New Sydenham Branch Library Opens Monday

Sydenham’s library has closed, and for the rest of the week library staff will be moving material to the new building. The ‘soft’ opening of the new library will be Monday July 11, at 10:00 am, when Mayor Davison will welcome a very special first patron. (The official opening date is Monday September 19, also at 10:00 am.)

Council received a letter from Chief KFPL Librarian Deborah Defoe thanking them on behalf of the library Board for their ongoing support of libraries in South Frontenac. “While the beautiful new building in Sydenham is an outstanding example, the allocation of funds to refurbish the Storrington Branch is equally appreciated.” She also reported that the library board had passed a motion in May asking that the Verona Project identified in the KFPL Branch Services Master Plan (a 5,000 to 6,000 square foot library building in Verona) be included in the South Frontenac 10-year Capital Plan. Councillor Ron Vandewal commented that although he agreed with the need to move forward, this size of project would have to depend on outside funding, similar to the provincial/federal grants that made it possible to build the new Sydenham branch.

Grass Drags Issue Drags On

Council denied third reading of a resolution which would have permanently rezoned a portion of the Bill Day farm in order to get it off the books before the August 2nd council meeting. The planner has been directed to bring a temporary use by-law to that meeting, outlining the requirements etc. which would permit a limited amount of racing for one year only. There will be a public meeting that evening before Council votes on the issue. CAO Orr said the new by-law and site plan will come in final form, so that if Council wishes, all three readings could be completed at that meeting, and approval would be given.

Ron Vandewal said that unless there was new information, he would be prepared to pass the temporary use by-law. Most of Council seemed to agree, except for Mayor Davison, who said he was not in favour unless there were more safeguards in place, addressing the neighbours’ concerns.

Verona Community Improvement Plan (CIP)

A public meeting at which County representatives outlined the proposed Verona CIP raised no comment from the several Verona residents who were present. The plan outlines four different financial incentive programs involving matching grants of up to $2,500 to help individuals and businesses improve community appearances, amenities and safety, as well as building conditions and land use. There is also a loan program to further assist projects and a grant program to help cover attendant municipal fees. Council approved the CIP, which is expected to run for four years. Further details are available through the township office, or on the township website.

Parks Maintenance Complaints

In response to complaints about garbage accumulating at parks in Sydenham and Verona, CAO Orr noted that the maintenance contracts call for twice-a-week pick-up. Because the local representatives on the recreation committees tend to be the first line of contact, they have all been provided with lists of the contractors, and details of the contract requirements. They will be sent follow-up letters with the same information. Councillor Vandewal asked why there were so many complaints this year, if the garbage situation had been under control with twice-weekly pickup other years?

While most teachers are enjoying their summer vacations, Sarah Sproule and Darren Sissons from North Addington Education Centre in Cloyne have been making the rounds of local councils, Lions clubs and sports groups, looking for money to support an initiative they would like to get underway this coming fall at their school.

“North Addington is unique in the Limestone Board because not only does it have an outdoor classroom, it has 88 acres of land as well,” Sarah Sproule told Addington Highlands Council this week.

Sproule and Sissons are Physical Education teachers at NAEC. While they have brought their students to the Outdoor Learning Centre that the Limestone Board has in place at Gould Lake near Hartington, they find transporting the students to be expensive and access to the Gould Lake Centre to be an issue as well because it is shared with the entire board.

“We would like to establish something for our students and for other students in the north,” Sproule told Council.

The two teachers are preparing an application to the Limestone Learning Foundation for multiple-year funding of their project, which they are planning to submit in the fall.

“The foundation would like to see us have community partnerships in place first, so we are doing that this summer,” she added.

There is something in it for the local townships, Darrel Sissons pointed out.

“Like most northern schools in our board, we are seeing declining enrolment at NAEC. We need to establish something that is unique in order to keep the students engaged, keep the school going, and keep the student base there. If we keep the students we keep the parents, and the township will have a healthier tax base,” he said.

In addition to seeking funds for upgrading trails on the NAEC lands, and developing the land for educational purposes such as pond and eco-system studies, the two are hoping to raise money to purchase equipment, such as snow shoes, canoes, camping gear, etc., which are items that the school board will not fund.

“There is a lot of potential here for something that can make use of our greatest asset, the unique environment. Kids of all ages, from elementary to secondary, will benefit from learning science in the world instead of from a book, and from learning how to interact with the outdoors. This is a long-term project that we are totally committed to, and we want to get it started this coming year,” Sarah Sproule said.

