Ragged road to Ragged Chutes

As the current North Frontenac Council winds down its mandate, Beverly and Murray Elliott of Ragged Chutes Lane near Snow Road made a return appearance before Council on September 23.

After owning their property for several years, the Elliotts recently became full time residents on Ragged Chutes Lane, but the moniker “lane” is a bit misleading. The patch of road they live on, which is about 1 km long, is actually classed as an un-maintained township road, not a private lane.

“I don’t see why the township does not provide minimum maintenance on that road,” said Beverly Elliott, adding that if he husband and her want to do the work themselves, they have been told they require a workplace insurance certificate for liability reasons because it is township property.

The road was maintained until 2002 when the maintenance stopped.

“I don't think we can do anything beyond receiving what we've heard this morning for information,” said Mayor Maguire, “given that council has already ruled on this issue once this year. If the new council wants to look at this, then the new council can do so.”

Requests for road maintenance on un-maintained roads, private lanes and crown land access roads became a constant theme at the all-candidates’ meetings that were held in North Frontenac during the final week of September.

Municipal Election - October 25, 2010

Mayor - Henry Hogg - Acclaimed

Ward 1, Denbigh

Ward 2, Kaladar

TONY FRITSCH

Tony Fritsch was born and raised on a farm near Denbigh.

He moved away to seek employment with Ontario Hydro as a young man and ended up working in many locations throughout Ontario. He rose to the management level at Hydro One, and was manager of Work Methods and Training at the point of his retirement four years ago.

At that time, he returned with his wife Gail to the homestead that has been in his family since the 1800s.

Since then he has volunteered with a number of organisations, and now he is ready to make a run for council. “My decision to pursue council really came down to a sense of civic duty, because I'm an avid volunteer and I want to continue serving and contributing to the community,” Tony Fritsch said.

He brings a wealth of management experience to his bid for council. “I have pretty good leadership, management and business skills that could be of value to the community, including extensive experience in planning, business planning, budgeting, and labour relations,” he said.

He has an interest in developing a strategic plan for the township in addition to its Official Plan.

“I think it would be a worthwhile exercise for us to look at where we are as a community, where we want to go, and how we are going to get there,” he said.

The issues that Fritsch sees council facing are no surprise and include health care (Family Health Team and ambulance service), waste management, business development, roads and the environment.

“My vision of this coming council is that we would have a really strong municipal council that provides strong leadership for our community and functions as a team. I think we are very fortunate to live in this county and I will do whatever I can do to keep what we have and make continuous improvements.”

 

EYTHEL GRANT

There are a few initiatives that Eythel Grant is committed to seeing through as he seeks another term on council in Addington Highlands.

One of them is the purchase of the Denbigh school by the township, and the plans to renovate it for use as a satellite medical clinic to be affiliated with the Lakelands Family Health Team based in Northbrook.

Another is the Denbigh waste site, which was closed a couple of years ago when the Ministry of the Environment (MoE) determined that it was full.

“We purchased more property around the site to expand the site and have a sufficient buffer for it. We are waiting for the MoE to give us the approval to re-open the site,” he said.

Eythel Grant is a lifelong resident of Denbigh. He worked at Bon Echo Park for the Ministry of Natural Resources for almost 35 years, ending up as the maintenance foreman, and has been retired since 1993. He keeps active by hunting and running a trap line in the winter time.

He is a long-time member of Council, having served for 24 years, the last 13 of them as a member of the Addington Highlands Council.

Grant said he is comfortable with the way the township has developed, and with the amount of work that has been done in this last term, thanks, in part, to increased grant money.

“We managed to get some roadwork done, and five bridges built, and we have hired one extra person for the office, which we needed, because there is always more to do in the office,” he said.

Among his council responsibilities, Eythel Grant has been a long-time member of the Quinte Regional Conservation Authority board.

 

JANICE KERR

During her first term on council, Janice Kerr has made recreation in Denbigh one of her priorities.

She has lived in Denbigh for 16 years. In 1994, she moved to Denbigh from nearby Madawaska Highlands, where she served a term on council in the 1980s. Kerr worked at the Swiss Inn in Denbigh for 26 years and is now working at Stop 41.

“I’ve been very interested in council throughout the whole term. I think we got a lot of things done.”

One project that Kerr is very interested in seeing through is the purchase of the Denbigh School from the Limestone District School Board. “It has been slowed down because the board has graciously removed the asbestos that was found in the school,” she said, “but the arrangements for the transfer are pending. I think the rec. committee will be able to use the gym once the purchase is finished, so the school will be used as a clinic and for the kids as well.”

Another thing that the township is waiting for is a certificate of approval that will allow the Denbigh dump to be re-opened. “We have worked very hard to get the Denbigh dump re-opened and on waste diversion. Right now we are doing things with the blue bins. It's a lot for people to deal with but it is important for us in the long term to get it right now,” she said.

One additional item that has been important to Kerr is keeping the ambulance service in Denbigh. “It is definitely an essential service to the people of Denbigh and the surrounding area,” she said.

Janice Kerr said that the current council has been a good one, and she would like to see council continue to move in the same direction.

In addition, she thinks that the Denbigh area is in need of a boost to its tourist potential. “We are trying to draw more tourists and recreation. We hope the Denbigh Countryfest can expand our reach. Maybe someone will see the potential here and think about investing.”

 

YVONNE ROSIEN

Yvonne Rosien is motivated to run for council because she is “not happy with some of the things that are going on.”

She said she knows that Denbigh is the farthest reach of the county, but is concerned because, “We lost our school; we lost our dump. We've lost most of the businesses out here, and I feel council has to take some chances to make something happen out here.”

One of her issues with council has to do with a lack of information. “We never seem to find out what is going on in our community. The school is supposed to be turned into a medical clinic but there is nothing official about that either,” she said.

One thing that Rosien would like to see is improved services for seniors in Denbigh. “I would like to see a nursing home here. Lots of seniors are moving out because they are too old to remain in their homes. They would like to stay here but there is nowhere for them to go,” she said.

Rosien also says that if elected she would like to attend all lake association meetings in the area so that they “can be represented at council meetings and not be left out”.

Yvonne Rosien came to Denbigh as a teenager in the mid 1970s when her parents purchased a resort that was then called the Sun and Sand (now Moosehorn Lodge). She attended North Addington Education Centre, got married and took a job with the volunteer ambulance service in Denbigh. She remained with the ambulance service until last year, when its status was changed by Lennox and Addington County. She is now on the fire department, and is a key member of the emergency first response team.

As a community volunteer Yvonne Rosien said she “always takes things on with a lot of energy” and she would bring that energy to council.

“Denbigh is within 45 minutes of Bancroft and Renfrew, and 30 minutes from Northbrook. We need to start taking advantage of that. We need to promote our area with everything we have to make it a tourist destination,” she said. “Doing nothing is not good enough.” 

 

ADAM SNIDER

Adam Snider ran a small logging company for a time, then six years ago he along with his brother bought the Pine Crest Marine on Mazinaw Lake.

He said he was attracted to running for council by his love for the area.

Another motivation lies in the fact that Snider is younger than other members of council.

“I've always been impressed by both our employees and council members, but we need the younger generation to start stepping up and helping out,” he said.

As the father of three young children, Adam Snider is concerned about maintaining resources for children.

