by Wilma Kenny

Request for Road Closure, Storrington

Planner Mills called a public meeting to consider a request by Mr Ulrich of Opinicon Road, who has asked to buy a portion of public road allowance that runs through his property to the shore of Upper Rock Lake, in Storrington. This proposal came before Council March 2015, at which time Council seemed favourable to the closure, because the road allowance falls over a steep cliff at the shoreline. Ulrich was asked to have the property surveyed, which he did (date of survey not stated.)

The survey showed a portion of the road allowance extended further along the shoreline onto the neighbouring lot to the south. The neighbouring owner has expressed interest in purchasing this remnant.

Planner Mills in his report to Council, recommends no decision be made until the survey is revised so the whole road allowance can be shown. The two property owners would need to come to an agreement and submit a new plan, before a road-closing by-law could be considered.

Mr Ulrick’s lawyer Peter Radley spoke, saying it was unfair to drag the decision out any longer: he had spoken to the other property owner’s lawyer more than a year ago, and had asked if they could work together, but nothing further had happened. “Surely you don’t want to see an 80-year old man cry?” he asked. “I can’t think we’ll push you that far,” responded Mayor Vandewal.

Councillor Sleeth said, “It behooves us to move forward.” The matter is to come before Council May 17.

Supporting Local Businesses

In response to a recent situation where a local supplier lost a contract with the Township due to a miscommunication, Councillor Schjerning had proposed a motion which would give preference to bids and tenders submitted by local businesses. The Township solicitor was quick to say that this would be a bad idea, not in keeping with best practice. However, the Corporate Services Committee made two recommendations: that the staff hold an annual education session for local businesses on the Township’s procurement process, and that the Township website develop a procurement newsfeed where vendors could subscribe for notices of upcoming opportunities. Council adopted the recommendations.

Conduct of Public Meetings

Council agreed with CAO Orr’s report on appropriate procedure at public meetings, which in summary, states: “The intent of the public meeting is to gather comment, not resolve the issues, nor to have a debate. The debate comes later, when Council is asked to recommend draft plan conditions.”

Spring Roads

Public Works Manager Segsworth requested and got approval for an additional amount up to $25,000 from the working fund reserve for pulverizing various sections of Township roads that cannot be effectively patched any longer. Three sections considered to be beyond repair are: Randy Clark Road west from Battersea for 1.5 km, York Road, and Buck Bay Road 300 m north of Westport Road to White Lake Road. These will be maintained a loose top roads until they are reconstructed.

NF Resolution Not Endorsed

Council chose not to support North Frontenac’s resolution re the review of the RFP process for the award of renewable energy contracts.

Central Frontenac approves 2016 budget

Central Frontenac will spend over $7.1 million in ratepayers' money in 2016, up from $6.5 million in 2015, a levy increase of 9.3%, according to figures provided by township treasurer, Michael McGovern.

The impact of that increase on ratepayers will be mitigated by smaller increases in Frontenac County and Ministry of Education levies, however. The net impact on the average household, again according to township figures, will be an increase of about $83 in their overall tax bill.

Among the major factors that account for the increase in taxation by the township are increases in OPP costs, which will place upward pressure on the township's budget for the next three years as a new OPP funding model is phased in.

Mayor Frances Smith said that the Rural Mayors' Forum of Eastern Ontario has been working on the OPP funding formula issue in the hopes of making a case for some relief for smaller municipalities going forward.

Mountain Grove Library project moving forward

Thanks in part to a $110,000 grant from the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program, Central Frontenac is moving forward with plans to build a new library that will be attached to the Mountain Grove fire hall. The township is matching the federal grant, and at their meeting this week they approved a $32,682 contract with Roney Engineering to design the new addition to the fire hall and provide project management for the build.

In recommending that the sole source contract be awarded to Roney, Fire Chief Bill Young said that the company oversaw the construction of the Mountain Grove fire hall in the first place and did the same job last year for the Parham fire hall, which also includes a library space.

Treasurer Michael McGovern said that given the expertise required for the particular job, sole sourcing the contract to Roney falls within the township's procurement bylaw.

The library expansion to the fire hall was foreseen when the fire hall was originally built.

Mayor Smith said that the Kingston Frontenac Public Library (KFPL) Board should be contacted before the design is finalized and construction begins, as they may have something to say about the space that is being created for their use.

“We didn't do that before building the library in Parham, and that led to some issues along the way, so we should make sure not to do it that way again,” she said.

Parham library soft opening on May 12

Mayor Smith told Council that the KFPL is planning to open the new branch that is co-located with the newly completed Parham fire hall on May 12, and to hold a ceremonial grand opening on May 27.

Later in the meeting, Fire Chief Young said that library crews haven't arrived yet to start putting the new branch in place. “They haven't shown up yet; no shelving has arrived; the space is empty,” he said.

