As mentioned in previous South Frontenac council reports, there is a long-standing controversy about a small strip of sand

beach on Canoe Lake beside the James Wilson Road. James Campbell who claims the beach is on his property, has applied to
sever three neighbouring lots. As a condition of severance, South Frontenac Council suggested that public access to the beach be secured by taking a small portion of adjoining land to provide off-road parking.

Letters and delegations to Council have addressed both sides of the issue. Five members of the Campbell family and eight others have opposed the continued public use of the beach, citing a number of concerns such as; danger from a submerged hydro line, loss of property value, danger from traffic, noise, vandalism from swimmers, and fear of large beach parties. Three have mistakenly assumed ‘the taking of parkland’ means a large portion of land will be developed at taxpayers’ expense with playgrounds, picnic tables, etc.

One blames the threat of a park for costing him the sale of his nearby cottage.

Seven letters and three delegations have spoken in favour of maintaining this small piece of land as a public access to Canoe Lake. Council members viewed the controversial site on November 7, while on their road tour.

A notice of motion proposed by Councillor Sutherland Sept 20 was brought forward at this meeting. It recommends that the Township “secure a public beach/park on Canoe Lake on James Wilson Road at the west end of the causeway between Canoe Lake and Eel Lake in the severance process of the adjoining land.”

Speaking to the motion, Sutherland said that he and Councillor Revill had, with Mr Campbell’s permission, gone on the beach
and measured out the road allowance and had marked out a small additional amount of property, less than the amount of parkland the Township would be permitted to take, which would, if added as a strip to the road allowance, secure the beach for public use.

He also said a hydro sign on the site only warns against digging or driving stakes: a hydro representative confirmed this, saying
the cable was buried three feet down and no danger to walkers or swimmers.

Revill spoke of a possible alternative beach access that could perhaps be created with some clearing of rocks. He said Campbell had been away and had not had a chance to look at and comment on the area they had marked off. Without Campbell’s support, Revill said he would not support the motion.

Mayor Vandewal suggested deferring the motion to the December meeting, to give Campbell a chance to view the proposal.
Discussion of the planner’s report was postponed until then as well.

“State of the Organization” report to CF Council

-The good, the bad and the ugly according to County CAO Kelly Pender

In an effort to make improvements in the state of the township's organization and to move forward in a positive manner, the Council of Central Frontenac earlier this year invited County of Frontenac CAO Kelly Pender to review its existing structure and report back to council with his recommendations.

At council's regular meeting on November 10, Pender presented his findings after reviewing budget and report documentation and conducting a series of confidential interviews this past summer with nine council members and 14 members of township staff.

Like a well seasoned diplomat, Pender reported the good news first. Pender praised staff and council as “good people, doing good work” in an environment where trust, honesty and good relations were the norm, adding that staff's financing arm seems “well positioned”.

On the not so good side of the scale, he cited “a general feeling of the organization lacking direction”, and the presence of what he termed “silos” i.e., a situation where departments and/or individuals feel that they are working in isolation. He noted feelings of a lack of consistency in applying policy; the lack of a safety culture; and the township IT staff displaying a love/hate relationship with software and network reliability.

He also sensed a frustration at the township’s ability to keep quality senior staff. He defined what he called "a leadership gap" where council, though largely unified, needs to be able to make “tough decisions” and to “chart a course, then explain it to staff and the community and then steer towards it”, as opposed to front line staff members taking control in the face of a lack of clear directives and a fixed chain of command.

This led him to talk about the current lack of a Chief Administrative Officer.

Pender said there are three options available to council: to maintain the status quo, where there is no hierarchy among senior staff; to establish the position of Clerk-Administrator; or to hire a Chief Administrative Officer to oversee all the township's operations.

He said the status quo is not recommended because it makes for a less cohesive, leaderless staff complement and “puts the mayor in an awkward position as the political and administrative head of the township.”

Establishing the clerk-administrator position would place the clerk of council, the job held by Cathy MacMunn, in a position of leadership over all operations of the township.