“As we know, in this north ward we have a declining number of full-time residents, and child population is directly affected by that. It makes for a long bus ride to school, and there are other disadvantages, but this is a good place for people of all ages and adding more recreational opportunities will make it an even better place to raise a family,” he said.

He said he believes that some sort of economic development plan, specifically for the Denbigh region, needs to be developed.

Adam Snider does not come at a run for council with illusions about what a local council can do. “I know there are limitations. A small council cannot change the world and I'm not planning to do that either,” he said. “But I will work hard to remain informed and make good decisions,”

He is also a strong supporter of township staff.

“I think we are very well served by our staff,” he said.

 

Ward 2, Kaladar

BILL COX

Bill Cox was an enthusiastic, hard-working member of Addington Highlands Council between 2004 and 2006, and, as he said, “The only reason I wasn't on council for the last four years was that I ran for mayor and lost.”

Bill Cox was raised in the area, left to work for the transit commission as an Engineering Technologist in Toronto, and returned when he retired 16 years ago.

Not being on council did not make him step back from township activities, however. He has been part of the community health advisory committee, which was involved in the drive for a Family Health Team, and he serves as co-chair of the Pine Meadow Nursing Home Management Committee. He also sits on the Recreation Facilities, Waste and Roads Committees of council.

“I've continued to keep myself involved as best I can,” Cox said. “I get the minutes from the meetings and keep up with the issues.”

In seeking a position on council this time around, Cox will be seeking some reforms. “Administratively, communication practices must improve; council needs to be more transparent,” he said.

A septic re-inspection program, which has never been tried in the township, is one thing that Bill Cox would like to see initiated.

He would also be interested in sitting on the L&A County Council if that came about. “I am committed, dedicated and interested in continuing to make this community a better place to live, work and play.”

 

LARRY PEALOW

Larry Pealow has only been living in Northbrook for eight years, but in that time he has established himself as a dedicated community activist and advocate for the business community, and as a man who likes to share a laugh when he can.

The Pealows purchased the Pine Grove Motel in Northbrook in 2002 and moved up from Campbellford. The appeal of the motel was tied in to the region and to the opportunity to run a business.

Larry joined the Addington Highlands Economic Development Committee (AHEAD) right away and also became involved with the Land O'Lakes Tourist Association (LOLTA). He has been the chair of the AHEAD committee for the past five years and is currently the president of LOLTA as well.

He is seeking a seat on council in order to bring some of the concerns of the business community to the council table.

“When it comes down to it, council has the ability to say yea or nay on any issue. I would like to see taxpayers’ money spent more wisely, and I'm interested in business retention and attraction,” he said. “The landfill issue is going to be big, and things like high speed Internet and cell phone coverage for the whole municipality, and solar power for municipal buildings are things to look into.”

Larry Pealow ran unsuccessfully for council in 2006, but thinks he might do better this time because he is better known.

He also has an innovative proposal to try to improve councilors’ attendance at committee meetings. Currently, councilors receive a fixed salary. He would like to see the salaries cut by $1,000 and councilors be paid a stipend for attending meetings, to a value of up to $1,000.

“It's not really about the money,” he said, “it's about councilors living up to their responsibilities to attend all meetings, not just council meetings.” 

 

MARY ANN TRYON

Mary Ann Tryon has been living in what is now Addington Highlands since 1955, when her family moved to Kaladar.

“It's like I'm part of the rocks by now,” she said.

Her father built the service centre and the motel in Kaladar, and she worked at the motel with her parents and her husband until they sold the business in 1987, She has been living in Northbrook ever since.

In addition to that, she drove a school bus and was Postmaster, first in Kaladar from 1981 to 1988, then in Cloyne from 1988-2005 until she retired.

She served on council for 8 years during the 1970s, starting as a councillor in Kaladar, Anglesea and Effingham and eventually becoming the first deputy reeve in the township. Her father was a councillor during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Now that she has some time on her hands - “Retirement is for the birds,” she said – Mary Ann Tryon is ready to jump into municipal politics again to help tackle some of the difficult issues facing council.

“Right now our dump sites are slowly running out of space, and we have to get some control over that. At the same time you see garbage thrown all over the roads. If we don't look after this place, who is going to look after it?” she said.

While she would like to see the level of service in the township maintained, Tryon is aware of the necessity to keep taxes from going up. “It is really important to keep taxes as stable as possible,” she said. “People are already taxed to the hilt.”

If Mary Ann Tryon had a wish list, the top item would be to bring about affordable housing for seniors and others who need it.

“There are a lot of people who aren't able to stay in their own homes anymore, but they don't need a nursing home. That's the group we need to serve,” she said.

HELEN YANCH

In her first term on council, Helen Yanch received the most votes from Kaladar ward, and as such was selected as deputy reeve at her first-ever council meeting.

As deputy reeve she sat on the L&A County Council as well as Addington Highlands Council for the last four years and she has enjoyed the experience. “It has been very interesting being on both councils. We work hard on county council to make sure that benefits flow to the north end, and we have had some success, with support for the Pine Meadow expansion and the ambulance bases in Northbrook and Denbigh remaining, and improvements to the Denbigh service, all coming about during the term,” she said.

Helen Yanch is a lifelong resident of the township. Although serving in this latest council was her first experience as a councillor, she had some previous political experience as a school board trustee in the Lennox & Addington Public School Board before it was amalgamated to become part of the Limestone District School Board.

She is currently employed by the Friends of Bon Echo Park as their office manager.

“I am motivated to serve on council again. Four years is a big commitment, I know, but you find out more needs of the township sitting on council, and there are things that we started working on that I am anxious to see completed,” she said.

She is also interested in promoting new green initiatives in Addington Highlands.

“We all need to promote our area as a destination area as well as a place to live and play,” she said.

Mayoral Candidates

Gary Davison

When Gary Davison was running for mayor four years ago, he drew on his experience as a volunteer firefighter. He had been the fire chief for Loughborough District in the years following municipal amalgamation.

“There were four fire departments in South Frontenac and four part-time fire chiefs. We realised that we could not do the job that needed to be done. So Marty Olman from Storrington and myself got together and started pushing and scratching to get a full-time chief hired, and we finally succeeded. It took a while for there to be a buy in from all of the firefighters, but it made a lot of sense in the long run,” he said.

In a way, the arrival of a full-time fire chief was the catalyst for Davison's own political career. In 2003, he resigned from the fire department after 40 years, a decision that he took partly in order to take himself out of the picture so the Loughborough crew would start looking at the South Frontenac Fire Chief as their chief.

“It was what I perceived as the best for everybody,” he said.

Working on bringing amalgamation to the fire service put Davison in front of South Frontenac Council a fair bit. He decided to run for council in 2003 and was elected as a councilor from Loughborough.

When he decided to run for mayor in 2006 the main thrust of his campaign was to bring full amalgamation to all of the services offered by South Frontenac Township, including waste management, roads, emergency services, and all budgeting.

“I was sitting on council when we had five budgets,” Davison said in explaining how the system used to work. “If a truck left the Sydenham Road station and was going to do a job in Bedford, maybe making a stop in Loughborough to do something first, they had to log it in two or three log books.

