Levy increase sits at $400,000 or 6.2%, but reserves remain at 2015 levels

Central Frontenac Council spent a day going through a line-by-line consideration of the township's 2016 budget last Friday, with department heads trooping up one after another to explain their spending requests.

Of all the numbers facing them, the largest impact comes from a $235,377 increase in the cost of policing, which the township has no option but to pay. That cost alone is responsible for a 3.5% increase in the amount the township will be requisitioning from ratepayers.

Among other fixed costs that are up this year are salaries – 0.9%; heat and hydro – 6%; and insurance – 4.4%. These increases are mitigated somewhat by an increase in provincial transfers under the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund of $80,000.

In order to keep the budget from slipping into double-digit increase territory, Public Works Manager John Badgley has deferred the purchase of a vehicle for one year, and has restricted major road work to the south end of Arden Road, and Henderson Road from Hwy. 7 north.

A request to make a donation to Pine Meadow Nursing Home for new windows has been deferred to later budget deliberations.

The budget that staff presented to Council last week was more bare bones than the one that came out of the meeting. However, that budget also saw a decrease in reserves to 16% of the annual budget from the current 17%. The recommended level, according to the township's auditor, is 20%. Council has restored the reserves to just under the 17% level.

Council will look once again at the budget in early March at their regularly scheduled meeting. No further special budget meetings have been scheduled and no date has been set for adoption.

“All I can say at this point is that these are draft budget numbers. Council will have chances to make alterations before the budget is finalized,” said Treasurer Michael McGovern.

Ambulance service committee to be established

Councilor Tony Fritsch proposed the establishment of a council committee, which will include members of the public, to deal with persistent threats to the continued existence of a 12-hour a day ambulance service based in Denbigh and a 24-hour service in Northbrook. A recent report by the Emergency Services department of Lennox and Addington County calls for the closing of the Denbigh base and the transfer of hours to the base in Loyalist Township.

“The impact of that change would be felt throughout Addington Highlands,” said Fritsch, “because there would be no back up should the Northbrook ambulance be out on a call.”

As a member of L&A Council, Reeve Henry Hogg has seen repeated attempts to cut the Denbigh service, which was a 24-hour service until it was cut back in 2011. He said that one of the committee's main roles would be to contact neighbouring municipalities, particularly Frontenac County, for support in maintaining services in both Denbigh and Northbrook.

“Most of the calls from Denbigh go into Frontenac County, as do many from Northbrook, and pressure needs to be brought to bear on them. So far they have not responded to us when we tried to contact them about the pending loss of service,” he said.

L&A County Council has deferred debate on the future of the Denbigh base to budget deliberations, which get underway this week. The Emergency Services budget is not on the agenda at that meeting, but will be at a subsequent meeting, on February 10 or February 17.

More concerns about Flinton Library and its neighbour

Librarian June Phillips appeared before Council on Monday to express more concerns about how the Library property is being affected by the new tenants of the former United Church, which is located next door.

Last year the township agreed to transfer a small piece of land to the new owner of the church to enable a septic system to be installed.

Phillips is now concerned about materials that are located on a right of way between the two buildings and about the location of the survey lines that have been drawn to mark off the new boundaries of the former church property.

Reeve Hogg said that she could contact the bylaw office to deal with materials cluttering the right of way, and said if there are issues with the survey they can be looked at as well.

Requests

Peter Rasenberg will be able to use the Finton rink free of charge on February 6, assuming there is ice, for a fundraising tournament. All monies raised will go to the Hockey Skills program.

Land O'Lakes Community Services has made their annual request for funding support at a level of $1.25 per household in the township. The request has been deferred to budget deliberations, which will get underway in two weeks, before the regular meeting in Denbigh on February 16.

Water issues at new fire station

It seems that the cost of improving the quality of the water at the new Northbrook fire station will be absorbed by the township.