“I'd better give my contact there a call,” said Smith.

Approval in Principle for Sharbot Lake outdoor rink

In line with a request from the Oso (District 3) Recreation Committee, Director of Planning Services/Chief Building Official Jeremy Neven recommended that Council approve the demolition of the privies at the site, as well as the small canteen, which has not operated for several years. He recommended contracting with Perth Septic for portable bathrooms for this summer's ball season, and permitting a donated temporary storage shed to be built.

All of these proposals raised no questions among Council, but a final provision did. That proposal was to approve, in principle, the construction of an outdoor rink and a change room/washroom at the site.

“The committee has raised $10,000 for the project thus far, and they don't want to do any more work on the site until Council approves their main project in Principle,” Neven said.

Chief Administrative Officer Cathy MacMunn said that a number of larger donors are waiting to hear that the project is a go before making commitments.

“The Rec Committee is committed to funding this project entirely through donations,” said Neven.

Councilor Jamie Riddell said, “I am uncomfortable approving this, since it is in effect an approval for the new rink, when we haven't seen any engineering plans, any construction plans or any costing. Don't get me wrong; I support the rink, but I'd like to see something I can work with.”

Neven, and other members of Council, said that Council will ultimately see the final plans and will have another opportunity to look at the project, which will require council's approval to move forward.

The motion was approved, with Riddell voting in favor with the rest of Council.

Parham fairgrounds pavilion approved

The Hinchinbrooke (District 4) Recreation Committee is planning to install a 16' x 30' pavilion to be located behind the existing playground equipment at the fairgrounds near Parham. The committee has raised the money and the building plans were presented with the request for approval. Council approved the request.

“I should point out how much of a pleasure it is to work with both recreation committees [Oso and Hinchinbrooke] on these projects. Not only are they raising all the funds themselves, they are putting in tons of volunteer work making sure everything fits township policies. This kind of commitment from volunteers is a great asset to the township,” Neven said.

EOTA to manage K&P trail from Sharbot Lake to the North Frontenac border

Council approved a proposal from the Eastern Ontario Traills Alliance (EOTA) to assume management of the township trail on the former K&P rail line, from the trail head in Sharbot Lake all the way to the border with North Frontenac, just south of Robertsville. EOTA manages a network of multi-use trails in the region from their base in Tweed and does extensive marketing.

Noise, Refuse, and Safe Properties bylaws

Ken Gilpin, from Frontenac Municipal Bylaw Enforcement appeared before Council to discuss proposed updates to the Refuse and Safe Properties bylaws and the adoption of a new Noise bylaw. In addition, Council members talked about a new Sign bylaw. The matters were all deferred to a future meeting.

30 metres of controversy

Vigorous debate over changes to rules for existing buildings located close to water bodies in South Frontenac

When South Frontenac Planner Lindsay Mills brought forward a package of so-called 'housekeeping' amendments to the township's zoning bylaw in early February, he expected that as much public interest would be generated as was the case in the past when these kinds of amendments have come forward. That is, none at all.

That is what happened for 10 of the 12 amendments in the package that he submitted, but for two of them there have been strong, negative responses.

These responses, totaling over 30 written submissions and 12 or so oral submissions to a meeting of the South Frontenac Committee of the Whole this week, concern changes to the way the township will deal with buildings that are located less than 30 metres away from a body of water.

Since the township adopted its ground-breaking Official Plan in 2005, no construction has been permitted within 30 metres of water bodies, which is something that lake associations encouraged at the time, and still do.

However, those houses and cottages that were already built before 2005, many of which were located within the 30 metre setback, were and still are legal, captured under the term “legal non-conforming”.

The bylaw that has been in place since 2005 says that while these properties are legal, and can be repaired and improved, those improvements cannot include anything that expands their size in any direction.

The change that is being proposed by the township planning department is the addition of a sentence to the existing bylaw, which says “reconstruction of the building is prohibited”. Planner Mills says this was already implied in the existing wording but that it should be made more explicit.

The other change he is proposing is the addition of a definition of when a building ceases to exist, which will be as follows: “Once the walls of an existing structure within the minimum 30 metre setback have been removed, the land is considered vacant and the structure cannot be rebuilt within the 30 metre setback.”

In addition, Mills proposes to eliminate a clause in the bylaw that permits the replacement of a building if it were destroyed by “fire, lightning, explosion, tempest, flood or act of God, or a demolition permit” from the township.

Noting that a property owner could leave their property to deteriorate in order to claim it is no longer suitable to live in, and then “argue they should be allowed to reconstruct”, Mills said it would be better to let the township's committee of adjustment deal with this kind of circumstance instead of including it in the zoning bylaw.

