It will be mid-August at the earliest before Frontenac County Council makes any kind of decision about the location of an ambulance base to serve the residents of North and parts of Central Frontenac.

At their July 6 meeting, Frontenac County Council received for information a report from their Chief of Land Ambulance Services, Paul Charbonneau, which recommended putting the decision off until Lennox and Addington County decides what to do with their own base in Denbigh, because this will have an impact on responses in Frontenac County.

While Lennox and Addington County Council received a report last month by the IBI consulting group, which recommends that the Denbigh base close, there is no indication that the future of the Denbigh base will be decided any time soon, although a delegation from Denbigh is scheduled to appear at L&A County meeting on July 27.

For now, according to Mike Schjerning, Chief of Emergency services for Lennox and Addington, his staff is only considering options related to finding a location for a new base in Northbrook. The county lease on the property where the Northbrook base is located ran out on June 30, 2011 and the county has exercised an option to renew that lease for two years, at which time they will have to find a new home because the landlord has indicated that the building will no longer be available to them.

“The availability of land in the Northbrook area will obviously be a factor in determining where we locate that base. We are starting to look for a location now,” said Schjerning when interviewed over the phone.

All of this puts the future of a proposed ambulance base/fire station in Ompah into further doubt.

North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton proposed a motion of his own to Frontenac County Council, which would have seen the Ompah project go ahead this year. While Frontenac County Council and North Frontenac Township still have not come to an agreement over cost sharing for the project, Clayton's motion proposes a 50/50 split in operating and construction costs, with North Frontenac covering all of the land and septic costs, as well as the cost of a well and pump.

While this motion was presented to Frontenac County Council on July 6, it was only in the form of a notice of motion, and was not slated to be considered until the next meeting of county council on August 17.

Clayton did not want to wait until then to have his motion considered by the council, and wondered why Paul Charbonneau's recommendations, on the other hand, could be considered right away.

“I find it unacceptable that a member of council must wait two months to have a motion considered, but an employee of the county can bring a motion forward and it gets voted on right away,” he said.

“The council can bring a notice of motion forward for consideration at any time with a 2/3 vote,” said County Chief Administrative Officer Liz Savill.

Mayor Clayton asked that his motion be brought to a vote right away.

“We are losing the building window for this year by delaying this,” he said.

In a recorded vote, Council members John Inglis (North Frontenac), David Jones and Dennis Doyle (Frontenac Islands), and John Purdon (Central Frontenac), as well as Clayton himself supported the motion. It was opposed by council members Janet Gutowski (Central Frontenac), John McDougall (South Frontenac) and Gary Davison, who as mayor of South Frontenac, has two votes. The final tally was 5 votes in favour to 4 against.

Although Clayton's request to bring his motion forward was supported by the majority of council, it did not receive a 2/3 majority and was declared defeated.

All of this leaves the fate of the Ompah base in a continuing state of limbo.

County council will be able to consider Bud Clayton's proposal when they meet in August, but it will come forward in the context of both Paul Charbonneau's reluctance to move forward until the Denbigh situation is clarified, and a continuing disagreement over a fair way of sharing the costs of the building.

Warden Gary Davison said, “I don't see how with a 1,500 square foot ambulance base and what looks like a 2,500 square foot fire station, the costs should be shared 50/50. That doesn't add up to me. And since it is the City of Kingston that pays 80% of the capital costs for all ambulance bases we build, I don't know how we can justify this to them.”

North Frontenac Township has taken the position that because anticipated construction costs for a fire hall are lower than they are for an ambulance base ($128 per square foot as compared to $195 for an ambulance base according to figures quoted by Paul Charbonneau in March), the 50/50 cost split is more viable.

Using those construction cost figures, the cost would be $292,500 for the ambulance base portion, and $320,000 for the fire hall.

Bill Day Jr. owns a property that is on a busy through road between Sydenham and Harrowsmith. His property is easy to find from Kingston and the 401.

His father ran grass drag snowmobile races on the property for 35 years, and Bill Day is taking things to another level. He has built a motocross track on the property and wants to run the track as a commercial enterprise, with sanctioned races a couple of times a year, as well as public use of the track one evening a week for practice sessions and informal riding. As part of the Maguire motocross series, a number of races were held last summer.

“There has been racing on this land all my life. I grew up with it, and when we built the track to start some different kinds of racing we made sure were a thousand feet away from any of our neighbours. All bikes are tested for noise levels before they race, and they need to be under 96 decibels. The whole thing is done in an organized way,” Bill Day said in a telephone interview this week.