Sissons and Sproule are seeking at least $2,000 from community partners, including both Addington Highlands and North Frontenac townships (they attended a North Frontenac Council meeting on June 27).

“I think that's really encouraging to have someone out there working on something on this,” said Addington Highlands councilor, Tony Fritsch. “I'd like to support it if we could.”

“We did do our budget earlier this spring, so we need to see if there is any money available,” said Reeve Henry Hogg. “Perhaps we should defer this to our next meeting on August 2, and give you an answer then. How much was it that you wanted?”

“We'll take as much as we can get,” said Sproule.

North Frontenac Council also said they will consider the funding request at their next meeting, which is slated for June 18.

By Jeff Green and Julie Druker

Council cautious on Arden revitalization

The Aden Revitalization Project has been building up a head of steam in recent months, and Terry Kennedy submitted a report to Central Frontenac Council at their June 28 meeting on the revitalization steering committee’s goals for the next few months.

While the committee is proposing to do some work cleaning up Arden and sprucing up the park and recreation trails this summer, they were looking for council approval before getting underway because the property they are planning to work on is owned by the township.

Proposed projects include painting and staining facilities in the Kennebec Recreation Park, upgrading trails and parking adjacent to the park, cleaning up the stream bed from the Mill Pond to the Post Office bridge, and cleaning up and disposing of materials on private properties in the hamlet.

In terms of cost to the township for these efforts, the steering committee asked for some gravel for trail reclamation, and for waiving of dumping fees and some help in transporting refuse that is collected through the clean up exercises.

Council did not have much problem with the painting and cleaning up proposals, and accepted the request to waive fees and provide a truck to collect refuse. But even though the work that is proposed to be done on parking lots and trails will be done with volunteer equipment and labour, there were concerns over the scope of the work and potential liability,

“I would like to see some more detail about what is being proposed; who will be doing the work; insurance, etc., before approving that part of the proposal,” said Mayor Janet Gutowski (newly returned from a trip to Australia where she was on hand for the birth of her first grandchild.)

Council approved the painting and clean up proposals and will consider the trail and road construction projects at their meeting on July 12.

Funding application – Council is submitting a grant application for $25,000 for playground equipment for the Arden Park. With $20,000 already in the 2011 budget for equipment, if the grant from the Hydro One “Power Play” initiative comes through, there will be $45,000 available for a playground structure that would be comparable to the one that was put in at the Sharbot Lake Beach a couple of years ago.

Farmers’ market committee - Council appointed a committee to oversee the Sharbot Lake Farmers’ Market and report back to council in October. Councilor Wayne Millar will be the council representative and chair of the committee.

Lake associations - On July 9 from 10 am to noon at Oso Hall, executive members of six area lake associations will be meeting informally with members of council to bring forth any issues or items that are of concern

Approval of Road Closure - Council members agreed unanimously to close a short section of Road 38 for 15 minutes to accommodate a traditional wedding procession that will take place on Friday August 26

District 4 Recreation Issues addressed - Council passed a motion authorizing the facilities management coordinator (working cooperatively with the manager of public works) to arrange for and supervise all township dock installations and removals in the spring and fall. A previous letter to council had complained of unnecessary damage to docks in the past due to lack of communication between the recreation committees and the township.

On the same topic, council also agreed to form an Ad Hoc working committee consisting of chairs of the four recreation committees along with CAO, mayor and deputy mayor to review the roles of the township and recreation committees in the planning, providing and maintaining of public recreation facilities

Council schedule - Council agreed to reduce summer council meetings to one on July 12 and one on August 9. The meetings scheduled on July 26 and August 23 have been cancelled.

One-year Site Plan Proposal for Day Farm

Harrowsmith resident Bill Day came as a delegate in relation to his application for a zoning by-law amendment which would allow recreational dirt bike motocross racing on his property east of the village. Day requested that two clauses be dropped from the proposed site plan agreement: 1) permission for once a week open practicing on Wednesdays, and 2) reference to ATV and snowmobile drags. Day said he felt

limiting practice would be preventing him and his friends from enjoying the use of his property, and the snowmobile and ATV drags were already a legal non-conforming use, because they had been going on for years.

Planner Lindsey Mills responded that now that Day was asking for a change in the use of his property, one of the requirements of being allowed to add motocross racing would be the reduction of practicing and snow drags.