“Aside from being a bookkeeping mess, all this was doing was making the area councilors fight to protect their own domain, as the question for any job was always ‘Whose budget is this coming out of?' I didn't think this was a good business plan and I didn’t think it was in the best interest of our township and our road crews. I thought it was time to get on with our life, so I campaigned on that issue.”

With the sometimes reluctant support from council, this amalgamation project has been completed, and there is now a single South Frontenac road crew, a single fire department, waste management system, and budget. The 2010 election provides an opportunity for the electorate to pass judgement on how that process has been brought about.

“I did a lot of soul searching before deciding to run again,” Davison said, “and in the end I felt that we are doing a lot of good things in this township right now. I have learned a bit in one term and with some of the contacts with other levels of government, I think I have more to contribute.”

In addition to the amalgamation project, South Frontenac has doing a lot of building over the last few years, making use of infrastructure initiatives from the federal and provincial government.

“We've done lots of bridge work and road work. We've rehabilitated our Keeley Road works yard, and spent over $700,000 in road upgrades in each district last year,” Davison said. “All of that costs money, and while we try to keep tax increases to a minimum, there have been some modest increases, including 2% in 2010. I know people would like a 0% increase, but to think you can run a township like this with a 0% increase is unrealistic.”

Gary Davison is taking his turn serving as the warden of Frontenac County this year, and he acknowledges that many of the members of his own council do not like the way the county operates.

“They like to throw darts at the county,” he said, “but look at the ambulance base and the library that are being built in Sydenham. Those are county-funded projects, not township-funded projects.”

The expansion of Frontenac County Council from four to eight members (with an increase in voting power for South Frontenac because its mayor will have two votes) is not something that Gary Davison wanted to see. “I was not in favour of expanding county council. The decision making is going to be the same; it will just take longer to get there.”

That being said, Davison is concerned about the growing scope of the county.

“We have to be vigilant to prevent the county from growing back into what is was before amalgamation. A lot of good ideas come forward at the county, but they all cost money,” he said.

 

John Fillion

John Fillion has only served one term on South Frontenac Council but he has a long history of involvement in municipal politics through the ratepayers’ association he helped to start up in the 1980s.

“We formed the Storrington Ratepayers’ Association to hold the council’s feet to the fire,” he said. “They were not doing things quickly and efficiently enough and we had to push them a little bit.”

He said that the association was instrumental in getting subdivision approvals through Storrington Council in the 1990s, which improved the tax base for the then township. Storrington was amalgamated into South Frontenac in 1998.

John Fillion has a long background in the Inverary area. His family homesteaded there and he has been living there since he was 16. He was master plumber by trade, and built up a plumbing contracting business.

He describes himself as retired but he does keep a small septic and excavation business going, although his son does most of the work.

“I haven't done much in the last three or four years,” he said, “but I do run some rental properties.”

It is what he learned in the business world that provides a lot of the insight that John Fillion brought to municipal politics when he ran for council in 2006, and when he looks at South Frontenac Council from that point of view he still does not like what he sees.

“We didn't like the way things were shaping up on council. The Storrington representation we had seemed to side with the wrong bunch. One of the ratepayers said to me, 'Why don't you run?' so I did. We are very political in this area over here, and we like the best bang for our buck, so that's what I brought to South Frontenac Council.”

Since then, Fillion said it has been an uphill struggle trying to provide the kind of oversight of township spending that he came to council wanting to provide.

“This is what I’ve been battling,” he said. “How can I provide oversight if the facts aren't presented to council? They keep us in the dark. I electioneered last time about openness, to watch and respect your tax dollars, to try and save your money. I started on council with no support, and I managed to get three other members of council with me, and I almost got a fourth.”

In response to what he calls a 5-4 split on council, Fillion is seeking the mayor's position.

“I'm going to bring in accountability. There will be accountability to the mayor's office. Everyone will have to come forward to council and tell them what they are going to do and how much it is going to cost.

“We have a pretty good ship, here in South Frontenac, but there is a problem with the rudder. It is not the fault of staff; it is the fault of council, and that starts with the mayor.”

Fillion took a stand this year when the township budget was being debated. He argued that the overall budget should be brought it with 0% increase in the levy to ratepayers, instead of the 2% increase that was eventually approved. In the end he voted against the budget, and he has brought his budget fight to the election campaign.

“The mayor says that they need to keep all kinds of money in reserves, but the reserves themselves are a self-perpetuating thing. Any money that is left over goes into reserves, and it disappears there. We could have brought in a zero increase budget and kept millions in reserves at the same time,” he said.

He also said he would be willing to take on the County of Frontenac over spending. “I don't see why the county council needs more people on it. I put the blame for the way the county operates squarely on the shoulders of the four mayors. With more people on the county it will just get worse. The county is already out of control.

“They are always increasing staff; the pressure will continue to be there to hire more staff and to build a new room for meetings. And we know this is not sustainable,” he said.

In seeking the mayor's position, John Fillion points to his own business experience.

“I've been through four recessions in my life. I'm still here and I've never gone bankrupt,” he said. “The province is bankrupt and they are going to try and do more downloading to cover their deficit. We need to be able to fight them.”

 

 

School Trustee

BARB MCLAREN

Barb McLaren has lived in Sydenham for 21 years.

As a Limestone School Board Trustee for four years she has been an advocate for expanded French immersion. She comes by her interest in French education from her own background.

She took a French degree in university but neglected to complete her Bachelor of Education. She worked as a manager at Sears for a time, then took an extended leave from the work force to raise eight children.

“When my youngest children were toddlers I was asked to teach French in a number of private schools, and I then did some teaching in the Limestone Board,” she said, “ending with a contract position doing Core French at North Addington.”

She left active teaching to take an online Master’s Course in education and was elected as trustee in 2006. “The experience as a trustee has been great, and I have developed a real appreciation of the responsiveness of the senior staff of the board,” she said.

One of the roles of a trustee is to help shepherd concerned parents through the system to deal with problems their children are having.

Barb McLaren served as the chairperson for the Program and Accommodation Review Committee for North and Central Frontenac and came out of that experience impressed as well with how the senior staff responded to public concerns. “The parents made it very clear they wanted us to keep Land O'Lakes Public School open, and instead of saying there was no way to do it, the staff worked really hard to find the money that was needed,” she said.

If re-elected, McLaren said she would continue to pursue improvements to French instruction in the Limestone Board.

“My thing is pushing French into the primary grades. If they started in grade one the kids could learn the language, but starting in grade 4 kills the program,” she said.

SUZANNE RUTTAN

Suzanne Ruttan, who lives on Buck Lake, brings a wealth of experience to her campaign for the Limestone District School Board Trustee position, for South Frontenac Township. She has worked for 5 different school boards over a period of 17 years, in various aspects of education.

As a trustee, Suzanne would promote all South Frontenac students having the same educational opportunities regardless of the school they attend; this would be accomplished by requesting equitable resources for all South Frontenac schools. As well, she would “make sure” that the schools have a variety of ways to hear their community’s wants and needs. To assist with this, Suzanne has a dedicated website and e-mail and will respond to all education based inquiries within a 24 hour time frame. Among other goals, she would like parents to be welcomed into all South Frontenac schools, so that they can support their children’s progress any way they can.