“There should be no issue at the committee after any kind of catastrophic event, and the township can minimize the fees we charge in those cases,” he said in a telephone interview this week. “In my experience the committee has only once refused to allow someone to build, and that was a case where there was virtually no dry land to build on.”

The first concerns about the proposed changes came in January from Chief Building Official, Brian Gass.

Gass, who has since left to take a job near Ottawa, said that if residents feel that a bylaw is “unfair or not reasonable” it might lead them to bypass the permit process and build illegally.

“It is proven that illegal construction is one of the most common causes of unsafe construction practices” he wrote.

Over the past few weeks, the Sydenham Lake Association has taken up the issue, recommending that the passage of the bylaw be deferred to make time for a full public airing of opinions. The Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday night was the first of two opportunities for public discussion.

After Lindsay Mills presented his perspective on the proposed changes, Councilor Ron Sleeth spoke in favor of keeping the clause that permits rebuilding properties destroyed or damaged by an 'Act of God’.

Councilor Alan Revill agreed, saying that based upon his building official experience, having a provision for replacement on the same footprint if there had been damage beyond the owners’ control should remain in the bylaw. “There’s increasing chance of this possibility, with climate change,” he said.

He added that in the event of total loss, insurance might not grant full relief if the building were required to move to another site. “Every situation is different; perhaps we can’t legislate for all.”

“Let's not add more layers of bureaucracy.” said Councilor Mark Schjerning.

Sydenham Lake Association member, Jeff Peck, spoke next, setting the tone for the presentations that followed by calling for thoughtful dialogue even if, like himself, the speakers did not agree with Mills’ proposals. Speaking on behalf of the association he said that it was important that this issue receive a full public airing, and that although the township had posted information on its website and in local papers, it was unlikely to reach seasonal residents.

Speaking for himself and not the association, Peck emphasized that owners should have the right to use and maintain their non-compliant properties instead of having to rely on the discretion of a committee of adjustment, should their structure be damaged by an ‘Act of God’.

Earlier, in an interview with the News, he talked about experiences he has had dealing with the existing bylaw on behalf of himself, and relatives and neighbours, where the interpretation of the bylaw by staff made it difficult to properly maintain legal non-conforming properties within the 30 metre setback.

Larry Arpaio of the Bobs and Crow Lake Association congratulated the township on having an Official Plan that is beginning to address the environment and lake quality, but asked whether there was a danger of creating a 2-tier real estate scenario, in which those structures within the 30-metre setback would be of less value than those further from the shore.

Other speakers were concerned about the township’s goal, as stated by Mills, of eventually having all structures located behind the 30-metre setback. Several are using family homes and cottages that are over 100 years old, but have been maintained as viable structures.

Council will hear further delegations at the May 10 COW meeting, and will make their decision at the May 17 Council meeting.

Waste Disposal Site Update

David Bucholtz, of Cambium, Inc. presented the annual update of the township’s waste disposal sites. All of the five active sites: Portland, Loughborough, Bradshaw, Salem and Green Bay are functioning well. Some of the environmental issues at Portland have been addressed by partially capping the site and addressing the challenge of surface water run-off. Its remaining life at the current rate of fill is about 28 years. Loughborough, once it gains compliance for groundwater, has a life of five years left, with the potential of another nine years once if the remaining capacity of phase 2 is realized. Bradshaw has about 11 years' capacity; Salem, 13 years; and Green Bay 18 years. All sites have an attendant’s shelter and a varying range of facilities for recycling materials.

Mayor Vandewal asked whether it would be of any financial gain to fill and close the smaller sites first before continuing with Portland and Loughborough.

Councilor Ron Sleeth asked whether there would be any gain in bringing Storrington’s waste into the township sites, rather than continuing to pay to truck it away.

Bucholz said that neither question can be answered without further research.

Road Allowance Closure Request

Boy Scouts of Canada have asked the township to consider closing and selling to them a fragment of road allowance that runs across the Otter Lake Scout Camp property from their boundary with Frontenac Park to a cliff overlooking the lake. It was discovered when they sought a building permit for a new four-season facility. Council has no objection to closing the road allowance, as it is of no foreseeable use to the township. However, there was no agreement re the price to be charged. Unopened road allowances have a range of four possible rates per square foot, depending on the property’s location in relation to water. Planner Mills was asked to bring a recommendation to the next meeting.

2015 audit results

Howard Allan, from Allan Chartered Accountant, made a presentation to Council on April 20 to discuss his firm's audit of the County for 2015.

“I think we can say that the 2015 audit went well for the County of Frontenac,” Allan told Council. “The management team of the County was very co-operative and I think the County is well served by their staff... Our firm looks after Leeds-Grenville and the County of Lanark, which are both in Eastern Ontario and kind of similar. I would say that the financial position of this County is as strong, or stronger, than those two counties.”