Chris Bent of Jewell Engineering, Belleville, sent a letter to Council in mid-January, in which he pointed out that the contract documents with the design-builder of the hall, TaskForce Engineering, stipulate only that a well be drilled on the property and a water supply provided to the building from the well. There is nothing about water potability in the contract.

“It was noted that residential dwellings in the vicinity of the fire hall draw potable water from wells on their properties. As a result, there was no concern regarding poor well water quality in the area of the fire hall site, and therefore, no consideration for the inclusion of an allowance for water treatment in the contract schedule of prices,” Bent concluded.

Fire Chief Casey Cuddy said that when the project was first being considered, water potability was to be included by Jewell, “but somehow it got pulled out as the process went along.”

“We need to get this dealt with,” said Councilor Bill Cox, “we have a nice new fire hall and we need to have potable water there.”

Possible remediation includes a water treatment system or a new well. The existing well is 300 feet deep, according to Cuddy.

Stylish privy in place

Volunteer carpenters in Denbigh have built and installed a new privy at the Denbigh ball-field. All that is left to do is install tin for the roofing, but the privy is ready for use now.

(note - after this article was posted, the township received a response from the ministry and did not proceed with an appeal) see the following update)

http://www.frontenacnews.ca/frontenac-county-news/item/10168-ministry-response-satisfies-sf-council-frontenac-county-op-to-come-into-effect-tomorrow

After a four-year lead-in, South Frontenac Council seems to have thrown a spanner into the works.

A last-minute decision to appeal one of the provisions of the Frontenac County Official Plan may stop it from coming into effect next week, on February 1.

Joe Gallivan, Manager of Planning for Frontenac County, wrote several drafts of the plan, pressured at all times from above (the Ministry of Municipal Affairs), and below (the townships' planning departments)

The pressure from below was expressed most emphatically by Lindsay Mills, the head of planning for South Frontenac. His intention was to keep the County Plan from being a prescriptive document that ties the hands of the planning departments in the township, and to make sure the wording was clear.

“I think the plan has come a long way in that regard,” said Mills when contacted this week.

On the other hand, the ministry was pressuring Gallivan to include provisions and language that would have made it difficult for residents and developers to build in the county.

On many occasions Gallivan talked about an urban bias in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.

“They do not understand what is happening on the ground in rural Ontario, in places like Frontenac County,” Gallivan said in an interview with the News in 2014.

The final document that was presented to Frontenac County Council at their January meeting in Glenburnie last week, on January 20, included language that reflected a successful resolution of at least one major issue.

Based on a still to be completed private roads study, and under specific conditions, the ministry has agreed to permit further development on private roads within Frontenac County.

“It is now in our hands to determine what development can take place on private roads,” said Gallivan.

While the final version still contains provisions and some language that Gallivan said he would like to see changed, the benefits of having the plan in place right away outweighed his concerns.

“My recommendation is to live with this plan as it is. In my opinion there are no provisions that are in the way of the county doing what it needs to do. Compared to the opportunities that come from bringing the authority to approve township Official Plans to this table, our concerns are minimal,” he said.

In order to adopt the plan, the council only had to receive Gallivan's report.

“We only need to take action if we want to appeal it,” said County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Pender. “If we want to we could but Joe and I don't see a benefit to appeal some things that are maybe not perfect but are close.”

With the plan in place, the county would be in a position to approve the Official Plan updates from North Frontenac, South Frontenac, and Frontenac Islands, which have been in limbo for up to four years.

“Once our plan is adopted, we become the approval authority for the township plans, and for Official Plan amendments as well. What took months, even years to approve, will now take weeks,” said Gallivan.

But before the appeal period ended, the plan was considered by South Frontenac Council on Tuesday night (January 26).

South Frontenac Planner Mills pointed to two concerns he has with the document. One of them, a typo in the document, had been sorted out before Tuesday's meeting took place.

But the other issue is a deal breaker for South Frontenac Council.

The proposed Official Plan stipulates that development within hamlets in Frontenac County will require that public water and sewer services are built except “for infilling and minor rounding out of existing development..”