Suzanne moved to the township in 2000 from Toronto when her husband Randy, a lifelong South Frontenac resident, got a job with the Upper Canada District School Board as the principal at Gananoque Secondary School (he is now the principal at Thousand Island Secondary School in Brockville)

Both Randy and Suzanne were working with the East York Board of Education in Toronto when it was amalgamated into the Toronto District School Board, the largest in Canada, so she is familiar with the kinds of growing pains that boards like the Limestone Board have lived through.

She is currently working as an agent of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, administering nutrition programs for students in 51 schools and community agencies in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville.

As well, Suzanne is the chief governing officer for Limestone Advisory for Child Care Programs and the Ontario Early Years Centre in Kingston. She also volunteers two days a month in her son's classroom.

Suzanne believes that everybody must work together to deliver the best possible education to every child in every school.”

Bedford District

PAT BARR

Pat Barr is making her first run at Council this time around, but she has an indirect history in Bedford politics, having heard all about them from her father Carl, who was a councilor and reeve in Bedford in pre-amalgamation days.

Pat moved back to her family home from Ottawa 11 years ago to look after her father. She started working in Kingston at that time.

She has a geography degree from Guelph University and went to Kemptville college as well, where she studied agriculture. However, she always found herself working in some aspect of horticulture, from greenhouses to florist shops and has worked in that field over the years.

In this election she is hearing a lot about waste management as she talks to people because of the curbside pickup that has came in last month in Bedford.

“The people on private lanes are not getting the service. Some feel they can’t put their garbage out at the ends of their lanes without a bin, even though they can put it out without a bin on garbage day. I think the real issue is with the dumps and the costs,” she said.

In preparing to run for council, Pat Barr has attended a number of council meetings, and she has found a lot of time is wasted when councilors argue with each other.

“I hope that whoever gets in will start to work together more harmoniously than the council that is in there,” she said.

Barr was appointed to the South Frontenac Recreation Committee last year, which she said might provide a model of cooperation for council.

“We all put forward an effort to make things happen. We put forward the idea to hire a facilitator, and that seems to be going well. I think the people on the committee generally trust each other,” she said.

Issues that Pat Barr sees coming to council this next term include roads budgeting and planning matters, as well as taxes.

“Road 38 is going to need major work and council is going to have to put aside its petty differences to be able to approach other levels of government for grants to do that job,” she said.

 

DEL STOWE

Del Stowe first became acquainted with South Frontenac Council as an employee. He moved to Bedford from Kingston in the late 1990s and worked as the Chief Building Official for the township. When he took a job in the building department at the City of Kingston, he was freed up to run for council. He sought and won a council position for Bedford in 2000 and was re-elected in 2003 and 2006.

Stowe talks about his experience as a volunteer firefighter when he first came to the township to illustrate what has been accomplished in that time.

“We had a gas can on the hood of the pumper attached to the carburetor so the truck would keep running, and off we went to fight fires. Now we have a full-time chief, a vehicle replacement plan, and real training standards.”

“I'm kind of inquisitive and I've always been interested in grass root politics,” he said of his continuing interest in sitting on council. “We've done some good things since I've been on council, such as amalgamating our operations, bringing in septic re-inspection, the Private Lane Upgrade Program adopted by South Frontenac (originally introduced to Bedford District as one of my election platform issues in this term of council) and more, but now I think it's time for us to really decide what we really want this township to be.”

To that end, Stowe thinks the township is ready to look seriously at some long-term goals for itself.

“Every large business has a set of values and goals,” he said, “we have nothing like that. I'd like to see us have some direction; I'd like to go to the public and see where the people want us to go. Do we want development? What kind? These are questions we haven't asked.”

As a member of council for ten years, Del Stowe stands by the decisions that council has made, including the changes in waste management that have been somewhat controversial in Bedford district.

“I stand by what we've done by amalgamating waste. In Bedford we had $28,000 in reserve funds for closing all our waste sites. Now the township has taken that on. I think we did well and I have no trouble supporting it,” he said.

 

MARK TINLIN

Mark Tinlin and his wife Beverly purchased property on Bob Lake in the 1980s, and when Mark retired from Carleton University in 2005 from the position of Director of Public Safety, they became full-time residents at their waterfront property.

Mark Tinlin comes to municipal politics with a wealth of management experience. Before working at Carleton for 15 years, he held a similar post at Western University in London, and before that he worked as a commercial crime investigator for the RCMP for seven years. Prior to that he was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, where he reached the rank of major. He also held a senior management position with St. John's Ambulance.

He said he is interested in “trying to preserve the quality of life we have in South Frontenac, and in working on long-term plans to both protect the environment and foster growth.”

In campaigning over the summer, Tinlin has been faced with public concerns over waste management, as Bedford has been transitioning into a curbside pickup system on township roads. “Eighty percent of the people I talked to were unhappy about it,” Mark Tinlin said, “they did not think it would work and were concerned about the cost. The system does not adequately address the issue for many residents.  Bedford is very different from the other districts - approximately 80% of its residents live on private lanes.  The township should have considered a waste management approach based on the model used by Tay Valley Township, which could work quite nicely for Bedford.  The new garbage pickup service is an example where the township failed to communicate appropriately and in a timely manner, which left residents confused and frustrated." he said.

Tinlin said another major issue that concerns people is maintenance on gravel roads. “People don’t want four-lane highways, but they want their roads maintained.”

As the Bedford representative, he said he would see it as his job to make sure that the concerns of Bedford residents do not get lost at the township level. “Bedford residents sometimes think they are considered the 'poor cousin' of South Frontenac, and I think two-way communication will help to deal with that.” he said.

Finally, Mark Tinlin said he would like to address concerns around the fire service in parts of Bedford.

 

Louborough District

RANDY FERGUSON

Randy Ferguson traces his local family roots back to a family farm that was founded in 1850 on the north shore of Loughborough Lake, not too far from where he lives now at Perth Road Village.

Randy Ferguson runs the Kingston office for Jewell Engineering, a company that provides engineering and project management for a lot of major municipal building projects, including a number in South Frontenac. He has never run for council before, but he has a long standing interest in municipal politics and a set of skills that would be useful at the council table.

“I was thinking about running the last two times, but I was just too busy to commit the time.” he said. “I feel all my public works experience and the fact that I deal with councils all the time in my work will make me an asset to the township.”

Ferguson has been extremely busy over the last couple of years on the job, because of the large number of infrastructure projects that have been approved.

“In the last 2 ½ years, we have done over $80 million in work,” he said, “including the Loughborough Lake Bridge in South Frontenac, and the public works site at Keeley Road.”

One of the projects that Randy Ferguson is supervising is the rebuilding of Highway 41 between Tamworth and Highway 7 in Lennox and Addington, a job that is similar to one that South Frontenac could be looking at in the coming years.

He thinks that what is lacking in South Frontenac is public input into decision making; a serious look at the viability of waste sites; and comprehensive recycling and hazardous waste policies.

“In terms of development I take a common sense approach. The township should provide more support for small business as well. I'm 100% in favour of anything that can encourage small business, for sure,” he said.

 

ALLAN MCPHAIL

Allan McPhail has been a member of council since 2006, after running unsuccessfully in both 2000 and 2003 (he also ran provincially for the NDP in 1999).

Before joining council he served on the board of what is now known as Southern Frontenac Community Services for six years, including taking on the role of Board chair for two years.

He is one of the founding members of the Sydenham Lions Club and has served as the club’s secretary throughout its six-year existence.