The problem for Bill Day is that South Frontenac has a bylaw on the books prohibiting motor racing. The grass drag races were permitted because they were already established when the bylaw was passed, but last fall the township informed Bill Day that he needed to apply to council for a zoning amendment to allow further motor racing on his property.

So Bill Day made an application earlier this year.

“Everything seemed to be going well. We met with the mayor and the planning department and went over what we wanted to do and everyone seemed OK with it at first,” Day said.

That was before the opposition to the plan emerged.

It turns out that while the Day property might look isolated, it isn't. There are a number of neighbours across the road and some on smaller side roads who are exposed to the high-pitched whine of motocross bikes whenever racing occurs, and a number of those neighbours are dead set against racing on the Day property.

This sets up a classic kind of rural dispute. One person has a right to the use and enjoyment of their property by virtue of owning the land, but when that right conflicts with the rights of neighbouring property owners to also enjoy their own properties, whose rights should be given more weight?

Mel Therien lives across the road from the Day farm. Sitting on his porch one morning last week, I could hear the steady hum of traffic on the Harrowsmith Road as we talked, but I could also hear other sounds, birds chirping, the wind whistling over the fields behind. We had no difficulty carrying on a conversation.

“If the track was active, we wouldn't be sitting here,” Therien said. “We would be yelling over the sound and covering our ears. We would have to go inside and close the windows in order to talk, and even then the sound would penetrate the house. And that is during a practice session. During race weekends, you don't want to be here at all.”

The neighbours’ complaints have been heard and in June the township planner, Lindsay Mills, advised council not to proceed with the zoning amendment.

In a search for compromise, a time-limited solution has been proposed.

On August 2, South Frontenac Council is expected to consider a temporary one-year bylaw that, as it is currently written, would allow one ATV and one motocross weekend this summer, and one ATV and one motocross weekend early next summer, as well as practice sessions on Wednesday nights. These practice sessions were advertised on the Kingston Kijiji site for $20 in May.

Bill Day thinks a one-year trial is a reasonable option, even if it is not what he wanted to happen in the first place.

“That way, all the members of Council will have a chance to come out and see what is going on, and hear the noise, see if there is any dust. It will be a good test,” Day said.

But for Mel Therien, there has already been a test year.

“We know what is going to happen because we have already experienced it,” he said.

According to Mel Therien, the neighbours are seriously considering appealing the decision to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) if council approves the temporary zoning on August 2.

“We know it will cost us money, but the effect on our rural lifestyle and our property values is such that we will have no choice,” he said.

What this means is council must consider the cost to the township of an OMB hearing, and the report from their own planner, which recommended against the zoning change, would be used against them at that hearing.

Bill Day does not rule out going to the OMB if his enterprise is effectively shut down on August 2.

There is no obvious compromise available in this case. Bill Day wants to put on races, and the neighbours don't want any racing.

Two members of council have indicated they will oppose the proposal, and at least two are leaning towards supporting it.

Whatever happens, the underlying issue remains.

How can the wants and desires of property owners be satisfied when those desires come into conflict with the desires of their neighbours?

Friends of Arden receive unanimous support from council

Terry Kennedy, of the Friends of Arden (FOA) group, updated council on the progress of the Arden revitalization program, outlining over 24 projects they hope to achieve over a five-year period.

To date the volunteer group has removed the metal guard rail along the Arden millpond, replacing it with rocks, and have removed and disposed of two full truck loads of debris from the Arden stream with the aid of the township.

Other upcoming FOA projects include improved signage, improvement to public areas like parking lots, picnic area, trails and the playground as well as larger projects like exploring the re-opening of a store/tearoom in the hamlet.

Terry Kennedy said that the group hopes to explore various options that would enable the township and the group to work together in these upcoming projects.

The next major project on the group’s agenda is the major clean up of the hamlet planned for July 28 (with a July 29 rain date) where FOA volunteers will be assisting members of the community to transport and dispose of refuse from their properties, which some owners have been unable to dispose of themselves. Kennedy asked that council consider supporting the clean up by providing equipment for refuse collection from a central location and for councils consideration in terms of tipping fees.

The FOA plans to ask participants having material collected to be prepared to sign a form agreeing that their “waste amnesty” load applies to the items removed. The FOA will also make a request to local residents who do not anticipate using their “amnesty load” to consider donating it to the clean up project.

Council unanimously passed several motions in connection with the FOA presentation, which included: directing staff to come up with a formal communications plan with the FOA; to make township equipment available for the upcoming clean up project on July 28 and recognize the amnesty loads by eligible property owners and donors; that council support the development of a proposed FOA signage program for Arden and assist in its implementation subject to the availability of township funding; and lastly that council direct staff to finalize plans for street improvements in the vicinity of the Arden mill pond based on input from public works and the availability of funding.