“This is a real concern,” said Mills, “because the hamlets in Frontenac do not have water and sewer services. Does that mean that development is prohibited in hamlets, or can the definition of 'infilling and minor rounding out' be taken broadly? I don't know.”

Councilors Alan Revill and Mark Schjerning both said the township needs to get clarification of this latter wording before the document comes into effect.

After more discussion, the consensus seemed to be that the matter is too significant to ignore.

In view of the February 1 deadline to appeal, the direction to staff was to draw up an appeal to the OMB, in respect to this clause (section 4.2.1.6) regarding development within settlements.

After the meeting, Chief Administrative Officer Wayne Orr said that he will attempt to get clarification of the matter before Monday's deadline, but otherwise he is bound to proceed with the appeal.

The debate at South Frontenac Council took place in a bit of a vacuum because the two members who sit on Frontenac County Council and did not oppose the Official Plan at the county meeting on January 20, Mayor Vandewal and Councilor McDougall, were both absent from the meeting on Tuesday night in Sydenham.

As a mother, a registered nurse, and more recently the wife of a United Church minister, Debra McAuslan has witnessed the effects of poverty on people. She also remembers a time when she had financial struggles of her own.

She was living in London, Ontario, working part-time as an RN because she had a young family, when her first marriage broke apart. “I returned to my parents’ home in the country, and even with the help of my parents and my siblings, and a nurse’s wages, it was a real struggle for me to get back on my feet. For those without all the advantages I had, the struggle is massive,” she said, in a telephone interview from her home near Railton (South of Sydenham) early this week.

McAuslan has been involved in the campaign to replace the existing social support programs such as Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Programs with a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG).

“The idea is to take away the stigma and the penalties associated with maintaining eligibility for benefits, and save the cost of administering federal, provincial and municipal programs. Instead the concept is that anyone who earns less than the poverty line would receive an automatic payment to bring them just above the poverty line,” she said.

The idea of a basic income guarantee, sometimes under other names, has been around for decades, but has never been enacted in Canada, although there was a pilot project in Dauphin, Manitoba, in the 1970s.

The project was brought in by the Trudeau Liberals in 1974, and was abandoned in 1978 when a recession hit. Under the project, which was called “Mincome”, families registered their income and received extra money each month to reach the poverty line.

Studies of various kinds were done as part of the pilot but when the program was cut, the data that had been collected was set aside. Two thousand boxes of documents were released to Evelyn Forget, a researcher from the University of Manitoba, in 2009 after she undertook a five-year struggle to obtain them.

According to Ron Hickel, the man who administered the Mincome program, those who opposed the program did not want studies to show it was a success; and those who supported it did not want studies to show it had been too expensive.

Forget has found that the program was more expensive than predicted, but her studies on health benefits, measured by declines in hospital visits and other uses of the health care system, indicate that savings to that system were also greater than anticipated.

James Mulvale, a social work professor from Saskatchewan, has written extensively on guaranteed income programs. He said that there are a number of programs in the same vein in Canada, but they are targeted at specific groups such as seniors and children.

He favours using the tax system as a mechanism for delivering the benefit. Those who earn under the minimum would see a tax payment each year, and as income goes up, so would taxes, as is the case now.

One of the aspects of the current support system that most bothers Debra McAuslan, is the fact that in her view there is a disincentive for recipients to work.

“I know a woman who had taken a seasonal summer job and paid up all her bills. In August her cheque was docked. When I heard this I had a fit. It just broke my heart,” she said.

The City of Kingston passed a motion on December 15, 2015 expressing its support for the Basic Income Guarantee. A request to support the concept was sent to other municipalities, including those in Frontenac County.

McAuslan addressed the issue at South Frontenac Council on Tuesday night, January 26.

Concerns raised over proposed mandatory insurance coverage for all hall rentals in CF

Numerous councilors raised concerns over Treasurer Michael McGovern's recommendation that the township begin charging insurance for all hall rentals in the township effective March 1, 2016. Presently the township hall renters pay additional insurance only for events where alcohol is served and all other renters have their insurance covered by the township.