Councillor Vandewal said he might agree to a one-year trial on three conditions: that Council members would make an effort to be present at the races, that the sound levels be monitored, and that that the Sunday races not start until 11 or 12 o’clock, so neighbours could enjoy a quiet Sunday morning. Day said the reduced Sunday hours would not allow time for the planned race schedule, which required full days both Saturday and Sunday.

Lindsey Mills, whose introduction of a possible site plan agreement had included the statement: “Planning Department is opposed to any by-law that would permit the proposed use -- temporary or otherwise,” reminded Council that this was not just about racing, but also would allow accessory camping on the property.

CAO Orr pointed out that a one-year temporary site plan agreement permitting one motocross and one ATV race per calendar year, if passed this August and reviewed next August, would cover parts of two calendar years, and thus allow two of each kind of race both this fall and next spring.

Vandewal reminded Council of the initial strong reaction against allowing ATVs on township roads, a reaction which disappeared after a year’s trial.

There will be a public meeting at the August 5th council meeting, and a vote on the temporary use by-law.

Small Drinking Water Systems

Public Work manager Mark Segsworth reported that the rules concerning water “available for public use” in the Township facilities have changed: it is no longer acceptable to post a warning that the water is not fit to drink. The water systems in twelve facilities throughout the township must be tested regularly, treated as necessary to be safe to drink, or shut off. Assessment of some of the facilities has been complicated by difficulty obtaining current keys to the various sites. After a somewhat reluctant agreement that all township facilities should have access to water, Council directed Segsworth to bring his report to Council for formal acceptance.

Waste reduction efforts succeeding - North Frontenac achieves 38% diversion

Guy Laporte and Anne Kloosterman of AECOM brought good news to North Frontenac Council when they presented their 2010 waste site reports.

Laporte presented detailed analyses of the township’s five active sites: 506, Ardoch, Kashwakamak, Mississippi and Plevna; the Cloyne and Ompah transfer stations; and the closed Fernleigh site.

At none of the sites were there serious enough problems with either ground or surface water to warrant any remedial actions and AECOM recommended only continued monitoring.

The 506 site is the only one where action will have to be taken because waste material has been pushed beyond the marked boundaries. Public Works Manager John Ibey explained that that had occurred in previous years before the boundaries were marked. The township will have to budget for the work because it will involve removing and reinstalling the site’s bear fence.

The Ministry of the Environment (MoE) has indicated that they have some concerns about the Ardoch site, but their officials have not kept appointments to meet with AECOM and the township about those concerns. Mayor Bud Clayton commented, “If they were really concerned we’d be hearing from them.”

Some sites, Mississippi and 506, had an increase in garbage prior to 2010, but Laporte said that was due to the Cloyne and Ompah waste sites closing, and in 2010 the amount of garbage went back down.

The really good news was that due to the township’s new waste diversion strategies, the amount of recyclables turned in at all sites in 2010 was greater than the amount of garbage. The Plevna site was the best, with 56% recyclables versus 44% household household. The 506 site was typical with 52% recyclables to 48% garbage.

When construction and other waste sources are included in the calculation as well as household garbage, the township has achieved 38% diversion since their Integrated Waste Management Plan was adopted two years ago. Its target is 50%, which Laporte said was lower than the 60% provincial target, but it is acknowledged that 60% diversion is only possible with measures like urban curbside pickup and green bins.

Guy Laporte was highly complimentary of the work that John Ibey and his crews have done in re-grading and attributed most of the sites’ improvements to their work, and also to the garbage compacter that the township is now using.

Township staff is continuing to seek more ways of diverting waste and is meeting with other municipalities about a new service to be available through Ottawa Valley Waste Recovery at a location near Arnprior, where they will be accepting shingles, concrete, and clean wood etc.

Mayor Clayton commented that in 2002 North Frontenac had an estimate of about 22 years of life left in all their sites. Nine years later, the estimate has improved to 28 years and he said it was due to the hard work of the staff.

He said that the biggest measure that the township could now take to reduce leachate would be to keep organics out of the sites through composting, as leachate comes from the water in decaying organic materials.