Council discussions re - RFP for septic approvals and inspections

CBO Jeremy Neven reviewed the proposed Request for Proposal (RFP) to provide both septic approvals and re-inspections on behalf of the township. It was decided that keeping the service in house would go above and beyond the capabilities and expertise of the municipality.

Council decided to explore and compare the competitive services and rates offered by the KLF&A Public Health, who now provide the service and who recently announced an increased cost for the services they provide, to similar services offered by the Mississippi Rideau Septic System Office (MRSSO).

Councilor Frances Smith wondered if there was any private industry that might be considered for the job. Neven answered. “None that I am aware of right now; its a large task to take on for a private company.” Councilor John Purdon wondered if there were any other potential organizations that might take it on, such as the Quinte or Catarqui Conservation Authorities. Neven said he did not believe so.

John Duchene said these providers, such as Quinte Conservation, are usually not interested in serving areas outside of their regions.

Mayor Gutowski summed up the reason for creating the RFP in the first place. “Tax payers are concerned with these issues and costs, so if there is any way that we can help protect our water and also help tax payers get a better deal and good service then we need to make sure we look into it.”

Private Roads Draft Policy: Cathy MacMunn reviewed a draft policy that was prepared by the township’s planning consultant Glenn Tunnock, who will be attending the council meeting on August 9 to address his proposal and make any other changes that need addressing.

Councilor Purdon said he was pleased to see the draft proposing new private roads as a possibility as well as new lots on private roads.

Until now, the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH), the body that has jurisdiction over the township, has insisted that no new construction on private roads be permitted in the township’s amended Official Plan.

Tunnock’s proposal is an attempt to come up with wording to go into the Official Plan, which will convince MMAH to permit a limited number of new building lots to be created on existing private roads or through extensions to those roads.

In his report, Tunnock made use of some information the township has gathered to demonstrate the necessity of permitting limited development on private lanes for the township’s continued viability.

Given the limited number of locations where building can take place on public roadways in Central Frontenac, and the number of new houses that have been built each year since 2001, Tunnock’s report shows that without allowing 1-3 lots to be created on private lanes per year the township will run out of building lots in short order and the rate of new construction will begin to drop.

The proposed policy also includes measures designed to ensure that private lanes are kept up to a minimum road standard, since the ministry has expressed a concern over the ability of fire and emergency vehicles to access properties on private lanes.

The private lane policy is the only section of the amended Official Plan that has not yet been approved by Municipal Affairs.

Public Works: Councilor Bill Snyder brought to council’s attention the rough shape of the Wilkinson railway crossing. CAO John Duchene said he will contact the railroad to make them aware of the condition of the tracks at that location and at the Tichborne crossing.

Event Remuneration: A resolution directing staff to prepare a draft by-law regarding event remuneration for members of council was defeated. The majority of councilors agreed that opening up the budget to remuneration regarding per diems and mileage to cover councilors attending out of county meetings would be opening up a can of worms that would be difficult to keep track of.

Visit from Librarian

Deborah Defoe, the Chief Librarian/CEO of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library, outlined some of the issues and history behind the library board’s decision to close the Ompah branch of the library, which was one of 10 branches located in Frontenac County.

After going over the results of a branch studies report from 2004, a branch master plan from 2010, and a public survey from 2010, and some of the circumstances surrounding the Ompah branch in particular, Defoe described her visit as “step 1 of a consultation process with county council.”

County Councillor John Inglis from North Frontenac asked, “Don't you think step 1 of the consultation process should have come before one of the branches was closed?”

Councilor John Purdon, from Central Frontenac, is also the County representative to the library board, said that he has been pushing the library board to consult more directly with the county. He also asked about the future prospects for library branches in Central Frontenac, since the same library branch study from 2004 that called for the closure of the Ompah branch also called for the closure of the Arden, Mountain Grove, and Parham branches.

“It really is circulation that drives a lot of our decision-making,” said Defoe.

She then pointed out that the Arden branch has had an increase in circulation and is in line for improvements, not closure.

“The Parham branch, which is located in a portable classroom next to the school, will lose its space when the school closes,” she said, “so you, as a township, will have to decide what you are going to do about that. The school closing will also cause circulation in that branch to plummet.”

Defoe also said that the Mountain Grove branch is facing a mould issue, which must be addressed.

She did not comment directly when asked if the board would consider re-opening the Ompah branch now that a community group has re-opened the library as a stand-alone community-based service.

County Official Plan – A report from sustainability planner Joe Gallivan outlined the benefits of developing a County Official Plan.