Frank Cowan, the township's insurance company, changed the township policy to a user fee-based program for hall rentals. The change will result in all renters, excluding recreation committees, being required to pay an insurance fee that will be determined based on the type of event, its duration and the number of people in attendance.

McGovern said the change is necessary to address “an important risk management step that will ensure that third parties (hall renters) have their own insurance when using our facilities, therefore protecting both the renter and the municipality from any possible lawsuits by creating the arm's length needed.”

McGovern suggested two possible options. Either the renter can acquire their own insurance or the township can charge the renter the insurance fee as part of the rental agreement based on the schedules from the Frank Crown Company that were included in the report. The schedules proposed rates based either on liability of $2 million or $5 million. The hourly rates charged could range anywhere from $2.50/ an hour for a non-alcohol, non-sporting event for one to 50 people, to $30/hour for a gathering of 100 to 200 people where alcohol is served, depending on which liability level is chosen.

Councilor Bill MacDonald wondered if increasing costs to the taxpayers is wise and if it might prevent rentals in the future. He asked, "Just what are we trying to prevent here since I do not know of any lawsuits in the past?”

Debra Murphy, regional manager of the Frank Cowan Insurance Company, was in attendance for the report. “This is a one-stop shopping arrangement where staff know what exactly is happening at the event and the renter can pay the insurance fee upfront, and where both the township and the renter know that they are covered. If something were to happen - let's say that a hot coffee pot were to tip over and burn someone, both the renter and the township would be covered,” she said.

Councilor Jamie Riddell was hesitant to support the request.

“We already have a policy in place where renters for events serving alcohol are covered and I think we need more time to think this over,” he said.

“Every year we look at the budget and ask ourselves why more people don't use these halls. Putting more insurance on top of the rental fee will not improve the situation,” said Councillor Phil Smith

Councilor Heese suggested reducing the rental fees so that these extra costs could be made more affordable for the renters.

Councilor MacDonald and Councilor Tom Dewey were concerned about the impact on seniors' groups, who are often not associated with rec committees and how this might affect their regular meetings and events.

“Basically the decision we need to make comes down to a budget decision and we have to decide if we want to pay the extra insurance fees as we have in the past or if we want to pass along that charge to the users,” said Mayor Frances Smith.

In the end Councilor Dewey moved to table the motion until after a budget meeting, which will take place at Oso Hall this Friday, January 29 beginning at 9 am.

Council supports application by CF Recreation and Cultural Centre

In a delegation, Sue Leslie and Bob Teal asked if council would support an application they plan to make to the Community Foundation of Greater Kingston for a feasibility study looking into the viability of turning the former Hinchinbrooke public school in Parham into a recreation and cultural center.

Leslie thanked council for “having the vision to make the purchase of the school”, which her group hopes to see turned into a center that artists, youth, seniors and other members of the community will be able to use.

Leslie said her committee had met with the township's chief building officer, Jeremy Neven, who reported that the building is structurally sound, but would have to be brought up to code and would have to have certain substances remediated. The feasibility study is priced at $10,000 and Leslie asked council if they would pay 20% of that cost, with the committee group hoping to raise the remainder. Council agreed and many members thanked Leslie and her group for taking the lead on looking into the viability of the site.

Councilor MacDonald said, “The ground work that you are doing needs to be done and the fact that you are looking into accessing funds puts me in support of this request”.

Mayor Francis Smith said “If $2,000 can get you $10,000, those are pretty good odds.”

Councilor Tom Dewey also supported the request, as did Councilor Brent Cameron, who said “ If there is an opportunity to breathe new life into that building and into the community, I support that.”

Council supported the motion and agreed to the $2,000 contribution for the application.