Allen spoke out in favor of the county's long-term financial plan and its reserves policy. “Reviewing your reserves is a very positive step,” he said.

The audit report shows the County sitting with just under $5 million in net financial assets at the end of 2015.

“Our rates of taxation are continuing to fall as assessment increases and re-assessments happen every four years. Even in dollar amounts, the overall (tax) increases have been fairly modest, particularly when you consider our growth,” he said.

He added that the rates of taxation in Frontenac County are much lower than in other counties because of the fact that the lower-tier municipalities look after the road works in Frontenac.

“Often, in other places, there's a big county road system that is looked after by the upper-tier and that has budgetary implications,” he said.

“We had some extra revenue from the OPP that we hadn't planned for,” Councilor Dennis Doyle said. “What happens with that money now that the townships incur the costs for policing? Does that eventually find its way down to the townships?”

“Any amounts that are surplus at the end of the year follow our reserve fund policy,” County Treasurer Marian VanBruinessen said. “Council can consider where those surplus funds go. The reserve fund policy suggests the first order of business is to get the stabilization reserve up to where it should be. The next one is the capital asset plan.”

Allan's report also recommended that the County review its processes regarding the security of electronic records.

County approves new stretchers

Council approved the purchase of new stretchers for their ambulances. After testing out two different brands they chose the Stryker Power Pro XT. The net cost of the stretchers is $735,000, after the County transfers $62,441 out of their equipment reserve. The balance of this is split with the City of Kingston, which will end up paying just over 78% of the cost, or $578,592, leaving $156,408 for the County to cover. The city portion will come to the County over the next eight years, as the County will be paying for the stretchers up front from their reserves.

Planning advisory committee to be formed

Council discussed new changes made to the Planning Act and how best to form a planning advisory committee. In a report prepared by Joe Gallivan, the Director of Planning and Economic Development, it says the intention of the amendments made to the Planning Act is to “improve community consultation” and to promote more “meaningful involvement for the public in the developmental approval process.”

This committee would act as a “connection between the operations of the Planning & Economic Development Department and the strategic direction of Council.”

One suggestion from staff is that the committee be formed by the four mayors as well as three citizens, with one citizen acting as the chair of the committee.

“The composition of such a committee should include some influential members of the community, such as someone from the Frontenac Stewardship Foundation,” North Frontenac Councillor John Inglis said. “I'm generally concerned that we're missing out on larger scale environmental issues in big planning ideas. We all want economic development ... but I think there has to be influential input on planning issues on the environmental side.”

“I want to discuss all proposals on this,” North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins said. “I'm not in favour of all four mayors (automatically) being part of it. We need people with expertise in planning.”

“I believe the four mayors are the ones that need to be on this committee,” Warden Frances Smith said. “The sooner we get this in place the better, as there's already stuff coming to us that we don't have a lot of detail about.”

“You really have to be cautious of the makeup of committees because it can really skew what happens in a township if they're going to make the recommendations for planning,” Deputy Warden Ron Vandewal said.

Collins Lake subdivision proposal controversial

Standing room was scarce as Storrington residents crowded into Council chambers on April 5 for a public meeting to hear and comment upon a proposal for a 51-unit, 60-hectare subdivision above Collins Lake, south of Inverary. Nineteen individuals spoke of their concerns and since then at least 18 letters have come to Council, not all from the verbal presenters. None have been in support of the proposal.

Most of the speakers identified as residents of Lyons Landing, an older, 100-unit subdivision which abuts the area proposed for development, and which would share an access road out to Holmes Road, just east of Perth Road.

The public meeting was called by the township at the request of the County Council, which is the decision-making body for all subdivision proposals within the County. South Frontenac is one of the ‘commenting agencies’ in this process, and also would need to rezone the property before it could be developed.

Township Planner Lindsay Mills’ report to Council carried three recommendations: 1) receive the comments and attachments; 2) defer any decision about rezoning until comments from the public meeting are reviewed; 3) forward the planning report, including attachments and comments from the public meeting, to the County.

Mills’ summary of the proposal pointed out the areas which complied with the Township’s Official Plan and those which called for site plan requirements. It said Public Works will need to review the impact on the area roads of the additional traffic from 51 more residences. It also highlighted the peer review of the hydrogeological and terrain analysis and servicing reports done by Malroze Engineering.

The Malroz review, which Mills appended in full, concludes that: “There are a number of concerns with respect to the water quality and quantity that we recommend be addressed to the County’s satisfaction prior to approval of the proposed subdivision…Considering the variability of the groundwater quality and quantity data we are of the opinion that the current studies do not support servicing of the site through private individual services at this time.” The same review lists 24 items in the developer’s report that are contradictory or unclear. It also asks for a copy of a 1990 report prepared for the same site by Oliver, Mangione, McCalla and Associates, which the developers reference, but do not provide.

