake in the winter time can be considered by the township.

Once Council was assured that the process would end with them having an opportunity to make a final decision on the proposal, they voted to approve it.

Vet planning a move – The Verona Animal Hospital is planning to move to the building on the Westport Road that formerly housed the Bentley Seniors’ home. provided the property can be rezoned.

A public meeting on the re-zoning application yielded no particular dissent from the township’s planning consultant or any of the neighbouring property owners, and a bylaw amending the zoning will be prepared soon.

Building permits buck the recessionary trend

While housing starts throughout North America have been in the doldrums lately, Central Frontenac has seen an increase this winter, although it would be premature to declare a building boom based on January to March numbers.

Permits for three new homes have been taken out so far this year, as compared to one in the first quarter of 2008, and 0 in the first quarter of 2007.

In all, 10 building permits have been taken out this year, for a total construction value of $519,000. Last year, 13 permits for $229,000 in construction value were taken out in the same time period, and in 2007, nine permits for a value of $584,000 were purchased between January 1 and March 31. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - April 9, 2009 South Frontenac Council, Apr 7/09By Wilma Kenny

Area rating ends quickly, after 11 years 

In a 5-4 vote Tuesday night, the Council of South Frontenac agreed to eliminate area rating effective January 1, 2010.

Councilors Fillion, Hicks, Robinson and York voted against the motion, but Deputy Mayor York stood and said that although he had "fought long and hard for Storrington", now that council had decided, "Let’s work together for the betterment of our township."

Bill Robinson agreed: "I don’t like it, but I will work for it...just stay away from my dump!"

The Mayor countered: "I think you’re chasing a ghost that’s not out there: I don’t see the dump trucks lining up."

Later in the meeting, Council approved purchase of property adjoining Loughborough waste site for $112,500. This opens up the potential for Loughborough landfill to greatly increase its capacity.

No new building official: Alan Revill, Chief Building Official, had asked permission to fill a vacant position for a building inspector, and at the Committee of the Whole, Council had recommended that the position be cut back to part-time, in anticipation of a slower development rate this year. However, Council voted 5/4 to not hire even a part-time building inspector this year. Mayor Davison reminded them that the position is revenue neutral, as it is paid for out of building fees.

Contract extended: Utilities Kingston’s three-year agreement for operating the Sydenham water treatment plant expired March 31: council agreed to extend it on a monthly basis, pending resolution of the current outstanding issues with regard to THM levels. Then, a new contract will be negotiated.

No special parking privileges: Councilor Fillion made a motion to amend the road by-law to allow parking for water skipping and bass fishing adjacent to Loughborough Lake bridge. Council defeated it, on the grounds that parking between the present lot and the bridge itself presented a hazard, and the shoulder of the road south of the parking lot had been widened to allow off-road parking. Mayor Davison noted that if a car parked with its tires on the road, it would be in violation of the Highways Act, and would become a matter for the OPP.

Back to HomeFeature Article - March 26, 2009 South Frontenac CouncilBy Wilma Kenny

SF Township: Nearing Amalgamation

At a Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday night, CAO Gord Burns brought forward for discussion the recommendation that Council agree to end area rating in 2010. In introducing it, he noted that when the Township of South Frontenac was created over 10 years ago, the council of the time decided to use area rating for parks, roads, fire, etc. This meant separate budgets for each of the four districts. Since then, fire services have been amalgamated; North Frontenac Arena has been accepted as a township facility; and all members of council have voted on matters pertaining to Sydenham water, as part of the process of accessing federal and provincial grants for that project.

However, local roads, waste management, recreation programs and allocation of reserve funds are still managed on an area basis.

Burns emphasized that by expressing an intention to amalgamate, the township would not immediately work out all the details, but it would provide a goal and a focus.

"I firmly believe every council member wants to do the right thing," he said: "if we can just pull the whole thing together, I think South Frontenac will be stronger."

Each councilor spoke to the issue, in alphabetical order.

John Fillion (Storrington) began, saying he saw amalgamation as the formation of a “giant bureaucracy” in which spending would skyrocket, and local contractors would no longer be hired to work for the township. He expressed a concern that the districts would lose their historical autonomy, and if a majority of socialists were elected to an amalgamated council, all the reserves might be spent.