The report pointed out the Ministry of Municipal Affairs recommends that such a plan be developed, and says that planning matters dealt with by the local municipalities in the county will be easier and quicker to approve if the county has an Official Plan. Currently, any time one of the Frontenac townships needs to amend their own plan to allow for a building project to go forward, that amendment goes to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, causing delays and complications. If a county-wide Official Plan were in place, that would no longer be necessary. The county, which includes representatives from the local municipalities, would be able to do the final approvals.

Council received Gallivan's report for information. There will be more on this in the coming months.

Netbooks for Council members - David Millard, Information Technologist for the county, talked about the netbook computers that members of council will be receiving this month. The computers will be the property of the county, and only the IT department will be able to load software on them. They will be subject to the county computer use policy that applies to county staff, and any personal use is prohibited, including loading photos or videos. The county chose an ACER model, at a cost of just under $300 per unit. The projected lifespan of the computers is two to three years.

Clean Audit – Vicky Leakey from KPMG presented the county’s 2010 audit results. The report concludes that the county’s “operations and cash flows for the year [are] in accordance with Canadian public sector accounting standards,” which is audit-speak for ‘everything seems to be on the up and up’.

Members of Frontenac County Council met for three and a half hours last Wednesday March 30 in an effort to wrestle down the $45 million 2011 County budget.

When all is said and done, council's deliberations will likely lead to a marginal increase in the county portion of the municipal tax bill for county ratepayers in 2011, bills that will see larger overall increases this year due to higher local taxes in each township.

However, the budget debate was anything but smooth. A number of issues were raised but few were resolved, and an extra meeting has been set for Wednesday, April 13 to try and finalize the budget.

Among items that seem to have been resolved, a proposed $25,000 expenditure on furniture for the county council chamber was scrapped, as was the practice of county councillors receiving compensation for the cost of high-speed Internet in their own homes. A proposed increase in staffing at the county office by two persons was also scaled back to one.

In terms of major budget items, Fairmount Nursing Home administrator, Julie Shillington, presented a revised budget that has been trimmed so that the net operating cost for the home has no increase this year. In order to accomplish that, given the increases in fixed costs such as raw food, laundry and linen services, and administrative costs, staffing cuts had to be made. The nursing and personal care budget was trimmed by $82,716 even though unionized staff received a contracted pay increase. A cut of almost 8%, or $32,500, in program and support services was also required to bring down operating costs.

Although the overall municipal contribution to the home is up by 1.67% this year, due to an increase in capital costs, the amount that will be paid by Frontenac County residents is down by almost 1% because of some transfers from reserve funds. The net county contribution to Fairmount Home will be $727,300 in 2011, down from $733,518 in 2010.

Before county council started debating the rest of the budget, Mayor Dennis Doyle from Frontenac Islands asked if he could address council.

Doyle handed out a breakdown of the impact of county taxes on each of the Frontenac townships over the past three years. Property assessments values on Frontenac Islands have risen more than elsewhere in the county – by 43.6%, compared to 36.4% in North Frontenac, 33% in Central Frontenac, and 29.1% in South Frontenac. This has shifted the burden of county taxation.

“While the county levy has increased by an acceptable average of 1.9% in South Frontenac over the last three years, it is 6% in the Frontenac Islands. I can't justify that to my constituents,” Doyle said. “I wanted to get that on the table, so people know that if we get a little aggressive on holding the line against any tax increase, there is a reason. If you look at the draft budget, South Frontenac will be asked to increase their levy by 0.75%; Frontenac Islands by 3.5%.”

“We are seeing increases in taxes without increases in service,” said David Jones, the other county council representative from Frontenac Islands.

North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton then addressed Council with his own perspective. He prefaced his comments by saying “This is in fact a municipal budget, which is essentially a wish list,”

Clayton then said he wanted to further address the Fairmount Home budget.

“Fairmount Home is an elite facility,” he said. “The average cost for long-term care in Ontario homes is $56,000 per patient per year, and at Fairmount it is $78,000. Deep in my heart, I think the Fairmount budget should be decreased by $300,000, and we should do the same thing each year for four years.”

He also said that the fire station/ambulance base in Ompah should go ahead.

“My proposition is that this go ahead, with $300,000 from the county. North Frontenac will spend $350,000, and North Frontenac will be responsible for the septic and the water, and the project can go out as a design build.”

His final issue was county support for Pine Meadow Nursing Home, a community-owned nursing home in Northbrook (in L&A County) that serves residents in Central and North Frontenac.

“The $25,000 asked for by Pine Meadow should be granted. Three quarters of a million dollars in county money goes to Fairmount Home and $150,000 goes to help redevelop the hospital in Kingston. These are health care dollars; these dollars should be spent on health care for people in our township. To ask for $25,000 when all these figures are being handled is a small percentage,” Clayton said.