The public meeting lasted two hours and there were 19 speakers, many applauded by the onlookers. Chief concern was quality and quantity of water and fears that 51 new wells would lower the aquifer for both the new development and the existing Lyons Landing wells. “People will be drinking each others’ urine,” commented one speaker.

Other common concerns related to:

• traffic and safety at entrances to the main roads, as well as pedestrian safety along Lakefield Drive, the road adjoining the two subdivisions

• the large number of additional homes to be added to a relatively rural area,

• loss of green space

• environmental threats to wildlife: habitat loss

• lack of space in existing schools

• water run-off and potential pollution of Collins Lake

• loss of a popular area for hiking and picnicking

• lack of access to the above-mentioned 1990 report.

Worth noting was lack of mention of the several sites of archeological interest on the site, which are currently being examined in greater detail.

Due perhaps to the late hour, Council neglected to forward the current proposal and all comments from the public to the County.  

Public meeting re Storrington condo proposal

At the County’s request, Council held a public meeting for input concerning Shield Shores, a waterfront condominium proposal by Barry Campbell. This would be for 18 residents on an 82-acre property lying between Wellington Street and Dog Lake, just outside Battersea. The plan’s common elements include a private park, trail access to the park, two water access points and interior roads.

Planner Mills’ notes point to one lot contained within the area that is listed as “to be retained” yet is not described anywhere in the application. Only six lots have waterfront: all others would share two small water access points, one of which Mills feared could encourage too much boating activity in a constricted water-space, even though neither of these access points is intended to include docks or boat launches. Three of the waterfront lots would have good views but are situated high on sheer cliffs, with no apparent means of access to the lake.

Hydro transmission line easement crosses the property, but seems not to interfere with the proposed development. Malroz is currently peer-reviewing the Hydrogeological and Terrain analysis reports, so their review is not yet available. The Cataraqui Regional Conservation Authority has made 27 recommendations, and suggests that Council defer any decision until all their recommendations and concerns are addressed. A current right of way access to an existing waterfront property crosses two of the proposed lots, and cannot be closed unless the owner of the existing lot gives permission. (She has some concerns about the alternate access offered by the developer.)

Speaking on behalf of the property owner, Mike Keene of Fotennn agreed that the property labelled as retained would have to be brought into the plan in some way, and said they planned to do some revisions to the proposal once all the commenting reports were in.

Mills’ recommendations were as usual: that Council receive the comments and attachments of the planning report, defer any decision until comments from the public are reviewed, and forward the planning report and comments from the public to the County.

Four local residents spoke at the public meeting. Jeff Peters had concerns about the negative effect 18 properties with lawns, driveways and septic systems would have on such a shallow lake. Sharon Freeman, who lives across the road, said the property owner had already cleared out a lot of trees and underbrush, thus already destroying the natural habitat for wildlife. Mary Bird, whose property is surrounded by the land under discussion, said that there are far fewer Grey Rat Snakes since the recent clearing of the land. Matt Rennie said that with lots running four deep back from the water, this appeared to amount to “backlot development.” He asked why the pubic meeting was being held before the proposal was complete, and whether there would be another public meeting later.

Fran Willes also asked whether the public meeting was premature, because the submission was incomplete.

Mayor Vandewal said the public meeting was being held now because the County had requested it. He added that a landowner is free to cut all the trees he wishes: the controls on shoreline protection are only in the development agreement, once a proposal is accepted.

The current planner’s report and all comments from the public meeting are to be forwarded to the County.

CAO Orr reminded those present that only those who have commented on a proposal, either at the public meeting or by letter to Council or the County, will be eligible to either call for an OMB review or speak at one.

(As an oversight from the last Council meeting, Council also agreed to forward to the County the planner’s report and all comments from the public meeting concerning the Collins Lake subdivision proposal.)

Timeline for Zoning By-law Amendments re Lakefront Properties

(from April 5 Council meeting)

Planner Mills has recommended changes to the Comprehensive Zoning By-law that would remove section 5.11, which permits lakefront buildings destroyed by fire, flood or other disaster to be reconstructed on the same footprint. This has raised concerns among residents of older cottages and homes, which were built much closer to the water than would currently be permitted.

Councilor Schjerning is concerned that seasonal residents may not even learn about this until too late to ask for reconsideration, and asked why the rush.

Councilor Sleeth asked for an extension to the decision, for seasonal residents are still a big part of the Storrington community.

Councilor Sutherland said he was not sure this needed to be postponed, for the lake associations already were informed.

Councilor Revill thought very few would be affected but the change, and it is important not to permit residents to remove and replace lakeside structures.

Councilor McDougall said very few have been, or will be affected by the by-law change.