David Hahn (Bedford), agreed that local residents did have more control “in the old days”, when smaller, independent townships allowed government to be more personal. "But," he added, "That ship has sailed. In order to prepare for provincial downloading, we did what we had to do, and joined forces. This new world is not necessarily better, but we’re here, and we can’t go back".

He noted that the present system of running four fragmented systems at once was perhaps "the worst of both. We need a more unified system for more effective management: are we really spending the public’s money in the best way we can?"

Jim Hicks (Portland) feared that with amalgamation, the districts would lose all control of roads, with the result that smaller roads would never be improved.

Mayor Davison responded, "We have an ongoing five-year roads plan", but Hicks replied, "We would have no control (over the public works manager)".

“But he works for us,” Davison said.

"He lives in Loughborough,” Hicks shot back.

Al McPhail (Loughborough) said he thought that having a five-year capital roads budget was good planning, and allows for regular input from all councilors. He expressed concern that without consistent upkeep, some of the township buildings now managed by district might become liabilities. He agreed that there was an ongoing role for local committees, saying they know their areas best, and he had no problem with waste site reserves staying with the districts that had amassed them. However, he agreed that council had been spinning their wheels too long by postponing amalgamation.

Bill Robinson (Portland) came out in strong support of the Portland waste site, saying that his job was to work for his people, and they cared about their dump, and were proud of it. With amalgamation, he feared Storrington would want to dump their waste in Portland. "I’m for amalgamation, but let’s not stuff it down people’s throats".

Del Stowe (Bedford) noted that he had been on council for eight years, and "the lack of amalgamation’s starting to get to me." Originally, he said, he had been opposed to amalgamation because it appeared that everyone was trying to grab everything they could.

"Maybe now we need to look at the whole picture. There’s no camaraderie or teamwork on council. I’m sick of it – we’re behaving like a bunch of kids. It’s time we realized nobody’s trying to steal anybody’s anything." As for reserve funds, "I don’t want to touch anyone else’s money. We all have a responsibility to South Frontenac as a whole".

Ron Vandewal (Loughborough) said he could see no reason why amalgamation hadn’t already happened. "What are we afraid of? We’ll continue to have a say about the roads. Why would all the garbage go to Portland? Loughborough has a good waste site, too. If we were amalgamated, perhaps council would work more as a team, looking at what’s best for South Frontenac, rather than having a ‘me’ attitude all the time. Central fire was so simple to budget this year. Many people don’t realize we’re not amalgamated. Why hasn’t it happened? No reason".

Larry York (Storrington), reading from a prepared text, said that there had been checks and balances put in place in ‘98, to give all districts a say. He expressed concerns that seniors, independent local contractors and the disadvantaged would suffer if "all the money were in one big pot, and harder to get out." He feared the individual councilors would lose their say in an amalgamated system: "It would be like a big octopus". He ended by asking that the question be taken to the voters.

"I campaigned on the platform of completing amalgamation, and I won the election," replied Mayor Davison, "I see that as a mandate from the people." He added that under amalgamation, each area would still have two elected councilors, and "They will know their areas best; that won’t change".

The mayor called a straw vote: "We’ve all spoken: do we have the will of Council to go on?" (i.e. to take a motion re amalgamation to the April 7 council meeting, for formal decision).

The vote passed with five councilors voting in favour.

"I feel this is the right road for this township” said Mayor Davison. “There are no evil demons coming out of the woods – we’re an intelligent group of people, if we can’t make this work, there’s something wrong".

Back to HomeFeature Article - March 26, 2009 Frontenac County CouncilBy Jeff Green

Frontenac County Council to consider its own makeup

If the current members of County Council accept the recommendations of consultant Doug Armstrong, there will be seven people sitting around the table after the 2010 municipal election.

Currently there are four members of Frontenac County Council: the mayors of the four townships that make up the county. In addition to those, Armstrong recommends creating three new positions, to be directly elected during municipal elections.

“To reflect the breakdown in population, I recommend two of these be elected from the South and one from the North”, Armstrong told a special meeting of county and township council members last week.