A Chief Administrative Officer is a similar role, except it gives that person full authority over all other staff. Essentially the chief administrator becomes council's only employee, who then determines the activities of everyone else, within the confines of the Municipal Act and clear job definitions.

Pender said that at least half of the provinces in Canada require that municipalities have a CAO in place, but Ontario does not, only requiring the position of clerk.

“That might change when the Municipal Act is renewed in a few years,” he said.

Regarding the township's fire department, Pender recommended engaging an external fire professional to review the department's operations, citing gaps and equipment needs and surpluses.

Other longer term recommendations include developing a business planning process and providing citizens with a five-year forecast of what to expect. Pender also suggested that the public works manager and the treasurer provide a fully costed report to council regarding the consolidation of the township's two public works yards.

Other recommendations included sharing human resource expertise with neighboring municipalities; targeting 2017 for the implementation of a new financial software program; implementing an ongoing asset management policy; committing resources to economic development; and reviewing the functionality of the township office's public foyer.

Lastly Pender recommended that council adopt a “community of communities” approach to governance that focuses on the overall benefit of the township as a whole rather than allowing one community to be pitted against another.

Following the report, council agreed there is much work to be done and invited Pender back to review their progress in a year's time.

Haven't seen Kyle in awhile?

When asked about the whereabouts of Kyle Labbett, Mayor Frances Smith said that it was the County CAO Kelly Pender's organization review that led to Labbett being let go last week.

“We looked at what jobs need doing and Kyle's combination job as public works supervisor/waste disposal coordinator was determined to be redundant. Kyle did a great job setting up waste management but that job is now done. Similarly the public works supervisor position is not and has never been a full time position”, she explained.

She added that with grants not coming in for large construction projects and with a number of larger projects now completed, it did not make sense to keep Labbett on.

Construction numbers healthy

Chief Building Officer Jeremy Neven was pleased to announce that as of the end of October, construction numbers this year are $6,417,300, compared to roughly $5 million at the same time last year. Permit fees to date are $91,000, close to double where they were at the end of October 2014 and a third again as much as at the end of October 2013. Similarly the number of residential units at 16 has surpassed the nine units built by the same time last year.

OCIF Grant for Sharbot Lake reconstruction denied

Mayor Smith regretted to announce that staff's application for government funding for infrastructure reconstruction of Sharbot Lake village was denied. Smith said that the application would be kept on file and updated so that when another round of grants is announced, staff can re-apply.

Putting a bounty on beavers

Councilor Jamie Riddell posed the question of possibly setting up a bounty on beavers since they are costing the township money in road repairs and maintenance.

Sign By Law review

Currently council does not a have a by-law in place regarding signage in the township. Cathy MacMunn, who looked into the matter, noted that a resolution passed to propose a by-law in 2001 was never completed, leaving council now without a by-law in place. Council and staff will be reviewing and proposing a new signage by-law.  

Long Closed Session

Council convened at 5:00 for a closed session to deal with several matters concerning litigation, labour relations and property matters. Following this, they came into Council chambers at 7:00 to commence the public part of the meeting.

James Wilson Parkland/ Beach

This is a contentious issue regarding a small patch of beach beside the James Wilson Road which has been used for public swimming for many years. James Campbell, who has applied for severance of three lots, claims ownership of this swim area, although he admits this strip of shore will become part of the road allowance once the road is increased to its allotted width.

Whenever a severance is granted, as a condition of approval, the property owner is required to pay a small percentage of its value (cash-in-lieu) to the Township’s development fund, OR the Township may choose to ask for a small portion (up to 5%) of the severed property as parkland. Most times, the development fund is preferred. However, in this case, Council is considering the merit of asking for a strip of land along the road to create a safer parking area for swimmers.

Five delegates spoke to Council and a number of letters have been submitted on both sides of the issue. Some speakers made pleas for cooperation in keeping the access to Canoe Lake open to the public, while one illustrated the degree of bitterness in the dispute by speaking of “gross, scary-looking people”, and making verbal attacks on individual councillors, and against several of the individuals who had supported keeping the lake access open to the public.

Referencing the principles of English Law that protect the commons, Robert Lovelace spoke as an area resident and a local Algonquin of the importance of protecting the public’s common use to resources such as air and water, asking for ‘mutual respect of our varied needs.’