Central Frontenac Mayor then asked for leave to comment, She took exception to both Clayton and Doyle's remarks.

“I can appreciate that all mayors and all our staff are under pressure, but I am distressed to hear a budget referred to as a wish list. It is not a wish list; it is a working document. We have to recognize that this is an opportunity to work collaboratively, look at the big picture and work cooperatively. I could sit and whine and complain just as much about Central Frontenac as well. Let's step back. Let's look at the big picture.”

County Sustainability Planner Joe Gallivan and Economic Development Manager Anne Marie Young both outlined a number of projects that are proposed to be funded through a federal gas tax transfer. Whether council approves these projects or not will not impact the county budget, but a number of members of council indicated they would like to put a stop to some of them and transfer some of the gas tax money to the townships for use on fixed infrastructure costs rather than county-wide projects.

Warden Davison for one, questioned the efficacy of a study into the viability of a milk processing plant in Frontenac County.

As the meeting drew to close, Warden Davison said that the entire budget would be open for discussion when county council meets again on April 13.

In a subsequent telephone interview, he said that he knew the budget debate has been slower this year, but said, “It is important, with six new councillors, that everyone is comfortable with the budget that we pass. There are still some serious questions to be resolved, and nothing is chiselled in stone until we get direction from council.”

Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCS) have secured a deal for a lease-to-purchase agreement to move their seniors’ programming and administrative offices to the former Grace United Church in Sydenham.

This will create the first permanent home for the 20-year-old agency, which is now focussing its efforts on providing services for seniors and social supports for working families in South Frontenac.

Until now, SFCS has been based at a rental property in Sydenham, which is called the Rural Visions Centre. They also provide programming at the United Church manse in Harrowsmith, but are planning to consolidate their operations at the Grace United Church.

The church held its final services on May 16 of last year. Negotiations with SFCS commenced in October and the plan went public in an article in the News in November of last year.

“We have a community partnership with the YWCA of Kingston for this venture,” said David Townsend, SFCS Executive Director, “and Anne Kloosterman from the Y is here with us tonight.”

Townsend estimated that the cost of purchase and renovations at the church would come to about $300,000. “We will be fund-raising, seeking grants, and using our reserve funds to come up with that money over time,” Townsend said.

For the first phase, he said $100,000 would be needed.

His request to South Frontenac Council was modest, however.

“We ask that the township provide us with a grant of $2,000 each year for five years so we can cover municipal taxes, and continue to forego the money that the township has not been receiving in property taxes for the 140 years that the church has been on that site,” he said. (Churches do not pay property taxes in South Frontenac)

Joan Cameron, the chair of the Board of SFCS, also asked that the township appoint a member of council to sit on the SFCS Board.

Mayor Davison said the timing of the grant request was good because council will be finalising its budget. “In about a week so we will work your request into our thinking.”

Final approval for the lease-purchase agreement is expected by the middle of April, and SFCS hopes to be offering programming in the church by July 1.

Hunt Road maintenance request – George Hunt appeared before council to request some help in bringing about 1.5 kilometres of the Hunt Road, south of Cloyne, to a point where it is passable. Hunt said that his family uses the road seasonally to access their property, and that at one time it had been maintained. He said some culverts are needed and some gravel as well.

Reeve Hogg said that Council would look into his request as part of their budget deliberations, which are scheduled for next week.

“I can't guarantee anything, but we will look into it,” Hogg said.

$75 is better than a pin -

A provincial program of recognition for volunteer firefighters will include a list of items that firefighters who qualify will be able to choose from.

“Why don't they give out pins?” asked Councilor Helen Yanch.

“Because a pin isn't worth anything,” said Deputy Mayor Bill Cox.

The items that are available are valued at around $75.

Road work on 41 - The MTO is planning to do some road upgrades on Hwy. 41 between Buckshot Lake Road in Vennachar and the Hwy. 28 intersection. The design phase is being completed but the timing of the actual work has not yet been determined.

Road work on County Road 29 – Lennox and Addington County will be doing about $500,000 in work on County Road 29 this summer, reported Public Works Manager Royce Rosenblath. Rosenblath also reported that an updated Roads Needs study for the township has been completed. It says that it would cost $7.1 million to complete all the road and bridge work that is either needed now or in coming years, but Rosenblath said he will bring the urgent matters, which are not as onerous, forward for this year’s budget.

Energy use study – Stewart Fast, a researcher at the University of Ottawa, appeared before council to talk briefly about the preliminary results of a study he has done into the energy use habits of Addington Highlands and North Frontenac residents. Fast sent out 836 surveys and had a 20% response rate, which is enough for him to put together some reasonably accurate statistical data.