The southern ward that would be created under Armstrong's recommended option would include the townships of Frontenac Islands and South Frontenac as well as the Hinchinbrooke District of Central Frontenac. The northern ward would include the rest of Central Frontenac as well as North Frontenac Township.

Roughly twice as many ratepayers live in the proposed southern ward as in the proposed northern ward.

Armstrong also recommends that the county warden serve for the entire four-year term of council. The current practice is for the warden's job to rotate on an annual basis.

The other two options that Armstrong considered were the status quo mayors-only council, and an eight-member council comprised of the mayors and deputy mayors from each township.

He preferred an odd-numbered council, which eliminates the possibility of tie votes, and favoured an increase in the size of council in order to bring more information and opinions to decision-making.

Doug Armstrong surveyed 13 other counties and found that none of them had less than eight members on their council, with some having more than 20 members. However, most of the other counties are made up of seven to nine townships, as compared to Frontenac County’s four. Perth County was the only one surveyed that is made up of four townships, and it has a 10-member council.

Armstrong's survey did not include Lennox and Addington County, which is made up of three rural townships and the City of Napanee. It has an eight-member council, with the heads of each council and their deputies making up the membership.

Frontenac County Council accepted the Armstrong report for information.

Any change to the makeup of County Council would need to be completed by the end of 2009 in order to come into effect in time for the next municipal election in 2010.

County to hire sustainability planner

Frontenac County will be hiring a sustainability planner, at a cost of $90,000 per year, to be funded by the county share of federal gas tax funding.

The position was approved at county council last week in spite of a firm rejection of the position by North Frontenac mayor, Ron Maguire, who saw the position as a threat the independence of his own township.

“We have a contract planner, and a staff position half dedicated to planning,” he said. “We can't afford to pay for a county planner. We would lose, it seems to me, total control of our Official Plan. We haven’t been well served by the county since amalgamation; the county is located within the City of Kingston. We have not had help in identifying homelessness; we are not well served by ambulance, by long-term care. We don’t want to see further centralization. I'm sceptical about this and that's my position on it.”

At first, both Mayor Davison of South Frontenac and Mayor Vanden Hoek of the Frontenac Islands favoured delaying any decision until they had a chance to consider the need.

“I'm not sure I understand it yet,” said Mayor Vanden Hoek, “so I'm sitting on the fence.”

“As I say we have a planner in South Frontenac,” said Mayor Davison. “I guess I would like to see some numbers as regards to cost. I think deferral would be prudent”.

Warden Janet Gutowksi (mayor of Central Frontenac) argued that there are opportunities that all of the townships are missing out on, such as changes to housing uses, brownfields development, and the establishment of Community Improvement Plans, that would benefit from a county sustainability planner being in place.

“I think it is only through stepping up our collective efforts that we are going to achieve anything,” she said.

Ron Maguire replied that, “At a minimum this has to go to joint county council. I can tell you that my council does not support this.”

“When we sit here at county council, Mayor Maguire, we don't represent only our township councils. Sometimes we have to represent the people as well,” said Gutowski. “We are not creating opportunities as it stands now. It's up to us to take a step forward.”

Jim Vanden Hoek asked for a break to be called. After meeting privately with Mayor Davison in the hallway, the two came back and supported the creation and filling of the new position.

The vote was 3-1. 

The Sustainability Group

In addition to the Armstrong Group on governance and the IBI group on ambulance service, county council heard from the Sustainability Group on plastic bags.

There was something different about the Sustainability Group. They weren't paid, although they are consultants of a kind. They also weren't middle-aged men. No, the firm of Alex Green, Sarah McFadden and Kayla Gibson are grade 7 students from Loughborough Public School and they came to council to promote an idea: banning plastic bags from Frontenac County.

After making a power point presentation outlining the dangers of plastic bags and the measures that have been taken in other places, one of the girls asked council, “So are you going to ban plastic bags, then?”

“You girls rock,” said County Warden Janet Gutowski.

“Are you going to ban plastic bags?” the girl repeated.

Frontenac and the Islands Mayor Jim Vanden Hoek then asked that the matter be put on the agenda for the next county meeting in April.