Last Saturday, Council members had viewed the area in dispute during their fall road tour. They had no questions for the speakers, and there was no discussion: Mayor Vandewal said they would address the issue further at the next Council meeting.

Firefighters’ Equipment

Fire Chief Chesebrough asked Council to consider setting aside reserves for replacement of the fire department’s self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). The department has 45 of these units all purchased in 2005, and warranted for 15 years. However, there have been significant changes in this line of equipment, and already it is becoming difficult to obtain replacement parts for the current SCBA’s. Total cost of 45 new units with their air bottles is estimated to be close to $500,000. Chesebrough suggested $40,000 be set aside in the 2016 budget as an initial step.

Sydenham Triathlon

For the past five years, the Township has partnered with Somersault Events in hosting a successful and popular Triathlon at ‘The Point’ in Sydenham. However, Tim LaPrade, Recreation Supervisor, is calling for a much more detailed agreement between the Township and the organizing group, clarifying conditions and responsibilities, before proceeding further with the partnership. LaPrade has outlined such an agreement for next year’s event, at which the 2016 and previous events will be evaluated, and recommendations made to either enter into a longer term agreement or issue a Request for Proposal for future events.

Budget Marathon this Saturday

CAO Orr handed out sturdy looking budget packages to Councillors, in preparation for this Saturday’s all-day budget-setting meeting. This document will be available on the South Frontenac website (under ‘civic documents’) by Saturday.

Council then went back in-camera to complete unfinished business from their earlier meeting.

Commercial fee holiday nixed by province

For 11 years, building permit fees have been waived for commercial construction in Addington Highlands. The idea was to encourage commercial enterprises to locate in the township, and the permit holiday was advertised on the township website. It no longer is.

On several occasions members of North Frontenac Council brought the idea of matching the permit holiday in North Frontenac, mainly because the commercial hubs of the two townships are located on either side of Hwy. 41 in the vicinity of Cloyne, and businesses on the west side of the road had an advantage over those on the east side.

But every time the idea was raised, staff in North Frontenac hastened to point out that a commercial building permit holiday was not allowed under the Ontario Municipal Act.

It turns out that North Frontenac staff were right, and in the last couple of weeks Addington Highlands received a letter from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs informing them that they must re-instate the fees.

While the permit holiday was no secret, it had never been formally brought to the ministry's attention until they received a letter.

“They would not say who informed them about it,” Addington Highlands clerk, Christine Reed, told Council at their meeting on Monday.

Reed added that the township could bring back the holiday if they institute a Community Improvement Plan, which would allow them to collect the fees and then grant back all or part of them as part of an economic development strategy.

“It involves a process, however, including an Official Plan amendment and other measures,” said Reed.

“I don't think it has brought a whole lot of new businesses to Addington Highlands over the years,” said Reeve Henry Hogg, “it just meant savings for existing businesses who did upgrades they were probably going to do anyway.”

While the fees are, apparently, now required for commercial building in Addington Highlands, they may be going away in North Frontenac. North Frontenac is instituting a Community Improvement Plan in the entire township, and will be in a position to offer grants to businesses to offset those fees.

Report on Organizational Review deferred

Council received a report from Craig Davidson, a consultant based in North Hastings. Davidson was also the former Chief Administrative Officer of Hastings Highlands until his contract ran out in 2014. The report was based on a session held with all members of Addington Highlands Council and Clerk Reed on October 22.

Based on the session, Davidson wrote, “It was noted that there is a general lack of accountability in the present municipal structure and at times council does not know items like how they are performing financially compared to the approved budget and that, especially in the office, there was the inference that all employees report to council; in other words, no one is responsible to anyone other than to council.”

While he said that some members of council thought that “perhaps what is needed is an office manager”, he added that from his own perspective “What is needed is more of a manager of the municipality rather than one who is managing the office activity only.”

Other municipalities in the region employ a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). All staff operate under the authority of the CAO, whose job it is to interpret the policy goals of Council within the confines of the Municipal Act, and direct staff to carry those policy goals out.