Plans for CF Re-Use Centre on hold re: permits

Councilor Victor Heese, who is heading up the committee looking into creating a re-use center in Central Frontenac, said that the committee had its first meeting and the minutes from the meeting highlighted the fact that a re-use centre, located at a township waste site, “requires a permit from the Ministry of Environment at a cost of $1400 and a wait time of between six and 18 months”. Due to the fact that these applications can be complicated, it was also suggested at the meeting that the committee hire waste management consultants retained by the township to write the application. The minutes from the meeting were received for information.

Council accepts Giroux's resignation with regret and heartfelt thanks

In a letter, Marcel Giroux announced his resignation as chair and member of the CF economic development committee. In the letter Giroux said, “I finally have to admit that I am growing old and no longer have the levels of energy, stamina and patience to give this good work its due.” At the committee's next meeting Giroux said that he will ask committee member Karen McGregor to take on the role as chair.

Mayor Smith said that she will be writing a letter to Mr. Giroux accepting his resignation.

Concussion policy and strategy adopted

Clerk Cathy MacMunn presented the issue of putting a township policy and strategy in place regarding concussions. The issue was brought forth in a letter to staff by Leslie Merrigan on behalf of the township's recreation committees, who are hoping to benefit from a $25,000 grant to create a lending library of sports equipment for residents.

The grant requires that such a policy be in place.

Deputy Mayor Sutherland chaired the meeting: Mayor Vandewal and Councillor McDougall were both absent.

Delegations to Council

North Frontenac Community Services

Louise Moody, of NFCS briefly described her agency’s services to children and families: daycare in Sharbot Lake, early years playgroups throughout the County, youth programming, family counselling and Frontenac Transportation services. She thanked Council for their $16,000 financial support this year, which goes to programs for youth such as “Kids Fit”, which introduces lacrosse and snowshoeing, after-school programs, and the Red Cross babysitter-training program.

Habitat for Humanity

Dave McGraff and Ron Darling introduced the Habitat for Humanity program, which helps local people build their own houses. (One was completed recently in Tichborne.) McGraff says they are on the lookout for affordable properties in South Frontenac that would be appropriate to build on, ie, close to settlement areas, where there is access to resources.

Harrowsmith Zoning Issue

Pat Lalonde, a Harrowsmith resident, expressed her concern about an application to rezone a small lot as 'Industrial Commercial', without knowing beforehand exactly which of the listed possible uses for which it may be developed. The lot in question is intended as a lot addition to a much larger Industrial Commercial property which is the site of a number of long-term storage units.

Hartington Subdivision Proposal

Councillor Sleeth asked what was the next step in this process: CAO Orr said that Public Works has met with the township consultant and the MOE, and once they have more information (related, presumably, to the ‘new information’ that stalled further discussion at the last Council meeting,) the issue will come back to Council.

Process Map for Subdivision/Condo Development

In an attempt to achieve clarity, CAO Orr presented a three-page, six-column flow chart to help define roles and set out timelines in the process of moving from initial proposal to final development of a subdivision. Orr agreed that it is not a simple one-line process, for there are many players involved. Deputy Mayor Sutherland asked for more evidence of community involvement. “My eyes glaze over,” said Councillor Revill. Orr said this was a work in progress: he was presenting it for information, and would be looking at best practices before bringing the flow chart back.

Ompah Fire Hall In Need Of Repair

Jeremy Neven, the Chief Building Official, did an inspection of the Ompah Fire Hall in early December 2015 and pointed out 13 violations of the Ontario Building Code that need to be addressed.

The issues range from caulking the shower stall, moving pressure valves, electrical outlets, and water lines, to venting laundry traps and insulating the floor.

“I just can't believe this,” Councillor Wayne Good said. “On a brand new rebuild of a building...This is just ridiculous.”

“Council made a decision not to go ahead with a professional project manager and to use a volunteer instead,” Mayor Higgins said. “The Township itself is ultimately responsible for this as we never followed up on inspections.”

“Our existing building inspector pretty much refused to do interim inspections,” Councillor Gerry Martin said.