Council discussed two articles they received about fundraising by volunteer fire departments, which were written by a lawyer who is an advisor with the Alberta Fire Commissioner's Office and also an ex-firefighter. The letter cautioned that fire departments must receive prior approval from, and be acting under the direction of their municipal councils for all fundraising and purchases; otherwise the fire fighters can be personally liable if anything goes wrong. The articles also said that fire associations should be legally incorporated and monies they raise should go into the municipality's bank accounts. This is not presently the case in North Frontenac. Fire Chief Steve Riddell said that the Ompah and Snow Road departments are registered as non-profit organizations and the Clar-Mill Fire Department has applied or is applying to be registered. However, council will not require that funds be transferred to the township's bank account, merely that the township’s treasurer should be made aware of how much money is in the fire departments' accounts. Also that all fundraising must clearly specify what the funds will be used for and that the fire fighters understand that any assets they purchase become the township's property.

"We don't want to put a damper on the fire departments," said Mayor Clayton, "we just don't want anyone to be hurt."

Steve Riddell said he had discussed the articles with all the deputy fire chiefs and that there would be no problem; that all the firefighters are totally on board. It was also mentioned that the same concerns and rules apply to all volunteer organizations affiliated with the township.

The township will nominate Ernest Lapchinski for the Order of Ontario.

The Ompah ambulance base/fire hall is not on the agenda for the County of Frontenac's budget meeting on March 30, but will come up at the next county council meeting on April 20.

Mayor Clayton said he was trying to be “diplomatic” in his comments, but that a number of councilors at county council, including the North Frontenac councilors, are not in favour of what the county proposes to do with the federal gas tax monies they are receiving, which amounts to $817,000 per year. The money must be spent on “sustainable infrastructure”. County staff proposes to spend $620,000 and transfer $110,000 back to the townships, of which North Frontenac will get about $15,250. Mayor Clayton commented that infrastructure includes not only roads and bridges, but also telephone and hydro lines, churches, community halls. The county proposes to spend their $620,000 on various projects, including a study into the feasibility of a milk processing plant and expenditures on the K&P Trail (for a detailed breakdown see the March 17, 2011 article “Frontenac County Council” in our archives at frontenacnews.ca). Bud Clayton said that the K&P Trail is not continuous and that if the county gets into purchasing private property to develop the trail it would be an expensive proposition.

Delegations

Mayor Cladoyskison welcomed a delegation from the local Bird and Bunny Lovers Association (BABL) who proposed that the coyote be honoured as the official Township animal. Describing the huge numbers of songbirds that were killed annually by feral cats and household cats allowed to run wild, they noted that coyotes were one of the most effective methods of controlling free-ranging cats. Councillor Joli wondered whether sheep farmers might be in disagreement. Councillor Sean countered with: “We’ve got a lot more coyotes than sheep, and the gap is getting wider every day. Might as well go with the flow.”

Budget Issues

Having been directed by Council to slash the road budget, Public Works Manager Joe Buddy proposed that as township bridges required repair, they should be removed and replaced with small user-pay car and foot-ferries. “This would provide some local full-time jobs,” he noted, “and be much less expensive than bridge repairs. It fits with the province’s plans to shift funding from infrastructure to job creation.”

He recommended the roads budget be given a further boost by the installation of toll booths on all the major arteries that don’t have ferries. “This will have the added benefit of traffic calming, in terms of speed, if not driver attitude.”

Bag Tags

Noting that in the past bag tags had been a source of controversy, Buddy proposed that local artists be commissioned to design limited-edition sets of bag tags. “These should rapidly become collectors’ items, and we will be able to charge more for them. Seasonal residents will want to take sets of them home to Toronto to show their friends. Our artists will finally be recognized.”

Recycling

In order to reduce the quantity and volume of waste heading for our landfill sites, Buddy suggested that residents be encouraged to leave their garbage bins open to dogs and raccoons. This would immediately recycle food scraps, and most of the remaining materials would be well shredded, therefore more compactable.

Frontenac Marathon Proposed

The township recreation committee announced they are organizing an old-time ‘find your way with map and compass’ County marathon from Ompah to Wolfe Island. Volunteer stations along the route will provide refreshments, encouragement, and directional hints as needed. When Council questioned their holding the event in May at the height of the blackfly season, the recreation rep countered with: “Sure ups the motivation to run, doesn’t it?”

Close vote approves new public works coordinator in Central Frontenac

Following a timely pre-budget presentation by Public Works Manager Mike Richardson, council narrowly passed a motion in a 5-4 vote to replace the position of supervisor of operations with a public works coordinator and a waste management supervisor, essentially creating one new full time position at an estimated salary of $57,000 - $63,000.