However, as was pointed out in the report, Addington Highlands Council has been wary of adopting such a system. “There was a fear noted by some that the CAO model was tried in a neighbouring municipality with little success ...”

The two-page report was received by Council for information, and while the report talked about next steps, no further meeting was scheduled at this time.

Grudgingly, interest waived for late payment of taxes.

Township resident Sharon Turrin requested that interest in the amount of $31.36 be waived in her case. She wrote to Council, saying that two post-dated cheques for $627 each were sent in time for the 2015 taxes on her property but were either lost in the mail or within the township office and were never cashed. She received a notice and came in to pay the taxes, including the interest. Saying that she has never been late with taxes before and as she did send the cheques, she asked for the fee to be waived.

“It is her responsibility to monitor her bank account to ensure the cheques were cashed,” said Councilor Tony Fritsch.

“That's what I would do,” said Councilor Bill Cox.

Nontheless a motion to waive the fees was proposed by Cox, and was passed, with only Deputy Reeve Helen Yanch voting against.

“That sets a precedent,” said Clerk-Treasurer Reed.

Christmas in Flinton

“Is Christmas coming already?” said Helen Yanch as Council considered a request from the Flinton Recreation Club to put up a tree in front of the Flinton Recreation Centre/township office.

The rec. club will pay all the costs and, in the words of club director, Joel Hasler, “We assure you that every precaution will be taken to keep the tree up safely for the duration of the Christmas season.”

Council approved the request.

NFCS Requests Continued Support

Louise Moody, the executive director of Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS), and Maribeth Scott, the Child Centre program manager, made a presentation to Council on Friday regarding the services that NFCS provides in North Frontenac. They also made a request for funding from Council to help them continue their programming.

“It gives an opportunity for the kids to experience guiding each other and being part of a group,” Moody explained. “They learn self-efficiency, self-determination, communication skills, and problem solving. Each of the skills is linked to higher school achievement, lower dropout rates, and/or better post-secondary outcome.”

The free youth program from NFCS has recently been successful in securing a two-year grant from the Ontario Sport and Recreation Communities Fund. Under this grant, the youth will be given the opportunity to learn about First Nations' sports. This year's program includes an introduction to lacrosse and snowshoeing, and cultural teachings will accompany these activities. NFCS will partner with Clarendon Central Public School and the First Nations community to offer a cultural teaching event for all the northern families.

In 2014, Clarendon Central Public School had 20 students enrolled in the program.

Scott explained that NFCS relies on its relationships with the municipalities as they receive no subsistence funding from the provincial government.

“If we didn't fund this, this would not happen?” Councilor John Inglis asked.

“Absolutely,” Scott replied. “There is no ongoing Evergreen funding for youth programs so we ask the townships to support us and we always have grants on the go.”

Last year, North Frontenac gave NFCS $5400 and they are requesting the same amount of funding for 2016.

The request has been deferred to the 2016 budget deliberations, which are currently in progress.

Sunday Drivers

Residents on Sunday Lake Road are complaining that new speed limit signage is actually increasing traffic speeds on their road. Sunday Lake Road, which was previously unposted, now has signage posting a maximum speed limit of 60km/hr. Residents have complained to Council saying that although it's always been 60km/hr, now that it's posted people feel the need to do the limit, which they suggest is too fast for some parts of their road.

Based upon recommendations the township received while doing a study on the state of their gravel roads, they recently installed new speed limit signs on roads that previously didn't have any signage.

“You had better not take down the signs because you have a study that says you better have signs up,” Jim Phillips, the public works manager, was told after asking their lawyers whether they could just simply remove the signs.

“If they want a lower speed limit because there are children living in the area...” Councilor Dennis Bedard said “You justify it based on what the residents want.”

“We're supposed to represent the people,” Councilor Inglis said. “Our job is to fix it. We can't leave it the way it is. It does not make sense. I would suggest changing all the 60s to 50s.”

Council asked Phillips to look at the gravel roads study again and make recommendations on which roads might need to be changed to a lower speed limit. Council will then make decisions based on the information Phillips presents later this year.