Council agreed to proceed with the suggested timeline: April 26, the Committee of the Whole will receive the planner’s report, legal opinions and delegations. If necessary, further delegations will be received May 10, and a final decision will be made at the May 17 council meeting. Lake associations will be informed of this timeline.

In order to highlight the importance of developing local food infrastructure in the county, organizers of Frontenac County’s Integrated Community Sustainability Planning (ICSP) invited Dan Borowec to speak at their annual breakfast at the Verona Lions Hall on April 7. Borowec is the director of economic development in Northumberland County.

He spoke about Northumberland’s recent forays into supporting local food infrastructure by creating the Ontario Agri-Food Venture Centre (OAFVC), a multi-purpose, not-for-profit, small batch food-processing facility located in Colborne.

The OAFVC was designed with local farmers and foodie entrepreneurs in mind. The facility supports fresh fruit and value-adding opportunities to farmers to increase their farm revenue.

The facility also assists food-processing start-up companies with recipe development, test batching and other forms of research, and also facilitates small batch co-packing. Guests at the breakfast were shown how Northumberland is a prime example of a county that is building local infrastructure in order to provide food producers with the tools to succeed and become economically sustainable.

Also on the agenda was a description of the County of Frontenac's Guide to Sustainability, which outlines the four pillars of sustainability as social, cultural, economic, and environmental.

County CAO Kelly Pender spoke about the County's “Economic Development Charter for the Frontenacs” which aims to focus on activities, like trips and trails, local food and beverage, and recreation/lifestyle. The charter will also consider the demographics and needs of the county’s seniors, families and youth.

County staff will utilize a number of implementation tools to achieve the charter's goals. They will look at infrastructure, grants, business loans, counseling and regional marketing, and measure the county’s progress, with a promise to report back to local communities annually.

The breakfast also included updates by county staff members. Anne Marie Young spoke about the soon-to-be completed K & P Trail. County Planner, Joe Gallivan, spoke about the county's official plan. Janette Amini brought guests up-to-date regarding the county's current focus on accessibility.

After the updates, two Community Partnership Agreement Awards were given out by Betty Hunter, vice chair of the county's Community Development Advisory Committee, and Ron Vandewal, deputy warden/mayor of South Frontenac.

The first was presented to Ross Sutherland and Stephanie Sciberras of South Frontenac Rides, an organization that aims to establish a more bicycle-friendly township.

The second plaque was presented to North Frontenac mayor, Ron Higgins, in recognition of the North Frontenac Dark Sky Preserve. The Township of North Frontenac was the first in all of Canada to achieve Dark Sky Preserve status from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

For more information about the county's sustainability breakfast, visit www.frontenaccounty.ca

Seven new jobs envisioned, mostly at upper management level

An organizational review by Toronto/Ottawa-based consultants, StrategyCorp, noted that South Frontenac spends less than most other comparable municipalities in a number of areas, including: administration, parks/recreation and facilities, fire and police, and planning/development.

However, if the final report they submitted to Council this week is adopted, that might all change.

Among the major recommendations in their report is the creation of an entire new administrative tier, with three new directors to be slotted in between the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and the departmental managers that are currently in place.

The positions of director of corporate services, director of development services, and director of infrastructure services are only three of seven new positions envisioned by the report. The other four are that of township clerk, a fire education officer, a communications officer and an economic development officer.

Because of the “lean management” structure that is currently in place in the township, there is no time available to management staff to look towards the future needs of the township, according to the report.

“Through interviews, all senior management staff noted that close to 100% of their time is devoted to day-to-day operations. This has resulted in an inability to address strategic planning concerns, as management of the urgent can often crowd out management of the important,” the report says.

One of the key insights of the report was that the current Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk, Wayne Orr, spends almost 100% of his time dealing with day-to-day matters.

“A municipalities' CAO should be its chief strategist. With the current weight of CAO and clerk responsibilities, combined with an unwieldy span of control, the CAO simply does not have the capacity to be South Frontenac's chief strategist at present,” said the report.

In order to address this, the report not only recommends creating a stand-alone clerk position to relieve the CAO of half of their responsibilities, it also says that the number of times council meets should change radically. Council currently meets almost every week, on the first and third Tuesdays of the month for a council meeting, and on the second and fourth Tuesdays as a committee of the whole.

Noting that “the frequency of Council and Committee of the Whole meetings is taxing on senior management staff” the report recommends eliminating the committee of the whole meetings entirely and limiting council meetings to one or two per month.

It says that this would allow senior management to work with council “in crafting more strategic agendas and to provide staff with more time to consider, reflect and prepare more robust reports”.

In place of the current structure, council committees would become more of a focal point for decision-making.

The report calls for four new positions to be created within a year or two, and three to follow later on.