Richardson said, “Senior positions without the support of council are not of much value in the long run. We need to buy in in the worst times and I am here today to defend this new position. This position will benefit the municipality in a number of ways by lending support to the finance and recreation departments, and the CAO, and offering improved accuracy in reports - more in-depth information. The report spells out that we are behind in our regulatory management of pits and quarries and health and safety and this position will be assigned to manage these positions and by managing them will not only bring the municipality into compliance but also make us a leader in this field while also smoothing out all of the operations involved.”

Adjustments to Proposed 2011 Cultural/Recreation Budget

Council made some minor adjustments to the proposed 2011cultural/recreation budget by cutting roughly $7,000 from maintenance, repair and supply costs at various sites. Topping the list of expenses at $67,000 is the Parham fairgrounds with $46,000 estimated for the building of a new canteen and washrooms. The proposed budget of $23,000 for a new Arden playground will be covered mostly by a $20,000 transfer from the parkland reserve fund. The preliminary site work to be done at the Mountain Grove ball park is proposed at $32,000 which includes $15,000 deferred from 2010.

Arden Revitalization

Glen Matson and Terry Kennedy made a presentation to council highlighting their plans to revitalize the Arden community. Matson presented a number of photos of the areas they intend to upgrade and asked council’s permission to go ahead with improvements that included upgrading the walking trails around the pit and ball field; constructing a road from behind the ball field to the picnic area; and removing a lengthy flex beam on a section of the Arden Road and replacing it with large rocks to make the parkland more attractive and accessible. Kennedy ended the presentation stating, “We would like to work with council in these efforts to improve the community.”

Council accepted the presentation for information.

Meisel Woods Conservation Area Trail Expansion

Joe Slater made a delegation to council outlining the last major project needed to complete the 4 km hiking trail located near Crow Lake. The project involves the construction of a 600-foot-long floating walkway situated at the north end of Bass Lake. The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority has prepared construction drawings and will be submitting grant applications to several groups in the hopes of acquiring funds to complete the project by August 2012, at an estimated cost of $170,000. Slater requested a letter of support from council to the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, which would accompany the project’s grant applications. Council agreed to provide the letter.

by Jeff Green and Julie Druker

Smooth sailing for Frontenac Transportation Service at county – budget debate set for next week

Executive directors Don Amos of Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS) and David Townsend of Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCS), along with Linda Rush, the co-ordinator of Frontenac Transportation Service, presented an outline of the amalgamated service.

The Frontenac Transportation Service combines the services of Rural Routes Transportation Service, which is run by NFCS and serves residents in North and Central Frontenac, and the transportation services by SFCS for South Frontenac residents, forming a single service for the entire mainland portion of Frontenac County. The county has been supporting both services for a number of years, all the while encouraging them to combine forces.

County Councilor, Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski, congratulated both agencies on their collaborative approach to what is a very valuable service.“This service is allowing people to stay in their homes and to get to appointments and is keeping them healthier. I am very pleased that the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) is aware of what is happening and that they are seeing the value in this service as well.”

She said she would be supporting this year’s request for a $86,000 subsidy from the county.

County Councilor, North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton, wondered about collaboration with the Land O'Lakes Community Service. “Funding from the LHINs says you must be seamless with your transportation and there are folks from the north west part of North Frontenac that depend on the LOLCS for their transportation. Since you are asking this county for money, is there any way of getting some of it to LOLCS to help their rural transportation program?” he asked.

“We are not opposed to collaboration with LOLCS,” Linda Rush added. “There have been discussions with LOLCS and it is something that we have explored in the past.”

Warden Davison said, “This collaboration is something we asked for years ago and I commend both of you for your work.”

A funding request for Frontenac Transportation Services is included in the 2011 Frontenac County budget.Ompah joint firehall/ ambulance base plan grinds to a halt 

North Frontenac Mayor, County Councilor Bud Clayton expressed more than a little bit of frustration at Frontenac County Council last week as a debate over the proposed Ompah ambulance base/fire hall project dragged on.

“It is time to get the whole issue resolved and continue with the process to finally get the project built,” Clayton said.

But at the end of the day there was even less clarity over the issue. In response to a county staff report seeking direction from county council in order to proceed with a request for proposal for a project manager, the council ended up passing a motion asking staff for yet more information, thereby putting the entire project on hold once again.

Further complicating matters were the statements from a number of members of county council, which place in doubt the council's commitment to see the project come to fruition at the Ompah location.