3-Season Maintenance of Norcan Lake Lane

Council agreed to begin 3-season maintenance of Norcan Lake Lane and to incorporate those new expenses into their 2016 budget. The one-time costs associated with bringing the road up to the standards required for 3-season use in the municipality are $7,745 which is $5,000 for brushing the side of the roads and $2,745 for adding new signage. Additionally, Jim Phillips, the public works manager, estimated that resurfacing the road with gravel will need to happen with a cost of $46,620 but he still needs to complete a study to figure out how soon this resurfacing will need to take place.

As well, $13,120 in future maintenance costs will be added to the 2016 budget.

Most of this brief November 03 meeting was concerned with ‘housekeeping matters.’

A by-law change states that Councillors McDougall, Revill and Sutherland’s terms on the newly revived Corporate Services Committee will expire at the end of December 2016 to allow for Council members to serve on both this and the Public Services Committee within the 2014-2018 per of Council.

Library branch ownership transfer

Council authorized the ownership transfer of the Sydenham Branch Library building from Frontenac County to South Frontenac Township. In order to qualify for partial (2/3) reimbursement of the $2 million building cost from the Build Canada Fund, the County had applied for funding on the Township’s behalf, and as a result all invoices for construction were processed through the County, which became, technically, the building’s owner. The County has agreed to this transfer of property, for South Frontenac insures and maintains the building, and once the transfer is complete, the Township can add the library building to its asset management plan.

Subdivision changes

Council approved proposed changes to the draft plan of subdivision in Inverary (Willowbrook). Developer Matias has asked to proceed with the development in two phases, so that much of the revision concerned the renumbering of the lots. After some discussion, the timing for completion of a southbound slip lane was changed to “within the first year of registration of Phase One.” There had been concerns that the original requirement of “prior to registration of phase one’ might mean the whole project could be held up by bad weather.

Closed meeting investigator

Council renewed the appointment of Local Authority Services (a subsidiary of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario) as Closed Meeting Investigator. During the past two years, the Township has not needed to use this company’s services, which are seen as a form of insurance.

Betty Hunter and Ernest Lapchinski, members of Northbrook-based Pine Meadow Nursing Home's management board, appeared before Frontenac County Council on October 21, seeking financial support for new windows at the home.

Pine Meadow Nursing Home, a 60-bed long term care facility, is located in Addington Highlands Township, County of Lennox and Addington, but up to 50% of its residents at any given time come to the home from North and Central Frontenac, Ernest Lapchinski pointed out.

Over the years representatives from the home have made numerous presentations to Frontenac County seeking funding, mostly for the major renovation and upgrade to Pine Meadow that was completed in 2014.

“L&A County put in $250,000 over 10 years, and Addington Highlands waived the building fees for the project, but Frontenac County declined several requests for support,” said Betty Hunter.

Frontenac County operates the municipally owned Fairmount Home. In rejecting annual requests for funding, successive Frontenac County Councils argued that maintaining Fairmount is already a burden for county ratepayers, and satisfies the legislative requirement that the county pay into the long term care system in Ontario.

There is a precedent for the county to support capital projects for health care institutions outside of its jurisdiction, however. The budget includes a 10-year commitment of $25,000 per year towards capital upgrades to Kingston General Hospital.

“What we are looking for today is funding support for the replacement of 11 bay windows in the original Pine Meadow building, which was built in 1993 to standards that are not what they are today. The new section of the building is up to those standards, but there are still challenges in the original building. The repair is extensive since it includes the supports, and the cost is $13,530 per window plus HST, about $165,000, which would be about $25,000 per year for seven years from Frontenac County,” said Betty Hunter. “It is a matter of some urgency.”

“The home operates within the funding envelope provided by the Ministry of Health,” said Ernest Lapchinski, “and we manage our operations within budget and have always done so, but since the home is owned by the Land O'Lakes Community Services, which has its own funding challenges, there is nowhere to turn except fund raising and grants for capital projects such as this one.”

“For years Pine Meadow has been coming to us looking for money. Council needs to find some niche to allocate money to this building, which is important to our residents in the North. We have to find an envelope to pull that money from; that is our challenge,” said North Frontenac councilor, John Inglis.