One of those is a new clerk, to alleviate pressure on the CAO; two are at the new director level; and one is a fire prevention officer.

The report calls for an immediate re-design of the corporate services department this year, with the creation of a director of corporate services to oversee the work of the treasurer, a newly hired clerk, and the human resources officer.

South Frontenac Council meetings have been dominated, in recent months, with planning matters. At their meeting on April 7, for example, Council heard from over a dozen members of the public on a new subdivision proposal in the Storrington district, in a meeting that eventually ran over three hours.

To deal with planning, the StrategyCorp report calls for the immediate hiring of a director of development services to oversee the work of the planner, chief building official, and recreation supervisor.

“The Planning department is currently not working towards driving a comprehensive, streamlined development process. The department is very transactionally focused and the development flow chart that is currently being developed to guide the development process has been largely led by the CAO,” the report says.

It also identifies that the planning process is bogged down by a lack of clarity in the relationship between the township's planning department and that of Frontenac County.

“Reconciling the role of the Township vis-à-vis the County and setting clear roles for each level of government in the process” would be an immediate task to be undertaken by the new director of development services.

The position of fire prevention officer is proposed partly to improve the level of service, and partly to free up the fire chief to deal with administrative requirements.

While the report says Council needs to consider pay equity issues and recruitment issues if they implement the hiring that it calls for, it does not talk about the budgetary implications of its recommendations.  

Mr. Pender goes to Plevna

County Wardeb Frances Smith, and Frontenac County CAO Kelly Pender, made a presentation to North Frontenac Council on Friday.

Pender said that natural gas and hydro delivery issues, policing costs, economic development, and closing the cell service gap are priorities for the County in 2016.

“Part of our new budget regime is to pass the budget earlier,” Pender said. “It gives us the opportunity to get bids out on projects earlier and gives the municipalities a better chance to figure out how the County works into your budget as well.”

Pender told Council that they've set aside $500,000 for economic development and that he hopes to double that by applying for grants. They hope to hire a community development officer who would be able to work full-time with businesses and residents of the township in growing their businesses or starting new ones.

He also said that part of that money is being spent on re-branding and money is also being invested in developing accommodations in both North and Central Frontenac.

Pender said work is being done close the cell phone service gap and that the two main obstacles are coverage and capacity. The County is working towards 98% coverage in the township and is looking for capacity, the uploading and downloading, to reach a minimum of 5 megabytes per second throughout the area.

Pender also spoke about the County owned Fairmount Home and its challenges. The home is dealing with shorter lengths of stay. He explained that the length of stay used to be 5-10 years but that the length of stay is now about 2 years.

“People are coming to us sicker,” Pender told council. “We're moving towards providing less bingo and more feeding tubes, more wound care, more dementia cases.”

Pender explained that the County's Official Plan was approved by the province in February and that it “should reduce turnaround times for approvals, taking the province out of the official plan changes for North Frontenac.”

Denbigh ambulance base a concern to council

Councilor Wayne Good asked Pender about the County's stance on the Denbigh ambulance base, which is located in neighbouring Lennox and Addington County (L&A)

“The Denbigh ambulance station is a very difficult situation for L&A as well as Frontenac, Renfrew, and Hastings,” Pender explained. “Our stance at this point is that we're willing to work with them. Part of the motion was that we want to sit down and talk about how to make this work.”

The costs per call at the Denbigh station, based on a recent study, are high compared to the other stations in the surrounding areas because they receive fewer calls per year yet still have to pay to staff the station. Also, the station in Denbigh is leased and is in need of repair. The station responds to 133 calls per year, on average, and about 25% of them are in Frontenac County. One of the options being considered by the County of Lennox and Addington is closing the Denbigh station and moving that ambulance down to the Loyalist station in the very southern part of the County.

Councilor Good is concerned that if the Denbigh station is closed then the ambulance serving that surrounding area has to come all the way from Northbrook.

“If that Northbrook ambulance has to go to Renfrew or Bancroft [for a call] it could be 4-6 hours before there'd be an ambulance available, depending on the part of the township,” Good said.

Lennox and Addington have reached out to the surrounding counties, Renfrew, Hastings, and Frontenac, for supplemental funding but so far the proposal has been rejected.

Isaacs shines a little light on solar

Paul Isaacs, a representative from the so-called Democratic Municipality of Denbigh, presented a paper to Council on the repercussions and issues of continuing to use oil and spoke on the benefits of using solar in North Frontenac.

“A strong, resilient rural community is one that doesn't depend on the grid,” Isaacs told Council. “It's one that has its own infrastructure locally for generating it's own energy. That's your future. It's right in line with your plan.

“I think you can have a big impact with your cottagers,” Isaacs explained. “They are paying delivery charges all winter long even though they aren't here. They can use the solar in the summer time and get off the hydro and stop paying those costs all winter long.”