The question that is confounding all involved at this point has to do with the size of the fire hall portion of the building and the corresponding amounts that the township and the county will pay for its construction

“At some point someone told someone that the fire hall itself would be 4000 square feet, but that is nowhere in any of our communications,” said Bud Clayton.

The revised total combined square footage of the two buildings that has been under consideration in recent weeks is for a 4,500 square foot building with a 3000 sq. foot section for the fire hall and 1500 sq. foot ambulance base.

Based on a protocol that has been agreed to on a senior staff level, the project is to be funded at a ratio of two thirds from North Frontenac Township and one third from Frontenac County.

It is this ratio that North Frontenac would like to see revisited, for two reasons. Firstly, they want some flexibility over the size of the fire hall in order to give themselves some flexibility over costs. Secondly, while estimates for ambulance base construction come in at $195 per square foot based on the cost of the recently constructed ambulance base in Sydenham, fire hall construction is less expensive, about $128 per square foot according to figures supplied by Paul Charbonneau, the Director of Emergency Services for Frontenac County.

North Frontenac would like the county to affirm their commitment for an upset limit of $300,000 towards the project, and has agreed to a county staff requirement that the project be completed using a project manager and a design-build construction contract following LEED environmental construction guidelines. The township would pay the rest of the cost.

“We might have to think of being flexible in our design to get the costs in line. We might have to reduce the size of the fire hall without affecting the ambulance base,” said North Frontenac County Councilor John Inglis.

But once the debate at county council was joined, it did not stick to the narrow issue of cost ratios. It quickly expanded to revisit the decision to build an ambulance base in Ompah in the first place, particularly because that decision also committed the county to replacing the existing Parham base with a new one in Sharbot Lake

Councilor Gutowski again aired her concerns about that move.

“I wonder, is there is a chance to revisit that issue?” she asked. “Not only was there no GIS mapping in 2008 when the analysis was done but in my mind I cannot separate the spending of $300,000 now and the extra $800,000 that is going to come as a result of this.”

When the decision was made in 2008, Paul Charbonneau said that the two options that he proposed would ultimately costing about the same amount of money because the cost of purchasing the Parham base, which the county now rents, and the county’s share of the Ompah project costs are about the same.

“All we want to do at this time is to get on with the project and build what county council has agreed to build in North Frontenac,” Bud Clayton reiterated in response to Janet Gutowski's comments. “The fire hall will likely go up at the cost of approximately $125-$130/square foot and the ambulance base at $200/per square foot and both buildings will be somewhat around the same size.”

Warden Gary Davidson said, “I'm a bit concerned with those numbers. If you think you can build for 60% of the cost of what we are building at, I wonder about the quality of that proposed building. Just what are we building here? A pig in a poke? I would like to see some drawings.”

Janet Gutowski wondered if these two buildings are not really better off being addressed as two separate projects.

“The sizes of the buildings have not yet been clarified so I am uncomfortable supporting a recommendation about the funding ratio because it seems premature. This whole process has been entirely too politicized. The highest criteria that we should be looking at, and one that this current proposal has never met regarding the location of the station, is response times. This is a matter of life and limb; putting a station in Ompah is going to leave a gap and require more financial wrestling to try to build a new station in Sharbot Lake. I am not prepared to support that at this time. We need more up to date statistics on mapping, location and response times,” Gutowski said.

Councilor John McDougall (South Frontenac) concurred. “My concern is that the community originally was not involved in these discussions. Moving the Parham ambulance base is a real concern. I feel right now there is a lack of clarity on the issues and I would agree that there needs to be more discussion.”

Councilor Clayton made once last effort to keep the proposed plan alive.

“What we're looking at here is a 2500 square foot fire hall and a 1500 square foot ambulance base, with the cost of building the base being higher that of the hall. All we are asking for right now is a different funding model. If doing so is going to cause all sorts of grief and force us to go back to the table then we are willing go ahead with the 2/3, 1/3 ratio that has been put forth.”

Paul Charbonneau said that changing the size of the building would definitely change the funding ratio as well as a number of other issues.

At the end of the day the staff report on the matter was received for information.

At this point no date has been set for setting out a request for proposal for the project.

The matter will undoubtedly be discussed at North Frontenac Council on Monday (March 28). 

Detailed roads study presents options, but council blocks them all

The world of municipal politics is sometimes akin to driving on a poorly maintained gravel road. Progress is slowed by bumps and potholes, and sometimes the road washes out altogether.