“May I point out there is no long-term facility in Frontenac County,” said Betty Hunter, referring to the fact that Fairmount Home, although county-owned, is located within the City of Kingston,

“I would try to see us do something; when it comes to budget time, I will be supporting this,” said Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith.

While Pine Meadow (60 beds) and Fairmount Home (128 beds) receive money from the Ministry of Long Term Care according to the same funding formula, and also charge resident fees, as a municipally owned home, Fairmount receives an additional $2.6 million from municipal sources. Of that money, $1.7 million comes from the City of Kingston and $900,000 from Frontenac County. The total operating budget for Fairmount Home in 2015 is $11.6 million.

The discrepancy in funding has been brought up at Frontenac County Council in the past, particularly under the late warden Bud Clayton, who coincidentally also chaired the Pine Meadow Management Committee.

Steve Silver, the interim administrator of Fairmount Home, said recently that care staff tend to be paid more at municipal homes as compared to the not-for-profit sector, based on how arbitration hearings tend to settle contract disputes between unions and management in the municipal sector.

Silver, along with Chef Administrative Officer Kelly Pender and Councilor John Inglis, are visiting Pine Meadow this week to get a first hand look at the operation and its finances. They will also be paying a similar visit to Rideaucrest Home, which is another municipally owned home in the City of Kingston.

Frontenac County will be entering budget deliberations for 2016 on November 12, when the draft budget will be tabled by staff.

2016 Capital Budget

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth presented his department’s capital budget for 2016. He and CAO Orr reminded Council that this was just a first step in the budget process: at this time, they were looking for any large items or categories that Council might want added or removed. “There’ll be lots of time for haggling [over details] later in the process.”

This is a large portfolio, covering Facilities and Recreation, Equipment Replacement, Environmental Services,Transportation, and Multi-year Roads projects. Council did not ask for any major changes at this stage, though some items generated quite a bit of discussion:

Deputy Mayor John McDougall praised the township’s upkeep of the Verona Medical Centre, saying Dr. Dempsey credits the township for Verona’s ability to attract new medical staff at a time when rural physicians are very hard to find.

- Mayor Ron Vandewal asked whether Segsworth was planning to hold a public consultation before upgrading the Buck Lake boat ramp. Vandewal had been approached by some Buck Lake cottagers who said they didn’t want the ramp upgraded, fearing it would make it too attractive for ‘outsiders’ to come use ‘their’ lake. This brought a strong reaction around the table, endorsing the principle that the lakes are public property, and should be accessible to all, not just those with cottages. Segsworth said the lakes were public assets, and it was not up to the township to judge who could or could not use them. Councillor Sutherland said he had heard complaints from a number of Buck Lake residents who wanted the ramp repaired. He also said that many township residents who owned boats did not live on waterfront properties.

- Vandewal said he could see no point in upgrading Fermoy Hall unless it was used more frequently. Councillor Pat Barr replied that she thought there might be more use if the hall was improved. She offered to look into the degree of interest, and report back.

- The Sydenham football field upgrade may be completed and sodded by mid-November: an extra $60,000 has been added to the cost, for a protective fence around the field. The school board has been asked to share that expense, but has not yet replied.

- The Point shoreline upgrade is underway and expected to be completed in two weeks.

- An AVL system is planned for Public Works. This can be used to track all township equipment. Might this mean no more Omaha Orange vehicles?

- Council questioned a proposal to buy rather than rent a baler in order to process hard plastics as well as bale wrap: Segsworth will get more details of cost comparisons. He also said the overall goal is to save money by extending the life of our landfills.

- Conversion of all township streetlights to LED will be completed by November 2016.

- Bellrock residents are pleased with the upgrades to their roads and drainage system: Vandewal reported that he’d heard the villagers had been holding barbeques for the roads crew.

- Roads are categorized as a ‘linear asset’. The roads department report outlined a detailed five-year plan for upkeep and repair, accompanied by a township map showing all the recent and proposed road construction. Another two pages of flow charts illustrated the science behind current roadwork decision-making from full depth reclamation through reconstruction, rehabilitation, sealing, overlay, micro-surfacing, etc through to doing nothing.