In terms of home heating, Fast found that 73% of respondents use wood as a primary or secondary heating source, a dramatic divergence from the national average, which is 5%. Another 13% use wood pellets. He also found that 56% of the people who heat with wood cut their own.

In terms of attitudes towards alternative energy production, he found varying responses based on what type of energy is involved. For example, 87% of responders were in favour of rooftop solar, while only 60% support wind projects, and 58% support hydro dams on local waterways. Sixty-eight percent of responders would be happy with a wood pellet factory in the region.

Fast said he would forward all the information he develops to the township. He is holding information evenings in Denbigh tonight, April 7; Flinton on Sunday, April 10, and Ompah on Monday, April 11. For information see Northern Happenings.

Council likes trailhead centre idea. Will the public?

By Jeff Green

Landscape architect and designer, Scott Wentworth, presented the concept drawings for a trailhead centre at the junction of the Cataraqui and K&P Trails in Harrowsmith to South Frontenac Council on Tuesday night, April 5.

Wentworth was hired by Frontenac County to come up with a design concept for the centre. The presentation was the same one that he gave to Frontenac County Council in mid-February and comes just a few days before the first public open house about the plan, which is scheduled for Monday, April 11, between 6 and 8 pm at the Social & Athletic Club in Harrowsmith, just down the road from the site of the proposed centre.

The plan, which Wentworth made clear was only in the concept stages, includes some parkland and a small open structure. It also includes a 20 by 40 foot building that in Scott Wentworth’s vision would not be a replica of the train station that once stood on the spot, but would have design features so that it would echo the look of the Harrowsmith station.

Accompanying Wentworth at the presentation were Anne Marie Young from Frontenac County and Rob Gerritson from the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority.

Very preliminary costing for the project is $600,000, and the Conservation Authority, South Frontenac Township, Frontenac County, and even the City of Kingston are all potential partners in bringing it about.

The plan was well received by most of council, although Councilor Bill Robinson merely asked a few questions about public involvement and logistics but did not express any support. Councilor Ron Vandewal said he liked the idea, as did Councilor Allan McPhail, but McPhail directly expressed a concern that Vandewal had alluded to.

“This will only work if there is community involvement from the residents of Harrowsmith. It will have to be a project they are part of,” he said.

Councilor Del Stowe, who is the chair of the Cataraqui Trail Management Board, said, “I really like this plan. I hope the people of Harrowsmith do too.”

Mileage for SF Central Recreation Committee

by Wilma Kenny

SF Central Recreation Committee has asked that its members be reimbursed mileage costs for attending meetings, as of Jan 1, 2011. Annual cost at $.55/km is estimated to be $2400. In response to CAO Wayne Orr’s concerns that this could set a precedence for other committees, Councilor Ron Vandewal pointed out that unlike other committees, the members of this committee have been asked to attend meetings in Sydenham, which is outside the districts of all but two. The SF Committee of Adjustment already pays mileage to its members. After further discussion, Council endorsed the motion unanimously.

Website Improvement Funding Sought

The newly formed Corporate Services Committee (Councilors Mark Tinlin, Ron Vandewal and Larry York) have recommended that $10,000 be added to the 2011 budget, for redevelopment of the township website. This is in acknowledgment of the need for improved communication with the public. Council agreed to include this amount in their budget deliberations next week.

Multi-year Road Plan to Reach Beyond Township Boundaries

South Frontenac’s roads department is facing major funding issues. The 2010 roads budget drew heavily from reserves, and 2011 budget discussions include sharp cuts to the roads department. As well, the current annual funding of $600,000 for arterial roads in and out of Kingston will end in 2013. In response to a suggestion from Councilor Vandewal, council passed a proposal to direct their staff to meet with neighboring municipalities to develop a joint multi-year strategy for both road construction and funding. One advantage would be a stronger political voice for improved provincial funding.

Waste Recycling Strategy Approved

The township’s Waste Recycling Strategy has to be annually approved by Council, in order to receive maximum blue box funding from Stewardship Ontario. It is a living document, regularly seeking and incorporating public input. Its current emphasis will be on increasing waste diversion through improving public education and promotion. One goal is to add 10 years to the life span of township landfill by diversion: i.e. putting more waste into blue box recycling and less in the garbage. Others are to make recycling services available to all residents, encourage more people to recycle, and to reduce recycling costs by 10% per tonne over the next ten years.

Proposed Public Works Department Restructuring

As requested by council, Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth submitted an outline of job duties that would be assigned the proposed new position of Solid Waste and Facilities Supervisor. He noted that new programs and chronic understaffing had contributed to under-maintenance of township facilities and buildings.