“The biggest and most major issue is the fact that the floor was improperly installed,” Councillor Bedard said. “We spent a pile of money on a concrete floor with the chances now of it heaving and destroying the in-floor heating system.”

“We were not willing to spend the money on a contractor to come in and do the whole thing,” Councillor Inglis said. “We went with this process because it was going to save us money.”

“The cost of fixing this, compared to the (quoted) cost of that building,” Inglis said. “We still have a 100% success rate with this.”

“For all this is going to cost us it's nothing compared to what it would've been with a major contractor,” Councillor Good said.

Bathroom Built Without Permit Causing Grief For Cottagers

Joe Gallivan, from the County planning department, made a presentation to Council on Monday morning regarding the request for a by-law amendment, made by Beth and Bo Mocherniak, cottagers on Lake Kashawakamak, to allow them to keep the bathroom they built in their garage.

The Mocherniaks built a two-storey garage on their property in 2014 and added a bathroom to the structure in 2015. The project, excluding the bathroom, was constructed with a building permit, allowing them to build a garage with sleeping quarters upstairs. The bathroom was built in 2015, without a building permit, and was tied into the existing septic system of the original cottage.

The Mocherniaks purchased their cottage approximately 12 years ago although Beth has been cottaging in the area since the 1960's. When they first purchased the cottage their family was 5 people. It's now 9 people and soon to be 10.

“We've been cottaging here for a number of years and we've continued to support the local economy and use local builders and suppliers,” Mr. Mocherniak said.

The Mocherniaks made a plea to Council to allow them to keep the bathroom. They suggested that it wasn't practical to expand the current single bathroom in their cottage as it would mean possibly eliminating one of their bedrooms. They also said that the original cottage bathroom setup made it difficult to bath a child in, a concern of theirs since they've now got grandchildren. The new bathroom in the garage includes a bathtub to alleviate this problem.

“It is almost impossible to bath a child in a shower stall,” Mr. Mocherniak added.

The garage is considered an accessory structure and therefore isn't allowed to have a sanitary, or cooking, area in it, under the local zoning regulations.

“We didn't realize we needed a separate permit for it,” Bo Mocherniak said regarding adding the bathroom to the garage. “Our contractor didn't mention it to us.”

“I would say the majority of the area is habitable and insulated,” Gallivan said. “There is no kitchen but there is the tub and the shower and running water in the summer time.”

“I would argue that 'majority' is not correct,” Bo Mocherniak said. “It is a garage. We store stuff there. Maybe a significant portion (is livable)”

Brad Taylor, a neighbour to the Mocherniaks, raised concerns during the meeting.

“What it comes down to is the building code and the by-law,” Taylor said. “If you do allow special exemptions to one person then you're opening the door to everyone else.”

“If we allow this to go through we might as well scrap the zoning by-law,” Councillor John Inglis said. “The word 'shall' would be replaced by the word 'should'.”

“The washroom addition doesn't impact the environment. The septic system can handle it,” Councillor Dennis Bedard said. “Why wouldn't our by-laws change to accommodate situations like this?”

“That's something to consider, changing the by-law,” Mayor Ron Higgins said. “That would include the planning department and the building inspector but the point is we have an existing by-law we need to go by right now.”

“We just built a cottage next store. It's 1300 square feet,” said Louis Armstrong, a neighbour of the Mocherniaks. “They just built a garage that's 1344 square feet. I'm thinking I'm going to pay high taxes on my brand new cottage and they're going to pay taxes on a garage that's bigger than my new cottage. I just don't find it's fair to skirt around the rules.

The by-law amendment request for the Mocherniaks was voted on by Council and defeated 5-1.

Plugging In

The Ministry of Transportation is investing $20 million into installing public electric vehicle charging stations throughout Ontario through their Electric Vehicle Chargers Ontario program (EVCO).

The program is a one-time, competitive, application-based grant program designed to cover the costs of purchasing and installing a public charging station and is accepting applications up until February 12th 2016.