“You could invest in some solar products and sell them back into the municipality at cost and that would give people here a local place where they wouldn't have to worry about where to source these things from. You could designate someone on staff to become more knowledgeable about it so when you get someone with a question, as a municipality, you could answer it.”

“I don't think that the municipality necessarily has a place in providing people with what's available commercially,” Councilor John Inglis said. “If you're interested in solar just Google it.”

Councillor Hermer was concerned about the maintenance and upkeep of the expensive batteries that are needed for the backup system and that cottagers would have a difficult time keeping the system functioning.

“The idea with solar is it won't maintain a twentieth-century lifestyle,” Isaacs responded. “Solar will not provide you with the ability to turn on your hair dryer at 3am. It comes and it goes. You have to flow with that. That's another reason why the cottagers are important. The cottagers are willing to have a beer on the weekend and not worry if the laundry gets done or not.”

“If you adapt your lifestyle to what solar can give you it will give you quite a lot,” Isaacs said.

Mississagagon Lake considered “at capacity”

Victor Castro, a senior aquatic scientist from the Ministry of Environment, did lakeshore capacity studies on Mississagagon Lake and Blue Lake to determine phosphorous levels. Based on the completed study, Castro says that Mississagagon Lake cannot take any additional phosphorous loading and that any decisions about increasing infrastructure around the lake should not increase the existing phosphorous levels.

The report found that Blue Lake has higher than ideal phosphorous levels and that “careful consideration should be given to further development.”

Phosphorous is a limiting nutrient that controls the growth of aquatic plants and algae. When phosphorous is high it may promote excess algae and aquatic plant growth. A main source of phosphorous in inland lakes comes from septic systems. Other additional sources are storm water runoff, shoreline clearing, agricultural runoff, and fertilizers.

North Frontenac Telephone Company sets sights on improving service in Mountain Grove

In a delegation to council, Dave Smith and Grant Roughley of the North Frontenac Telephone Company approached council for approval to install an underground high-speed fiber optic cable network in Mountain Grove.

The company plans to install the cable underground within the township's road allowance where the topography allows. Where the topography does not allow, i.e. where there are culverts, bridges and other obstacles, the company plans to install poles to link to the proposed underground network. The goal, Smith said is to provide up to 150 subscribers in and around Mountain Grove with reliable high-speed internet service, cable TV and residential home phone services.

Following an aerial study done of the area, many of the existing hydro poles were deemed not able to hold the cable due both to cost and/or Hydro One regulations.

Roughley said that though this project is not a highly profitable one for the company, it will bring services to areas of the township where currently they do not exist. The plan is to bury the cable in a pipe at least 24 inches, preferably 30 inches, below ground.

Councilor Jamie Riddell asked about the legal implications to the township if repairs need to be done to the roads. Cathy MacMunn said that staff had yet to hear back from their legal advisers.

Dave Smith responded that the NFTC, being governed by CRTC standards, would be responsible for maintaining the network.

Council Victor Heese asked about the option of going wireless and installing a tower instead of buried cable. Smith responded that he and his team have costed out those options as well. Heese also wondered about extending the cable down smaller roads. Roughley said that those residents could possibly pay for the construction costs and that that is something that might be looked into in the future. Smith stated that due to the rocky topography in the village of Mountain Grove, poles might have to be installed there.

Council accepted the request for information.

Frontenac County update

In a delegation to council, Frontenac County CAO Kelly Pender was joined by the County's deputy warden, Ron Vandewal. Pender updated council about a number of issues that involve the township. County projects include creating a health hub, which aims to give rural communities more say in how health services are delivered, and achieving more rural community involvement by establishing a rural liaison committee with the Limestone District School Board.

Pender said that the Township of Central Frontenac meets the county’s focus for developing trails, accommodation and food and recreation lifestyles and he noted that $500,000 has been set aside by the county for economic development activities in those areas over the next three years.

Public works and waste site report

Public works manager, John Badgley, reported that he has been inundated with calls about the poor quality of the roads as a result of the spring weather and that his crew have been working extra hours to get ahead. Crews have been busy sanding, patching, salting, repairing signs, brushing, replacing culverts as well as dealing with beaver issues.

Badgley said that the arrival of the township's new roll truck, which will be hauling the township's own waste bins, will result in a 50% savings over former costs.

Further, Badgley reported that all road repairs have been completed since the flooding on April 1.

Tax Sales Report

Staff treasurer Michael McGovern is hoping to see the sale of a number of properties on the Silver Lake Estates that have been moved up to May 12.

Infrastructure Funding made official

Council passed a motion to enter into a contribution agreement for funding under the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program to expand the new Mountain Grove Community Centre to include a library facility, with the funding approved at $110,000.