Councilor Vandewal said that although he agreed the need seemed real, he was not in favour of hiring any new staff until the amalgamation of the township offices, in the hope this would achieve some new staffing efficiencies.

There was general agreement to refer Segsworth’s request to the Public Works and Services Committee for their consideration and recommendation. Vandewal also suggested that the $50,000 (half-year) salary be included in the 2011 proposed budget, so if the position were to be approved, funding would be available. This was carried.

Township pours cold water on library plans

Claudette Richardson, the chair of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library (KFPL) Board, might have expected a cold reception when she came to a meeting of North Frontenac Council in Snow Road to explain why her board voted to close the Ompah branch.

While Richardson received a polite, if unenthusiastic response to her explanation of the board's actions, members of the Ompah Library Users Group who were in attendance saved their anger for council itself, when council showed little enthusiasm for providing any financial support towards setting up a public Internet hotspot in the former branch.

Richardson went over the chronology of events, going back to the amalgamation of the Kingston and Frontenac libraries in 1998, and subsequent library branch studies in 2004 and 2010. She explained that as far as the library board has been concerned, it was not feasible to provide service to both Ompah and Plevna.

“I know it is controversial among some of the people in this area, but in the view of the library board, the Ompah/Plevna area is a single catchment area. All the reports that we've seen basically conclude that we will support one branch for that area. The fact is that the new branch was located in Plevna rather than Ompah, and that was not our decision.

“A motion was brought from the floor of our meeting just before Easter. All the issues were very clear in our minds at that time. There was some discussion about deferring the motion. It was finally brought to a vote and it was decided in a vote 5-4 to close the branch,” Claudette Richardson told council.

“We had expected and asked for input from the library board before this decision was taken,” said Councilor John Inglis. “We sent a resolution to the library board earlier and received no response.”

“We had received a resolution from the township, and one from Central Frontenac Council as well, but really, our relationship is with the county, not the townships, so we did not know what to do with the resolutions. We took them into consideration but did not know how to respond,” Richardson answered.

“There is no doubt in my mind that KFPL Board is doing a wonderful job,” said Mayor Bud Clayton. “When the board decides to close branches there are two issues - fiscal issues, which are not relevant in this case, and moral issues. The board does not think this branch is viable, but the people in Ompah were running the branch themselves until 1998. If the Ompah users can demonstrate to the board that they can make the branch work with their own efforts, will the board re-examine the issue?"

“I don't see why the board wouldn't,” said Claudette Richardson.

Setback for Users Group

The Users group has set up a temporary service in the former Ompah branch, using donated books and two donated computers, and the township has donated the space. The group is keeping the branch open for four hours a week, the same four hours that the KFPL had been providing, using volunteers. They also want to provide public Internet service at that location for 10 extra hours a week, which is something the township provides, with permission from the KFPL, at the existing branches in Cloyne and Plevna,

But a request by the Ompah Users Group for financial support from council to cover the $640 short term cost of satellite Internet and the wages of a summer student for 10 hours a week was deferred by council until July 18.

Councilor Betty Hunter said that providing Internet service in the Ompah area for summer cottagers is a priority now that KFPL is gone. She described the area around Ompah as “the darkest in the township in terms of high speed Internet.”

Councilor Gerry Martin said, “We don't want to start a public library board in North Frontenac.”

“I believe the group should have a fundraiser - raise $500 or so, and then come back to us,” said Mayor Clayton.

“My concern is that if we defer this, it simply is not going to happen,” said Councilor Inglis.

“So Plevna and Ompah can have a student paid by the township for ten hours a week but Ompah can't,” said Marily Seitz of the users group.

When council did not vote on the funding request, the users group left.

ATVs and trails: Beryl Stott presented information about some of the damaging impacts ATVs can have on multi-use trails, and outlined how specific trails for ATVs are preferable.

She said that use of ATVs on wetlands needs to be prohibited, as should aggressive-tread tires on trails, and made a number of other recommendations.

North Frontenac is a popular destination for ATV trail riders, and there are number of controls in place, in line with a number of Beryl Stott's recommendations.

“This is not the first time we have considered a number of these concerns,” said Mayor Clayton, “but it is valuable to receive them all in this way.

Senior of the Year – Ernest Lapchinski, who has been working diligently for five years towards obtaining provincial funding for the expansion to the Pine Meadow Nursing Home, and who is a volunteer with Bon Echo Park as well, was nominated by the township for a provincial senior of the year award. He was named as one of the recipients by the province. Lapchinski, a retired doctor, said that when he moved to the area he did not know what he was going to do with his time. “I was invited to get involved and it has brought me into contact with many wonderful people. I love this place.”