“The Economic Development Task Force (EDTF) recommended that the Township actually apply for the grant,” Councillor Inglis said. “If we get a grant to do something than we'll scramble to find a private partner. I'd like permission for the Township to pursue the application and that we deal with the question of ownership if we get the grant.”

“Our choice was Cloyne,” Councillor Inglis said regarding a potential location for one of the charging stations. “We'd be lucky to get one here.”

The Township could apply for 100% of the costs to cover the project through the EVCO and there is no limit to how many chargers they can apply for.

These charging stations allow an electric vehicle to reach 80% charged in 20-30 minutes.

Potential Ompah Picnic Area

Councillor Bedard met with members of the Ottawa ATV group last week to discuss the idea about developing a trailhead and picnic area with a washroom in the Ompah area.

“The Ottawa ATV group officially committed a minimum of $2500 towards the project,” Bedard said, “I also have a meeting with the Eastern Ontario Trails Alliance on Thursday and will be discussing it more formally with them to see if they're interested in participating.”

“It might be an opportunity to combine all these partners and put this together,” Bedard said.

“It's not intended to be used just by that group (ATV's),” Bedard said. “A picnic area and washrooms would allow people coming into the community to stop and maybe look at a map, use the washroom. The biggest structure would be similar to the pavilion at the park in Plevna.”

“We don't have to do anymore than the Malcolm Lake boat landing,” Councillor Gerry Martin pointed out. “That's being used all the time. Families are using the picnic tables, the washrooms. They stop there.”

The project has been budgeted to cost between $13,000-$14,000.

Hartington Subdivision: Still Holding…

A full room of Hartington residents, many of them carrying protest placards, were in attendance expecting council to make a final decision on a draft plan of subdivision in the hamlet of Hartington. This proposal has been revised from the original 47-unit one which would have run from Boyce Road south to the Petworth Road. It now comprises 13 lots, all in the hamlet of Hartington itself.

However, Mayor Vandewal opened the meeting by advising them that new information had arrived a few hours earlier and as a result, there would be no discussion or vote until all interested parties have a full opportunity to review this information and consider its relevance to the proposal. (He hinted later that the new information might relate to property in the hamlet recently acquired by the Township.) Accordingly, this item has been moved to next week’s Committee of the Whole meeting for discussion.

Vandewal assured all present that they should feel free to leave the meeting, promising there would be no further discussion or vote. However, everyone stayed.

Larcon Settlement Deferred

A proposed settlement of the Larcon request for industrial zoning of a small Harrowsmith property came before Council for approval in the hopes of avoiding a full blown OMB hearing on the matter. Basically, it tightly limits the particular uses that would be permitted if this lot is rezoned ‘Special Urban Industrial’. However, Mayor Vandewal said that a Hartington resident had requested this be deferred, to give time to fully discuss the terms of the settlement with some of the concerned residents. Council deferred it.

Changes to Secondary Dwelling Rules

Until recently, township policy allowed only one dwelling per lot, with the exception of temporary ‘granny suites’. Now, Council has approved the development of a secondary suite in Storrington District (Ormsbee Road) which demonstrates a new approach supported by both provincial policy and the revised Township Official Plan. In brief, a secondary suite or dwelling may be considered, subject to meeting minimum parking standards, septic capacity and building code requirements. This opens opportunities for developing affordable housing as well as additional accommodation for relatives or others who may require special care.

Committee of Adjustment

The 2016 council appointees to this committee will be: Robinson, Revill, Schjerning, and Sleeth. Four-year community appointees are: David Hahn, John Sherbino, Larry Redden and Ken Gee.

Playground Equipment Replacement Policy

Council voted to spend $38,000, which was included in the 2016 budget, for Bowes Park playground equipment replacement, and referred the 2012 playground replacement policy to South Frontenac Recreation Committee for review.

Rideau Corridor 2017 Celebrations

The question of how South Frontenac might contribute to these events was also referred to SFRC.

Chief Building Official Resigns

CAO Orr announced that Brian Gass was leaving at the end of this month, to move to Carleton Place: Orr will bring a report on finding a replacement, to the Feb 2 Council meeting.