The drive for a regional road system to cover all of the major arterial roads in Frontenac County under one financial umbrella, which was initiated by county staff a couple of years ago, seems to be akin to a washed out road after a meeting of county council last week.

A detailed 150-page study of the road rehabilitation needs throughout the county, which was undertaken by Andrew Grunda, associate director of Watson & Associates, was presented to council at their meeting on Wednesday, March 16.

The Watson report included a preliminary analysis of the regional roads life-cycle capital needs and the fiscal implications associated with moving towards a sustainable funding for those assets and proposed numerous options to the county to address their road issues.

In a nutshell the final goal was to look at the long term sustainable funding levels for the various road networks as well as at different fiscal models available to the county to ensure service delivery over a 30-year period (2010-2040).

The report proposed three options for what are to be considered regional roads. The options range from a network including only the 382 kilometres, to a second option that includes arterial roads as well, which would include 454 kilometres of road, and a third that includes other major roads, for a total length of 519 kilometres of road.

Andrew Grunda summed up the report’s findings this way:

“At this stage in using a life-cycle based needs assessment, the county’s financial data is telling us that there is a significant amount of capital for a regional roads network that requires immediate attention - somewhere in the neighborhood of $37-$42 million. Overall, when we look at the fiscal impacts we see that having a county funding option does provide a more standardized source of funding and a broader funding pool for those regional roads assets. In most cases, with the exception of South Frontenac, the county funding scenario provides for a mitigated funding implication for those municipalities, which will tend to do better under a county approach as opposed to a status quo. That approach also provides a pool for the immediate needs required in South Frontenac.”

Essentially, as South Frontenac faces up to the cost of rehabilitating Road 38 in the near to immediate future, a regional system would enable those costs to be shared across the county, but in the longer term as roads elsewhere in the county need major work, the relative bulk of South Frontenac's population will become a source of revenue for smaller municipalities, and ratepayers in South Frontenac will end up subsidizing road costs throughout the county.

The Watson report concluded that further work on the plan needs to be done, including an engineered assessment of current road conditions and asset management practices, as well as the possibility of extra funding that the system might access, which is not flowing to the townships for road construction currently.

This could include provincial grants and/or allocations of county gas tax revenues and some of the savings the county has received through the provincial upload of social service costs.

“The benefit of having a regional system is to tackle the affordability concerns of some of the smaller municipalities in the county and maintaining a consistent, stable funding source at the county level,” Gunda concluded.

Warden Gary Davison, who is also the Mayor of South Frontenac Township, spoke out against the entire plan.

“All of this information you have gathered comes from our own various departments from information that we already have in our data bases,” he said, “We in South Frontenac have a five-year roads plan and have also looked 10 years down the road. I'm not in favour of where this study is taking us and I think we need to take charge of our own information. I believe we know what the local needs are and I think that our public works managers want to do this on a local level. Yes, we need to leverage the county for gas tax but we have spent a lot of money on ICSP programs that don't necessarily address what the crux of the gas tax money that was sent down from Toronto was to do, which was to maintain roads and bridges.”

Later in the meeting, a resolution was put forth to reconstitute a working group to consider how the Watson report can be implemented.

Deputy Warden Janet Gutowski supported the motion.

“Roads and infrastructure is a huge problem and for us to stick our heads in the sand is not appropriate. We need to come up with a plan and tackle this issue in a collaborative manner.”

A number of the new county councilors expressed the need to take more time to first review the report before acting further on the report.

In a recorded vote of 5-3, Warden Davison, councilors Doyle, McDougall, Jones and Purdon voted no, and Councilors Gutwoski, Clayton, and Inglis voted yes.

Wide tender spread engenders caution

The township received three tenders for interior demolition and masonry work, and the installation of in-floor plumbing in the new Addington Highlands Community Centre at the former Denbigh school. The work involves stripping all the cabinetry and blackboards, etc., putting in two new masonry doorways and moving one, trenching through approx 100 lineal feet of the concrete floor, and installing drainage plumbing.

The lowest tender was from Silverstar Mechanical of Brampton, for $12,500. That was about one-third the cost of the next highest quote, which was about $37,000, while the third quote was for around $83,000.

Councilor Tony Fritsch reported that he did extensive background checks on Silverstar. He contacted three of the four references that Silverstar had given and received only positive comments. He was unable to reach the fourth reference because they were away on holidays. “I found nothing to cause suspicion except the price,” he said.

Councilor Helen Yanch said that to her the trenching alone should be worth $12,000 and asked if Silverstar is aware of the township’s timelines.