He moved to Kingston in 1982 to take a job as an electronic technician at Queen's, moved to Sydenham in 1987 with his wife and children, and retired from Queen's in 2008.

“I originally moved to Sydenham for the rural atmosphere, and have found it to be a great community. I have always had an interest in volunteering and in politics, so all of my various activities have come about from that,” he said.

“I think the latest council has certainly looked after the regular business of the township well. We have developed a few common concerns, and made good strides in improving roads, and in terms of amalgamation,” McPhail said.

While there have been a number of contentious issues before council that have led to rifts between its members, he said, “I have try to work with all members of council and try to facilitate communications between them - not always successfully I'm afraid. But I think there may be more opportunities for an improved atmosphere after the election, no matter how it turns out.”

During the next term, Allan McPhail said council would be facing issues such as “doing the groundwork to provide the financial planning that is needed to re-surface Road 38 in the next 10 years. I also think we need to bring together the various committees of the council itself to better reflect one township.”

 

RON VANDEWAL

Ron Vandewal ran for council one time before winning a seat in 2003, making him the third member of his family to serve on municipal council (his father and brother were both on Loughborough Council)

As a rookie councilor in December of 2003, the first item on the agenda of the first meeting Vandewal attended was the approval of the Sydenham water project. “I'm glad the decisions we've had to make since then haven't been quite as contentious,” he said.

He was one of the councilors who supported the amalgamation project that the township has embarked upon, and said that in most cases it has been a smoother process than he thought it would be.

“Everyone wondered what would happen when we amalgamated the fire department, and put all the budgets together, but we did and nothing terrible happened. The same has held true for the other departments,” he said.

But for Vandewal, the next step in amalgamation will only come when the members of council “stop being protectionist about their own districts and work towards what is best for South Frontenac as a whole while representing their districts.”

Another point he made about the way council operates is the attitude of mistrust that council has for staff, particularly senior staff. “We hire these people, and we want them to do a job, but we don't trust them to do it,” he said.

Should he be re-elected again, another matter that Ron Vandewal will be bringing to the new council is a “realistic” long-term plan for fire hall improvements. “We received a plan which called for us to replace seven of our nine fire halls at a huge cost. I think we should start looking at why we have nine fire halls; which ones can be repaired; whether we can build one fire hall in a new place and close two down; and how to fund this capital cost, etc.”

He also thinks the township needs to take a hard look at the way its landfill sites are operated to achieve a higher level of recycling.

 

FRAN WILLES

Fran Willes is no stranger to Loughborough and South Frontenac politics, although she has been off council for seven years. She sat on council in Loughborough between 1988 and 1997 as a councilor and deputy reeve, and also as a member of county council. Between 2001 and 2003 she served on South Frontenac Council and in 2003 she took an unsuccessful run for mayor against then incumbent Bill Lake.

“I did not run in the last election,” she said, “because I was pursuing university studies. I am now in the process of completing a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning at Queen’s University. This time many people asked me to run again, and I now have the time to do so.”

Her studies may also be of use to council as well because they have forced her to take a close look at the way small townships operate in the current environment. “Much of my planning degree program includes planning for smaller municipalities,” she said.

Fran Willes said she has a number of concerns about the stance this latest council has taken with respect to long-range planning and the effect this will have on our lakes. “There are new technologies in sewage treatment that are not recognized by council,” she said.

She is also anxious to see the ‘books,’ noting that she is concerned that the township may be going over budget this year. “Council announced at a recent council meeting, that $8 million had already been spent by the end of August of a $10 million budget. With four months remaining in the year, that needs to be looked at,” she said.

Willes would also like to see the establishment of a Planning Advisory Committee as used in the past that would be distinct from the township’s Committee of Adjustment. “People who are considering land development could then come before the Committee and discuss their planning issues before making a formal application to the Committee of Adjustment. A Planning Advisory Committee would make it easier for all concerned, including staff,” she said.

 

Portland District

JIM HICKS

Jim Hicks can tell you about the incident that sparked his interest in South Frontenac Council.

It was in 2004. He had applied to the township’s committee of adjustment for a severance, and even though his application was complete and the request fit into the spirit of the township’s Official Plan, the severance was not granted.

“It was unfair,” he said, “so I took them to the Ontario Municipal Board and I won. The township's lawyer even agreed with me.”

Since then, Hicks has continued to monitor the committee of adjustment, and in 2006 he ran for council in Portland and won. He was not chosen as the Portland council rep to the committee of adjustment but he still attends all the meetings, and pays particular attention when planning matters come to council. He does not always like what he sees.

“Some of them seem to think they can pick and choose which projects should get the go-ahead. We have a professional planner, but they seem to want to play favourites anyway,” he said.

Jim Hicks has also looked at some township operations where he has found some wasteful spending. “We were paying for 10 phone lines at one location, $6,000 a year, but there were only seven phones there and they only needed five. It took me six months to get them to look at it, but finally it got changed. We save about $4,000 each year now,” he said.

He also has questions about some of the contracts for snow clearing at township fire halls. “Last winter there was a hall that was sanded and ploughed 3 times. It was an easy winter, but another one was sanded and ploughed 61 times. Something is wrong there,” Hicks said.

In the coming term, Jim Hicks would like to continue to monitor spending and waste, and he also would like to see the township partner with the Limestone School Board to improve its recycling practices.

“They have an excellent program at Sydenham High School,” he said, “and the township would do well to learn from the students and staff there.”

 

DOUG LOVEGROVE

Doug Lovegrove and his wife Deb were both members of the Canadian military when they moved to Verona 28 years ago. They had hoped Verona would be their retirement posting, but they were sent to Calgary for four years.

They made their way back to Verona when they both finally retired from the military. Their two children were born in Verona and they returned because they wanted to raise them in Verona.

Doug has worked in the computer business since then. He now operates a website management company and does some teaching.

Doug became involved in the Verona Business Association when he first came to Verona. “It seemed a lot of establishments were going out of business at the time. That's why I was part of the start of the association. Eventually we became the VCA (Verona Community Association)”

The VCA established the Verona Festival, the Christmas Tree Festival and other events, “making Verona the most vibrant community in our township,” Lovegrove said.

He said he has not been hearing too many complaints from people as he campaigns for council. “I'm not seeing major problems, only minor problems, with the biggest thing being council not getting together. One of my goals is to be active in getting the councilors to work together,” he said.

Among the initiatives Doug Lovegrove would like to see done by council are some small items that might make a difference. “If we even had a brochure to promote small business, with information about services that are available, regulations that need to be followed, things like that, it would be a help,” he said. “Right now, there is no such thing as a checklist to open a business in South Frontenac.”

If elected to council, Lovegrove said he would make sure he does his homework so that he understands the issues before “spouting off an opinion,”

“The basic thing is using logic and common sense,” he said. “They are not problems that we deal with, they are solutions that have not been found yet.”

 

JOHN MCDOUGALL

John McDougall has a long history of community involvement since he came to the Verona area in 1976 to become the music teacher in what is now Central and North Frontenac. He eventually became a school principal and worked at schools in Frontenac County and Kingston until his retirement in 1995.

He has taken leadership roles with the Verona Lions Club and the Verona Festival, and more recently has spearheaded the Verona Find-a-Doc campaign.