Organizational Review to Start Soon

Orr announced that the RFP from Strategy Corporation, of Toronto and Ottawa, has been chosen from a shortlist of three candidates to do the Township’s organizational review: they will be ‘working on a tight timeline’. (There were ten bids for this job).

After reading the CF agenda and your follow up (Central Frontenac to Demolish Sharbot Lake Public School, Jan 7/16)  to their actions, I feel by their action they do not have any idea how to control their spending habits. It is our tax dollars being spent on unplanned or non-mandated issues. What about old aged public works equipment? Or are they waiting for it to break down and use that as an excuse to use emergency funds?? Let’s make our staff, mayor and councillors accountable and responsible for all decisions made. Stop assigning the blame to someone else for wasteful spending.

Township Offered Historic Mill on Napanee River

In considering Chris Kerr’s application to sever two residential lots on the Napanee River at Petworth, the Committee of Adjustment suggested Council might wish to consider asking for parkland instead of cash-in-lieu in order to acquire the remains of the Petworth Mill building for preservation and possible future renovation. Councillor McDougall spoke of this as “a wonderful opportunity” and said that building inspector Gas had described the stonework as “an outstanding example of old world craftsmanship”, noting the masonry and design of the lower waterflow arches was “a phenomenal piece of work”. (see note, below.) Most of Council was interested in the idea of acquiring the mill, but Mayor Vandewal expressed strong opposition because of liability issues, and the cost of restoration if the site should become designated as historical. McDougall said the Township had no historical architecture committee, it could not be declared historical in the way buildings in Kingston are designated. Planner Mills reminded Council that the southern wall of the structure could be said to already belong to the township, in that it is on the road allowance. He also said that the Official Plan placed a heavy emphasis on “maintaining cultural heritage”. CAO Orr agreed to do a legal enquiry about liability, and a risk analysis.

Note: McDougall gave a brief history of the Petworth Mill, the second oldest in Portland: it was built as a grist mill in 1845, and for most of the 1800’s it processed large amounts of grain, helping make Petworth a thriving little town. Some time prior to WW1, the mill stopped production. By 1919, upstream Verona was experiencing problems with the water level of the Cameron Swamp, so local farmers took six cases of dynamite down to Petworth, where they blew the dam and ‘improved the swamp drainage a bit.’

CRCA Response re Applewood Docks

Two representatives of the Cataraqui Conservation Authority, A.Schmidt and T. Beaubiah, came as a delegation to discuss their inspection of a recently-built dock at the Applewood subdivision site (Loughborough Lake). This was in response to a letter of concern from local resident Matt Rennie.

They found the dock in question to be 28 feet longer than the approved 120 feet, and the water depth in and around the dock was less than specified in the permit. However, Schmidt said that these differences did not affect the control of flooding or erosion, nor interfere with the natural features of the wetland or the lake bottom. Therefore, the dock structure was acceptable as it still met the intent of their regulations and policies.

He said that when the original permit had been issued in 2011, the CRCA had an agreement with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to “review proposals in consideration of the fish habitat provisions under Section 35 of the Fisheries Act” (which includes destruction/alteration of fish habitat). Now, due to recent changes to the fisheries Act, the CRCA no longer has an agreement with the DFO, so all future concerns relating to fish habitat should be directed to the DFO.

Fitzgerald Quarry

Planner Mills brought an information report on the proposal to permit deeper extraction of the Bedford site. In response to concerns expressed by neighbouring property owner Stephan Duerst, a hydrogeological report states that the activity “is not expected to impact the wells (in the area) nor is it anticipated to affect the creeks observed on the site,” as it will not be removing water, or “dewatering”. Also the operation is not proposed to be expanded, only continued.

Road Closure

Public Works Manager Segsworth announced that Anderson Road in Bedford was damaged Sunday by water from a collapsed beaver dam, and will remain closed for an indeterminate time.