Fritsch replied, “They’re ready to start tomorrow.”

The company also offered to post a security bond, but as they will not invoice the township until 30 days after the work is completed, council decided the bond was not necessary and awarded the tender to Silverstar.

Logging trucks versus half-load signs

Roads Supervisor Royce Rosenblath told council that a logging company has been ignoring the township’s half-load signs and has continued to haul full loads, on the Glenview Road in particular, causing damage to the road. He said that because of the problem the township closed Glenview Road, but he alleged that the signs were moved out of the way and the trucking continued. He said he had called the OPP but they were unable to catch the perpetrators. He said the township would fix the road and asked council if they wanted to send the bill to the company that had allegedly caused the damage.

Deputy Reeve Bill Cox, who was chairing the meeting in the absence of Reeve Henry Hogg, said it seemed to him that the township would be entering into a legal situation if they invoiced the company for the damage.

Councilor Helen Yanch asked if the Ministry of Natural Resources could help the situation by controlling the logging since it is was being done on Crown land.

Rosenblath replied that he has been trying for years to get the ministry to specify in the timber sales that logging must be stopped while the half-loads are on, but has had no success.

Council passed a motion to send the invoice to the logging company.

Councilors Tony Fritsch and Adam Snider will attend a free seminar, “Essentials of Municipal Fire Protection – A Decision Makers’ Guide”, which is being given on April 13 at the South Frontenac Fire Department by the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office. The seminar is being given in three locations on different dates and Deputy Reeve Cox will attend one of the other seminars.

Council discussed a draft policy for possible uses of the Federal Gas Tax Rebate to the township, which will be approximately $77,000. Deputy Reeve Cox commented that there was no shortage of projects to spend the money on. “There’s 10 inches of water in the Northbrook Fire Hall,” he said. However, he also said that the money could not be used for just building a new fire hall from the ground up; that it could only be used for upgrades to certain components in the building such as heating, lighting, ventilation – anything that would increase energy efficiency.

As to the building of a new fire hall, the township has been putting money aside for a new fire hall combined with an administrative building, but they only have about $107,000 saved towards the project, which will cost over $1 million.

Cox asked how much it would be to build only a new fire hall. He commented that the need for one was first discussed seven years ago, which was “a long time [for the firefighters] to live with those conditions”. He said that the township needs to set its priorities.

County preliminary budget

Frontenac County Council will have their first look at the 2011 budget this week at an all-day meeting at the County offices in Glenburnie.

Although the budget calls for some increased spending in various departments, the impact to the ratepayers in Frontenac County is touted at an increase of 1.36%.

There are increased costs for ambulance service, Fairmount Home, administration and the cost of the council itself within the budget, offset by some uploading of the provincial costs for the Ontario Disability Support Program that the county had been responsible for in the past.

County Council is considering the budget as part of their regular monthly meeting this week and has a special meeting scheduled for March 30 as well.

Gas tax allocation proposal

In concert with their budget debate, Frontenac County Council will be considering how to spend some of the federal gas tax rebate money they have received.

Over six years, including this year, the county has received more than $3.6 million as its share of gas tax rebate money from the federal government. The money is earmarked for “environmentally sustainable infrastructure” in the words of the agreement that all recipients of the funding must sign with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), which administers the funds for the federal government.

Another $3.6 million has been received directly by the four member townships of Frontenac County (North South and Central Frontenac and Frontenac Islands), split up according to population. The largest share of the money, over $2 million, has gone to South Frontenac because it has the bulk of the population in the county.

The local townships are all subject to the same agreement with AMO as the county is. The township portion of the money has been spent on various fixed infrastructure projects, such as bridge construction, salt containment domes, and road upgrades

Of the money the County has received, just over $800,000 has been spent so far, and county staff propose spending about $625,000 in 2011, which would still leave $2.3 million dollars in the county bank account.

County staff propose transferring $110,000 back to the local townships for “new township roads and/or bridges projects. The rest of the money, $515,000, would fund the following County initiatives:

Community Improvement Plans $25,000; Smaller Scale Sustainability Projects $50,000; New Energy Project $25,000; Green Business Park $10,000; Milk Processing Plant $15,000; Natural Heritage $60,000; Seniors Housing Study $40,000; Septic System Pilot Project $35,000; Transportation Management Plan $70,000; Investment in CIP projects $70,000; Frontenac K&P Trail $120,000

The staff proposals are being considered by County Council this week.