As a community activist, McDougall has rubbed shoulders with local politicians at various times, most recently as the chair of the Sydenham Library task force, and through the Find-a-Doc campaign, since the township is being asked to take ownership of the Verona Medical Centre.

He traces his motivation to seek a council seat to a long-standing concern about how the McMullen Manor in Verona lost its status as a seniors' facility and became part of the Kingston/Frontenac social housing stock.

“When McMullen Manor was sold to the township the family had an agreement that it would be a seniors' home. There was a real resentment in the village when that changed. The decision might have been the right decision at the time, but it has always felt like the community was left out of the process,” he said.

Another issue of concern was the decision by the Frontenac Land Ambulance service to locate the South Frontenac base in Sydenham.

“The original planning had it going to Harrowsmith, but that changed without any community involvement,” John McDougall said.

He is also interested in making sure community improvement plans find their way into the township’s official plan, and would like to see further efforts made to determine whether plans for an office building in South Frontenac can be pushed forward if that is what the residents want to see.

“There are lots of other issues to be examined,” he said, “from broadband to finding municipal alternatives to fossil fuel. But we have never had an opportunity for the communities to sit down together and make some decisions about the future.”

 

BILL ROBINSON

Bill Robinson moved to Harrowsmith when he left the armed forces in 1969. He purchased the Supertest Service Centre at that time and ran it for five years while working in the penitentiary service. He retired from Collins Bay Pen in 1988. Since then he has been working for his wife at the Verona waste disposal site, for which she has the management contract.

In the year 2000 he sought a seat on council in Portland District and was successful. He has been a member of council ever since and is seeking his fourth mandate this month.

He said he is motivated to run this time around partly to break up the 4-5 split that council has been enduring on a lot of major votes, but interests of Portland district residents will remain his central concern.

“My main focus as a councilor of the future is my district of Portland. First and foremost is my duty to look after the district of Portland,” he said.

He is also concerned about operational matters, both in South Frontenac Township and at the County of Frontenac. “There is a lot of duplication of effort between the two, and they both waste a lot of money hiring consultants to do studies that no one needs,” he said.

“You look at Frontenac County. They spent $35,000 to bring that Mr. Armstrong down from Peterborough for a governance study that went straight under the table. What a waste. Even in South Frontenac we hire consultants for engineering when we have an engineer ourselves.”

He is also committed to ensuring that a full inventory of equipment in the township is completed. “We've never had an inventory of our equipment done. Can you imagine an outfit this big with no inventory?” he said.

Although amalgamating South Frontenac services is now “a done deal”, Bill Robinson is not convinced it is bringing improvements. “You know the big promises of amalgamation were all a bunch of hooey,” he said. “On council they say a lot of things, but I listen to what my constituents tell me more than anything else. That's whom we work for.”

 

 

Ward 6

BRIAN STEWART

Brian Stewart has served one term as councillor from ward 6.

In seeking re-election, he pointed out that taxes have gone up by 30% over the four years he has been on council, and that spending in the area of governance and administration has increased by over 35%.

“I am proud to report that I have not supported the adoption of the budget over the last 3 years and I believe that taxes have reached an intolerable level. I would like to see council operate in a more fiscally responsible and positive manner”, he said.

Brian Stewart grew up on Dalhousie Lake and has been in the area for over 35 years.

He has identified five priorities for the new council.

The first is taxes, which are too high in his view. The second is contract negotiations with the new union.

“We need to ensure that the needs of our valuable employees are balanced with the ability of the township to support it,” he said.

The third is water and sewer for Lanark Village.

He said that funding for the project is not available at this time and council must find an affordable solution.

Fourth is planning and building. The Official Plan has been approved and reviewing the accompanying comprehensive zoning bylaw “is extremely important to the economic development and viability of our township and will be one of my highest priorities,” he said.

Finally, he said he would be proposing “an immediate change” to the procedural bylaw that was recently adopted by council, which gives senior staff at the township the authority to deny constituents the opportunity to appear before council.

“In my opinion,” Stewart said, “it is a complete infringement on your rights as taxpayers in Lanark Highlands.”

 

JOANNE WHEELER

Joanne Wheeler lived in Toronto until she moved to Elphin when she got married 30 years ago. Since then she has raised a family and worked as the bookkeeper for the family farming and logging operation.

Now that her kids are grown she has the time to devote to township matters, so she is running for the ward 6 seat in Lanark Highlands. “There are a lot of challenges ahead for the new council. Generally the people in our ward would like to see the sewer and water issue in Lanark resolved one way or another. The unionization of township workers will also be a large issue, and of coarse, finding a reasonable balance between services and spending. I think our taxpayers want to see value for their tax dollars.”

Among other local issues in ward 6, Joanne Wheeler mentioned the re-use center. She said, “I am supportive of the re-use centre we have at the McDonalds Corners waste site. Run by volunteers, it keeps a lot of previously loved, reusable stuff out of the waste site.”

In closing she said, “Taxpayers expect a council to function well together, bring new ideas to the table, and respect the opinions of others, and if I'm elected, I feel I can do all that.”

 

Septic Re-Inspections

Eric Kohlsmith of the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority presented his report to council regarding the voluntary re-inpection program on Sharbot and Eagle lakes that commenced on August 16, 2010. A total of 25 inspections were done, 20 on Sharbot Lake and five on Eagle lake. No water access properties were inspected.

Twenty-one of the 15 property owners were present at the time of the inspections and most of the inspections were done on septic systems with tanks and leaching fields. Of the 25 systems inspected, 10 had no concerns, 15 required remedial work, and none required any full system replacements.

Councilor Purdon asked about the goal of 60 inspections and Kohlsmith said that inspections would continue this year till the ground freezes and then resume after the ground thaws.

Councilor Gary Smith wondered about the effectiveness of the voluntary program and Kohlsmith responded that the MVCA have performed more than 450 inspections, and that the outcome usually shows that 2-3% need their systems replaced and anywhere from 40-60% required some type of remedial work done. Ideally the goal is to inspect properties that have not been inspected for at least 10 years .

”Knowing is always better than not knowing and maintenance is the real key to protecting water quality in the lakes,” Kohlsmith said.

He summed up what some pending amendments to the provincial building code will mean for septic re-inspections, and highlighted the three possible options.

Firstly, the township could institute discretionary programs where the township itself decides which systems should be inspected.

A second option would be to institute a full mandatory inspections system like the one being implemented on the Lake Simcoe watershed.

A third option would see mandatory inspections associated with the clean water act, rather than the building code. This kind of system may soon be required on sensitive watershed and head-water areas.

Kohlsmith also suggested ideas of how the township might go about implementing discretionary programs, including creating an ad campaign early in the spring and holding information sessions where the public could attend. He said he could aid the township in figuring out how to prioritize property inspections, help township staff carry out inspections and advise the township on the creation of mail out packages for property owners.

Construction Details Report

Ian Trickett presented to council his report, which concluded that the number of new single detached residential dwellings this year was higher than any level reached in the past.

The total value of construction in the first 9 months of 2010 was $6.4 million, over $2 million higher than the first nine months of the recessionary 2009 ($4.3 million) and $600,000 higher than the robust building year in 2008 ($5.8 million).

New residential units (33 – not including the 5 unit seniors’ complex) and permit fees ($76,000). The total number of permits (148) are all well higher than each of the last two years.