Changes in staffing – Mayor Clayton made a statement regarding the results of an organizational review that has been going on behind the scenes at the township for several months, and has been discussed at several in-camera meetings.

“An organizational review was ordered by the previous council and has taken place over several months,” he said.

He added that changes coming from the review will “be a total new way of doing business for the township to ensure that we are sustainable,” in light of requirements that the province has brought in for asset management and accountability.

The review has not resulted in any decreases in township staffing at this time, but there have been some shuffling of positions. Cheryl Robson is now the Chief Administrative Officer, and Angela Miller is the Treasurer. Brenda Defosse has switched from the clerk/planning co-ordinator position to waste/recycling co-ordinator and Jenny Duhamel as taken over the clerk/planning job.

As previously reported, John Ibey has retired as public works manager and a new hiring will be taking place. In the meantime, the roads foreman Gregg Wise has been filling in as public works manager in addition to his regular duties.

Denbigh/Northbrook ambulance base

Council approved a motion in support of the Lennox and Addington County ambulance bases located in Northbrook and Denbigh, saying “they are located in critical geographic locations providing cross boundary coverage.” The motion went on to point out that “Counties are inappropriate jurisdictions for the administration of ambulance service”, and urged the province to reconsider the downloading of the service.

Road tender granted: It was extremely close but Smith Construction has won the contract for paving 1 km of Canonto Road, 1 km of Buckshot Lake Road, 0.3 km of Lodge Road, and 9 km. of road 506/509, and doing work on the Barrie salt/sand storage facility. The winning bid was $284,595. The only other bidder was Greenwood Paving, at $287,571. The bids came in under the budget estimates for the projects, which was $330,000. Township staff will review the bids to make sure all the specifications are covered before awarding the contract.

Affordable Housing post 2011

A presentation was made by Chris Laundry, a social housing consultant working for Lennox and Addington, about the future of the affordable housing sector in the county.

He provided an overview of the way provincial and federal governments have developed the current stock of rent geared to income and low-rent housing since the 1950s, and focussed on the most recent initiatives.

The main reason for his visit, however, was to talk about some of the implications of Bill 140, which was passed at Queen's Park in May. The major impacts of Bill 140 will come clear once some of the major provisions are enacted later this year.

“One of the major outcomes of the legislation will be to clarify the role of the consolidate service managers (CSM) and to streamline applications for affordable housing,” Laundry said.

Lennox and Addington County is a CSM and it operates about 350 housing units in Napanee and throughout the countryside, including some in Flinton.

Laundry said there will be changes that Lennox and Addington will have to deal with, and there may also be opportunities to add new kinds of housing as the result of the new legislation.

Denbigh Community Centre – Councilor Tony Fritsch presented a number of requests from the group working on bringing the Denbigh Community Centre project to completion. He divided the requests into items that need addressing now; items that need addressing in the near future; and “a list of additional projects for investigation.” Of immediate concern are the purchase and installation of a chimney liner ($2,800) and a minor roof repair ($1,500 or less). These were approved.

Northbrook fire hall and township office – Council established a committee that includes Reeve Henry Hogg, Deputy Reeve Bill Cox, Fire Chief Casey Cuddy, Public Works Manager Royce Rosenblath, and Clerk/Treasurer Jack Pauhl to consider a design/build project for a new combined fire hall and township office on a piece of land the township has purchased on Highway 41 south of Northbrook. A house located on the property is being demolished and the project is now ready to be looked at in more detail.

Roads – Royce Rosenblath reported that dust suppression is now being applied to gravel roads within the township. A tender was also awarded for gravel crushing to Genware for $86,000.

Fire – There were six bids received for a new tanker for the Denbigh station. The lowest was $179,739, below the $185,000 budgeted for the tanker. Council gave Fire Chief Cuddy the authority to award the tender, provided he is satisfied that the bidder has met all the requirements in the request for proposal that the township had set out. Cuddy also said he wanted to check with some other fire services to see if they have had a good experience with the company that provided the lowest bid, because they have not been a supplier to Addington Highlands in the past.

Denbigh Ambulance Network – Alice Madigan, the chair of the ambulance network, made a short presentation to Council, imploring council to “do everything in their power to help the community of Denbigh and surrounding neighbours retain the Denbigh ambulance base.”

“I want to point out that both the Denbigh and Northbrook ambulances were out on call the other night and a call came in from Skootamatta. It took over an hour for a response from Marmora. That's the kind of thing we are looking at if the Denbigh base closes. We are on your side,” said Reeve Hogg, who will preside of the debate at Lennox and Addington County Council on ambulance services in his role of County Warden.