All this report will become part of the upcoming budget deliberations next month.

Lease Extension Requested

Percy Snider came as a delegation, asking that his 18-month lease on the former township garage be extended to coincide with the term of his contract for waste collection. Snider is applying for a zoning change so he can construct a garage on a part of his own property, but is not sure of the timing. Councillor Sutherland said that he thought this matter should not be negotiated in a public meeting, suggesting that it could be worked out between the CAO and Snider, or brought to an in camera session.

Canoe Lake beach

Seven more letters from area residents, both pro and con having an established public beach associated with the James Campbell severance application, were tabled. Council is withholding any further discussion of the issue until they have had a chance to view the area in question.  

County takes safety insurance in house, savings to follow

When an actuarial accountant turns on the microphone to make a presentation at a morning council meeting, it can leave many staring longingly at the coffee pot in the corner of the room.

Yet, when Bruce Neville of Nexus Actuarial Consultants took the floor, he brought, in suitably measured tones, the kind of message that perked up the ears of Frontenac County Council at their monthly meeting last Wednesday (October 21).

Neville pointed out that, like a number of neighboring municipalities have already done, Frontenac County can opt to stop paying about $600,000 each year into the Workplace Safety Insurance Program, and instead pay the same amount into a reserve fund each year for the next five years until a $2.5 million reserve is established. After that, the county will only have to pay claims as they come (about $125,000 each year on average, leaving savings of as much as $475,000 each year.)

It took Neville about a half an hour to explain the ins and outs of the money transfers that are involved, with County Treasurer Marian Vanbruinessen interjecting on occasion for clarification. County staff have also canvassed other municipalities within Eastern Ontario who have taken this kind of step. Renfrew County reports substantial savings. Lennox and Addington says it has saved in excess of $1 million and Lanark County reports savings of $320,000 per year since it made the change in 2013.

“So, we will pay the same as we do now for a few years and then begin to save money each year,” asked South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal.”

“Essentially, the answer is yes,” said Bruce Neville.

Council voted to take on the change as soon as possible.

Private roads study to clear the way for OP approval by province

One of the hurdles in the way of securing approval for the first ever Frontenac County Official Plan by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing of Ontario has been the county's insistence, in line with the wishes of its member municipalities, that the ministry bend in its demand that further lot creation not be permitted on private lanes.

The ministry has been insisting that only through the use of expensive planning tools, either plans of subdivision or the creation of vacant land condominiums, can new lots be created outside of the public roads system.

Plans of subdivision require a developer to build a road that is up to a municipal standard, after which time the road is taken over by the local township. Plans of condominium require that a corporation be established among those who live on the private road, and that the condominium corporation come to a binding agreement over road maintenance with the township.

“The problem with both of these planning tools is that they only work for developments of a relatively large size, where there are enough lots being created to justify such a costly outlay for all the studies that are required for either of them,” said the county's manager of planning, Joe Gallivan. “They don't fit the pattern of incremental development that has been occurring in Frontenac County, and insisting on them would harm property owners and the townships where they live.”

Gallivan said that he is now confident that the ministry is finally developing an understanding of how Frontenac County plans to manage lot development on private roads and is poised to approve the County Official Plan by the end of the year.

One of the measures that the county has taken to provide comfort to the ministry has been to undertake a $60,000 private roads study .

Brian Whitehead of Jp2G Consultants, presented a preliminary report on the study to Council last week.

One of the first pieces of information in the study is a comprehensive inventory of private lanes in Frontenac County. Whitehead found 980 private roads in Frontenac County, of which 545 (58%) are located in South Frontenac. There are 5,808 dwellings on private lanes in Frontenac County, 2774 of which (47.8%) are located in South Frontenac and 1406 (24%) are located in North Frontenac.

However, of the 980 lanes, most (821) are not viable for any further development, and of the 159 that can accommodate more lots, 73 can only accommodate one more lot, and 35 can accommodate two more lots.