Trickett said there is an ongoing concern in the township about the dearth of good quality rental accommodations available.

This led Janet Gutowski to express the hope that some kind of statistical data can be compiled to show the need here.

Councilor Gary Smith wondered what the council could do to encourage the private sector to build and maintain good quality rental units.

Mayor Gutowski suggested council members attend the next Municipal Housing Strategy and information session put on by the City of Kingston and County of Frontenac. She said that at the recent one she attended in Mountain Grove on Oct. 6 no statistical housing information from Central Frontenac was presented.

Purchase of Rescue Van in Parham

A heated discussion ensued regarding a report from Fire Chief Mark MacDonald to council about a $17,500 emergency expenditure for the purchase of a 2006 Ford F550 rescue van. In his report Chief MacDonald noted the van would represent a future savings to the township of $80,000.

Councilors complained that the purchase had been approved by staff without council being informed, and some councilors wanted to defer a staff motion to accept MacDonald’s report, pending a personal visit by him. However, ultimately the report was accepted.

Communications and Correspondence

Central Frontenac Council decided they would contact the Limestone District School Board to request that council be permitted to appoint a representative to be a part of the school design committee for the new Sharbot Lake school. Mayor Gutowski said, “We have some very vital groups in the community, like the North Frontenac Little Theatre, who will surely want to have on going access to the facility. I also feel it’s in the municipality’s best interest that the school be designed in a environmentally friendly way and also there is value in having a liaison disseminate information to the community about this good news story,” said Mayor Janet Gutowski.

$10,000 for canteen

Council was pleased to accept a “Letter of Offer” for $10,000 from the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation to support the construction of a new canteen at the Parham fairgrounds, a project whose total cost is projected at $23,000. Council has agreed to fund $10,000 of the costs with the Hinchinbrooke Recreation committee providing the remaining $3,000.

Winter Sand Tender

Nedow Construction was awarded the winter sand tender in the amount of $126,000 plus applicable taxes. Crains’ Construction’s price was $138,350.

 

“A ludicrous impractical way to indicate a setback” -  Sydenham Subdivision Application

Planner Lindsay Mills introduced council to a proposed list of 20 conditions for draft plan approval of a plan of subdivision on the former Goslin farm, in the village of Sydenham. These conditions were based on information and reports submitted in support of the application, and responded to a number of concerns raised by neighbouring residents at a public meeting September 7.

The proposed subdivision would be accessed by a new road to be constructed off Rutledge and paved by the developer to township specifications. It would eventually be taken over by the township. The development proposes 20 estate residential lots, plus a block of land to accommodate eight units of housing for seniors, and another for a storm water management pond.

Eight of the new lots would back on the flood plain of Millhaven Creek, thus leading to an unusual requirement from the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority. They have specified that these lots should have a continuous fence along the line of the 30-meter setback from the high water line. This is described by the CRCA as a compromise, for the customary setback from a “significant wetland’ is 120 meters.

Lindsay Mills suggested that a black chain link fence would be the least visible option, and said perhaps each property could have a gate.

Considerable discussion followed: Councilor Allan McPhail called the fence “a ludicrous, impractical way to indicate a setback”, and Councilor Bill Robinson called it “dumb”.

Councilor David Hahn said that from his reading of the conservation authority’s letter, “They want the 30 meters protected, and are unlikely to back down.”

Lindsay Mills will seek further clarification from the conservation authority before the next council meeting.

The subdivision is to be fully hooked into municipal water, and all utility service wires are to be underground. There was also some discussion as to whether storm water should be drained via open ditches or storm sewers.

Council Committee Members

CAO Wayne Orr reported that the terms of all committees of council would end November 30. The new council then appoints committees for the next four years. He recommended that council advertise soon for interested community members, so the new council would have names to draw from. It will be up to the new council to decide what committees they want, and how many members there should be on each of them.

Township vehicles sighted outside township

Councilor Jim Hicks asked why a township fire truck had been seen in Kingston recently. Mayor Davison said the truck was being used for driver training: every two years, all 155 volunteer fire fighters have to update their special licenses for driving fire trucks. The Ministry of Transportation requires that some of the driving be done in a metropolitan area, and sets the course. Orr added that the vehicles used for this purpose are temporarily drawn from service, leaving all fire stations fully covered in case of emergency.

Councilor Robinson asked if councilors could be notified whenever a vehicle was out of the township. Wayne Orr replied that this would be a full-time job: “Township vehicles are outside the township on numerous occasions. Council needs to trust they have legitimate reasons.”

Future Meeting Dates

At present, the only scheduled council meetings will be the regular meetings on Oct 19 and November 2. The other November meeting times may be used for orientation of the new council, unless new agenda items arise. The inaugural meeting of the new council will be December 7.

 

South Sherbrooke

MARK BURNHAM

Mark Burnham served for three terms as councilor on Tay Valley Council between 1998 and 2006. He sought the position of deputy reeve in 2006 and lost the election to Susan Freeman.

Even though he has not been a member of council for the last four years, Mark Burnham has not really retreated from township politics. He has remained as the Tay Valley representative to the board of the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority, and he has been the chair of that board for five years. He has also remained active on township committees, including the mining committee and others.

“The only difference not being on council was that I did not have to go to meetings on Tuesday nights,” he said.

From his experience on previous Tay Valley councils and what he knows of this latest council, Mark Burnham has found that the council has generally been “pretty reasonable and sensible in its approach to issues, and there are not a lot of divisions on council.”

He is happy with the direction the township has been taking by paving many of the side roads, and will encourage that to continue. “Once the roads are paved they are cheaper to maintain,” he said.

Another project that Mark Burnham was happy to see started is the new fire hall that is being built in Maberly.

Looking forward, he sees some problems ahead for council in terms of indirect obligations coming down from other levels of government, which will lead to tax increases. He cited an example from the Conservation Authority (CA).

“The province gave the CA the responsibility for mapping, without any funding, so that cost ends up being passed down to the municipalities. These kinds of costs can come from a lot of directions, and they impact on taxes,” he said.

 

DAVE CAMPBELL

Dave Campbell's family has been farming in Lanark County since 1816.

He was raised in the Balderson area, where his cousin still owns the family farm, and he has been a dairy farmer in Maberly for many years.

Because of “bad knees, a back back, and aches and pains,” Dave Campbell sold his dairy quota a few years ago and has been raising a variety of livestock ever since, including keeping a few cows, some pigs and goats. He is now looking into raising rabbits for sale.

Over the years he has been very involved with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) and is a past president and active member of the Lanark Federation.

“The OFA just got permission to hold another lobby day at Parliament Hill in April, so I will be busy all winter organizing that. It takes a lot of work,” he said.

This is the first time he has sought municipal office.

“I've always followed politics and farm politics, and I thought at my age it would be interesting to do my bit for my fellow citizens in the ward. My philosophy is that whatever is good for the membership is good for me too,” he said.

He also said he would like to see some better representation from South Sherbrooke ward on council. “I think a member of council should be out and about in the community, at events, church suppers, that sort of thing. I think people want that.”

He notes there are a lot of farmers in Tay Valley.

“There's one other farmer on the council so if there are two of us it would make it a little better for agricultural stuff. It is a big industry in our county, and a strong agricultural point of view on the township would be a good thing,” he said.