As for the Sustainability Group, they will take part in a major sustainable school event next Monday and Tuesday. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - March 26, 2009 Central Frontenac Council –Mar 24/09By Jeff Green

Deposit debacle costs CF Township $62,000 

Central Frontenac Council accepted a bid of $331,200 for gravel crushing, even though they had received another bid, for $62,000 less.

The lowest bid was that of Elliott Agregates of Kingston, at $269,000. The second lowest bid was that of Clouthier Construction of Renfrew County at $331,200. However, Elliot’s bid was not considered, because it was not accompanied by a certified cheque or bid bond for 10% of its value, as was “clearly stated in the tender documents” according to a report to Council from John Simcock, public works manager, and John Duchene, chief administrative officer.

Before awarding the tender, council agreed to entertain a submission from ratepayer Bob Pollard of Brewer Road near Sharbot Lake. “When I look at the township roads plan,” Pollard said, “I see that a lot of roads can be fixed up for about $2,000 per kilometre; so $62,000 represents 31 kilometres of roads that won't get improvements. I understand the requirement for the bond, but in all fairness the township has sufficient funds owing to the company to cover the bond. If that is the only issue, I think as members of council it is incumbent upon you to take the lowest bid”.

Mayor Gutowski said “I’m sure we all feel this is a lot of money but there was an issue with one tender, and staff sought a legal opinion. It would be a serious thing to go against a staff report and a legal opinion”.

Deputy Mayor Gary Smith said he would like to hear from the public works manager about the companies.

“I signed the report,” said Simcock, “but I don't agree with the decision”. He went on to say that Elliott Construction did a lot of free digging for the township last summer, when the township was facing a fine by the Ministry of Transportation. He also said that the township “did have a lot of Elliott's money in house”.

Elliott's had the winter sand contact for the township and at the time the tenders were due for the gravel contract, the township owed Elliott’s some $40,000. This left Elliott's short of the $26,000 required as a bid bond.

“He [Elliott] did contact me to ask if the bid bond could be taken off the money owing, and I said 'you can try it'. He said ‘you already have my money’. My overall impression was to go with Elliott. But the township talked to the solicitor regarding the bid bond issue”, said John Simcock.

Township CAO John Duchene was not happy about the $62,000 in extra costs, but said, “Our solicitor said you cannot mix contracts; you have to have all those contractors on a level playing field. The other contractors are certainly watching this as well”.

“We are open to charges much greater than $62,000 if we fail to follow our own rules,” said Deputy Mayor Gary Smith.

Council voted unanimously to grant the tender to Clouthier Construction for $331,200.

Council denies request for support from Sharbot Lake Country Inn - The township received a letter from Dave Saban of the Sharbot Lake Country Inn. In the letter Saban said his business is regularly used by the public. “As I have explained in the past our facility is being used by the community and our travelling tourists as a PUBLIC facility. ... In the normal course of maintenance we maintain this facility: parking lot grading, snow removal, etc, washroom cleaning. As the result our septic system must now be upgraded”.

Saban attached a quote for the cost of the upgrade, which is over $31,000 and asked that the township pay half of the cost “to keep these facilities available to the general public”.

“If I ran a gas station on Highway 7, I would jump on this and ask for support,” said Councilor Norm Guntensperger.

“It's really a matter of where you draw the line,” said Councilor Bob Harvey. “If we do this, who's next?”

The request was denied.

Mayor Gutowski then said, “I feel the township should go further and try to find a solution to this problem. I don't think we should leave the matter at nothing. I don’t think it's a discussion we should let die.”

Dashke denied again, OMB hearing next week – Council received a package of information from the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) that had been presented to them by David Dashke. Dashke is appealing a township decision to approve a portable cement mixing facility on Hwy. 7, within a kilometre of his home, which he is planning to turn into a bed and breakfast complete with nature trails and other features.

The OMB wanted Council to inform them if they were going to rescind their approval in light of the new information.

Several councilors said they read the material and found there was nothing new in it, and council re-affirmed their decision to grant the zoning. The OMB hearing will likely go ahead.

Trailer blues – A request from CAO Duchene to be given leave to present an interim solution to the township’s space problem in light of the growing inadequacy of the temporary trailers that have housed the public works department for many months was granted.

Council then debated whether they should be looking at long-term needs, and considered setting up a visioning session. Duchene said that “staff could present a non-compromising interim solution, and Council could meet to discuss the long term.”

Councilor Guntensperger wondered what the visioning was all about.

Deputy Mayor Smith explained, using an analogy: “There's a big box and a little box. It's useful to have the big box first so you can see how the little box fits into it”.

Budget – Budget deliberations are set to begin on Tuesday, March 30, 4 pm at the Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake. 

Back to HomeFeature Article - March 19, 2009 South Frontenac Council – Mar 17/09by Wilma Kenny

The Rideau Canal: a world treasure

Melissa Francis, project coordinator for Parks Canada, spoke to South Frontenac Council about the rationale for developing a landscape strategy for the Rideau Corridor, which passes through the eastern corner of the Township. Her presentation reminded all present that it’s easy to take a familiar phenomenon for granted. In the past few years, the Canal has gained national and international recognition: it’s recognized as a National Historic Site, a Canadian Heritage River, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Last year, the National Geographic Society declared it the 2nd most authentic, sustainable tourist designation in the world. Francis noted that the quality of the original construction has been so well maintained that all but two of the locks are still being manually operated.

Development pressures are creating challenges for the municipalities along the Rideau corridor, as there is growing interest in residential and commercial development in the region. Following the recommendation of the World Heritage Committee in 2007, Parks Canada has committed to undertaking an assessment of the visual character of the canal corridor as part of what is being called the Rideau Corridor Landscape Strategy. The goal of the strategy is to work with First Nations, federal, provincial and municipal governments, property owners and others to develop guidelines that can be implemented by everyone with a stake in the future quality of the corridor.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is sponsoring a workshop in early April, to which over 300 ‘stakeholders’ have been invited. Francis emphasised that they are not asking the municipalities for money: the goal of the workshop is to develop a common vision and terms of reference for further study this fall.

Mayor Davison said that he has been told that South Frontenac is considered to have one of the best plans along the canal, in terms of setbacks and protection of shorelines.

Councillor York asked about the control of water levels along the canal. Francis said the Rideau is a "slack-water canal", which means its operation depends on water drawn from lakes along its route. "As a result," she said, "water levels are a constant concern."

Pan Fish Regulation

Council agreed to endorse the Tay Valley Township’s resolution requesting that the MNR postpone implementing any limit on sunfish until 2012 to allow further studies to be conducted to determine the effect a larger sunfish population could have on walleye and bass. Also, they ask that the Ministry of Tourism study the impact a fishing limit would have on the American tourism industry.

Heritage Properties

Council endorsed Kingston’s request that the Federal Ministers of Finance and Environment establish tax incentives to encourage private sector investment in rehabilitation of heritage properties.

Bridge Projects

In view of the Township’s plan to reconstruct the Loughborough Lake Bridge and upgrade the Bear Creek Culvert on Perth Road, Council endorsed a resolution from Middlesex requesting that the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans review and shorten their approval process for such projects, which involve navigable waters. The resolution also suggests that it might be appropriate for such approval to be delegated to the local Conservation Authorities.

Deferral

The motion to advertise for a part-time Building Inspector was deferred, because Councillors Vandewal and Hahn were both absent. Vandewal had earlier announced he would be taking a week’s holiday: Hahn had been rushed to hospital for an appendectomy. (Particularly bad timing for a maple syrup producer!)

The Mystery of Petworth Bridge

Council approved a by-law in conjunction with Lennox and Addington to restrict the weight of vehicles passing over Petworth Bridge. The Traffic Act requires that this must be updated every two years, where a bridge falls under the joint responsibility of two municipalities. Mayor Davison noted that this is particularly interesting, given that the bridge in question is at least 200 yards east of the South Frontenac/ L&A border...

Line Painting Tender

Council agreed with Public Works Manager Segsworth to award the line painting tender to Metro Pavement Marking, for $61,026, even though it was the highest of the three bids received. The bids were less than $1,000 apart, and of the other two companies, one appeared to have little experience, and the other had done the job last year, but had been very difficult to maintain contact with.

In reply to Councillor Robinson’s question about street sweeping to remove winter sand, Segsworth said this is usually done in April and May, for we could still have storms requiring sand application, but given the amount of dust this year, he expected to initiate street cleaning in the next week.