Dave Campbell said that he knows there are going to be a lot of issues in front of council and he would take them on if elected in the same way he takes on all challenges.

“I'm a very positive person and I will try to take on council politics that way,” he said.

 

ROXANNE DARLING

Roxanne Darling grew up in Kingston, and moved to the Burridge area in the early 1980s. She lived in Burridge and worked in marketing and advertising in Kingston for 17 years.

During that time she developed an interest in municipal politics and was a member of council in Bedford for two terms.

She now helps run her family’s small business on Bobs Lake and is committed to economic growth and local employment. “I originally ran for council in Bedford because I wanted to get more involved in the community. I jumped in with both feet. I wanted to do the same thing in Tay Valley. There is no better way to get to know your municipality than sitting on council,” she said.

Roxanne Darling was acclaimed to her position last time, so this is her first contested election in the township.

“I must say I thoroughly enjoyed my last four years on council. There is a great diversity on this council and I'm amazed at just about every meeting at the insight that my fellow councilors bring to the issues. We don't always agree but we listen to each other and come up with good decisions. This has been a real growing experience for me,” she said.

In terms of issues that are facing the new council, Darling is concerned that a lot of new regulations and responsibilities are coming down from the province that could affect municipal funding. “It all leads to more pressure on taxes, and until we find a new mechanism for our assessment taxes will keep going up. I know what it’s like to live on a lake,” she said.

While high taxes are a problem for all waterfront property owners, Darling said, “It is those who are on a fixed income that I really worry about. I don't know that the answer is for this, but I'd like to be given another chance for four years to work on it.”

Among other issues that are important to Darling are the expansion of municipal involvement in local economical growth, as she would like to give their children a reason to stay and live in this area; enhancement of all municipal processes to make them more user friendly; and improvement of transparency and easy access to council.

 

 

Highway 7

Council discussed the recently announced long-term strategic plan for Highway 7 that the Ministry of Transportation is undertaking.

“The Ministry needs to understand that our economic development prospects will be pretty dire if improvements are not made to Highway 7,” said Mayor Ron Maguire. “The intersection at Highway 41, for one thing, presents a dire safety concern and needs a stop light in the worst way.”

Council decided to send a letter to the ministry expressing their concerns. “We need to take every opportunity to press them on this, “ said Maguire.

JEPP grant application?

In the past, the township has applied every year for a Joint Emergency Preparedness Program (JEPP) grant from the federal government for equipment that has been of use to the fire department to deal with potential emergencies.

In a report from Township Chief Administrative Officer Cheryl Robson, it was proposed the township seek JEPP funding in the amount of $13,600 for equipment to set up either the Harlowe Hall or the Barrie Hall as an alternate emergency operations centre for the township. If the grant is approved, the township will have to cover an additional $28,000 or $29,000 depending upon which hall is chosen.

Deputy Mayor Jim Beam said he was reluctant to commit that kind of money from next year’s budget.

Given that the emergency operations centre for Addington Highlands is the North Addington Education centre, located across the road from the Barrie Hall, Council decided to focus on the Harlowe Hall and consider a less expensive option for a generator than the $34,000 generator that that was being recommended for the JEPP application.

The issue will be taken up at the next council meeting, on October 28.

Good year for building - Building permits have been issued for $6.7 million worth of construction so far in 2010, up $1.2 million from the same point in 2009. The good news extends to the building department finances as well. $112,816 has been collected in permit fees in for the first nine months of 2010, as compared to $95,012 as of the end of September in 2009.

 

The Land o’Lakes Lions will hold their annual voluntary toll on Hwy 41 in Northbrook on October 30.

Council considered the possibility of applying to the Ministry of Tourism and Culture’s 2010-2011 Creative Communities Prosperity Fund (CCPF). While it was felt that Addington Highlands would not likely meet the criteria for the CCPF as the program is geared towards cultural mapping and planning, Councilor Eythel Grant suggested that the township could apply for funding to transfer the library to the school. He said, “All they can do is turn us down.” The library board will be meeting before the CCPF application deadline of November 5, and the matter will be brought up for their consideration.

The Ministry of the Environment has informed the township of required amendments to the provisional Certificate of Approval for the Vennachar Waste Site. The township will have to purchase more land for the site from the crown land that surrounds the site. The MoE would like the purchase to be completed by the end of December 2011. Reeve Hogg said that while surveys would have to be done, he didn’t see any problem in meeting the requirements.

Deputy Reeve Helen Yanch brought two matters concerning County Road 29 to the attention of Roads Supervisor Royce Rosenblath. The first was about the painting of a yellow centre line on the road. Rosenblath said that the county would decide if a line was warranted by the traffic volumes, etc. but that they probably didn’t want to commit to doing all the county roads.Yanch, who as deputy reeve is a member of county council, said she imagined county council would approve the request if it was brought to them.

The second matter was about the stop sign on the Bridgewater side. Yanch said several people had reported seeing vehicles not stopping at the sign and she speculated it might be because a stop bar that was previously there had not been repainted at the spot.

Rosenblath said he would look into painting a stop bar there.

 

Drainage Issues in (not-so?) Happy Valley

In response to Councillor Bill Robinson’s previously expressed concerns about the clogged state of a municipal drain in the Petworth Road/Happy Valley area, Alan Revill, the Township Drainage Superintendent, reported to Council that the drain did indeed need to be cleaned out. Since the drain was dug in 1985, it has had only one clean out. At the time of construction, the engineer’s report had contained two basic restrictions for the landowners: that there be no cultivation within 3 meters of the top of the ditch, and that cattle be kept out of the drain.

Revill noted that one landowner was allowing cattle to wander in the drain, thus contributing to erosion: the landowner said he was unaware of the provision to keep them out of it. The combination of gentle grades, build up of sediment, and heavy grass growth was significantly impeding water flow in the drain, leading to long periods of standing water, particularly after heavy rains. Although landowners are encouraged to cut the grass in the drains, not all have the appropriate equipment for the job, so it is not mandatory.

Council voted in favour of the recommendation that cleanout of 1200 feet of drain be undertaken under the supervision of the municipality, extending upstream from a point 100 feet south of the Petworth Road. The Municipal Drainage Act states that maintenance work such as this is to be paid for by the upstream owners (who benefit from the drainage of their properties), and can be done by a private contractor. Robinson objected, saying that this seemed unfair to the landowners, since this was a municipal drain, and asked for a recorded vote. All but Robinson and Fillion supported the motion: Robinson voted against it, and after some hesitation, Fillion abstained, saying he didn’t want the upstream landowners having to pay.

Building Report

The end-of-September building report showed value of construction in the Township for the first nine months of 2010 surpasses the total value of 2009 construction. “I thought this was supposed to be one of those fear-mongering (construction’s dropping) years,” commented Councillor Stowe, “But I guess not!”

Voting Registration Issues

There was inconclusive discussion about whether the township offices should be open Saturday morning, to provide PIN numbers to those who are not on the voters list, and to offer assistance to voters who are uncertain about voting by telephone or computer. CAO Orr reminded Council that running an election was not a political process, but an administrative responsibility.

He added that the offices have remained open until 7 pm, the last two Wednesdays: they have served a total of eight individuals on these two evenings. Residents who have any questions about the voting process are encouraged to telephone the Township offices.