In fact, of 980 private lanes, only 19 could ever see more than five more lots created under any circumstances. Of those 19, two are located in North Frontenac, four in Central Frontenac, 10 in South Frontenac, and three in Frontenac Islands.

“When those numbers are considered, it is clear that the outcome of permitting lot development on private lots will not be that large, and this should make things easier for the ministry,” said Brian Whitehead.

His final report is due later this fall.

No matter how it is measured, absenteeism remains high

Council received the quarterly absenteeism report for county employees. Earlier reports had tallied up the total number of days lost to absenteeism, but this new version set targets based on industry standards. For paramedics the target is 12 days absent due to illness per 12-month period, for nursing staff the target is 10 days, and for non-nursing staff it is 7 days. The stated goal is for 80% of employees to be off sick less than the target.

By that measure, only 65.4% of unioni zed and 56.3% of non-unionized employees at Frontenac Paramedic Services were at or below the target for absenteeism, and only 64.2% of nursing staff at Fairmount Home were at or below the target, all three missing the goal by a substantial amount.

On the other hand, employees working in corporate services, both unionized (80%) and non-unionized (83.3%) met the goal, as did unionized non-nursing staff at Fairmount Home (86.7%) and non-unionized non-nursing staff at Fairmount Home (100%)

Community Improvement Plan (CIP) approved for Harrowsmith

The Village of Harrowsmith will be the next community whose businesses and homeowners will be eligible for community improvement grants, joining existing CIP communities Verona, Sharbot Lake, Marysville, and the entire Township of North Frontenac.

Councilor salaries set

After considering a proposal that would have seen a major increase in salaries, Council settled on an increase in base salary coupled with a decrease in the number of meetings that are eligible for per diems. The net effect is to maintain salaries at the same level they have been at for the past four years. The salary for the warden has been set at $22,500, that of deputy warden at $10,025 and councilor at $9,088.

With payments of $4,000 in expenses and an average of 7 per diems for meetings outside of the boundaries of the county, the average councilor is anticipated to receive a total of $14,138 in 2016. The estimated total pay for the deputy warden (including 10 per diems) is $15,525, and the warden (including 15 per diems) is $28,500. One-third of the salaries paid out to members of council is tax-free income. The total estimated cost for members of Council in 2016 is $128,500 including all expense and per diem payments.

Parham Library Update

In her remarks to council regarding the issues raised at a public meeting held on October 17 at the IOOF Hall in Parham concerning the fate of the Parham public library, Mayor Frances Smith said that there are hopes to put in place a strategy to get more people to use the library. She also said that a kiosk-style self-service library would not be a satisfactory solution since, “Fewer and fewer books would be accessed and closure from inactivity would eventually be inevitable.” Council plans to discuss the fate of the Parham library further at their 2016 budget discussions.

Parham Fire Hall Update

In a report to council, Central Frontenac Fire Chief Bill Young updated council on the progress of the construction of new fire hall in Parham. In August of this year council approved the construction of a new fire hall in Parham at the cost of $694,800, noting that an additional cost of $95,000 would be necessary for an added library/meeting room expansion to the building. To date the township has completed roughly one quarter of the project and has spent $206,782 to cover the associated legal fees, engineering services, the purchase of the land, surveys, a drilled well, a portion of the excavation and the framing of the building. A number of unexpected additional costs totaling $8,100 were noted in Young's report and included the costs of extra back fill, an oil interceptor, along with fire rated attic access hatches. The expected occupancy date for the new facility is late November/ early December 2015.

Budget Pressure Update

In an effort to mitigate the $255,000 discrepancy identified in council's 2015 budget, Treasurer Michael McGovern outlined a list of potential savings. These included a number of revisions to council's initial budget expenses that will result in accumulated savings, reducing the 2015 budget costs for gravel, salaries, repairs and replacements, capital programs, contaminated sites and loan deferrals. The results show that the 2015 budget of $5,502,342 will be reduced to $5,247,342. To date 61% ($3,188,573) of the 2015 budget has been spent.

Council accepted McGovern's report for information.

Tax Sales

In a report to council, Treasurer McGovern outlined how the municipality is authorized to commence the tax sale process on any properties in the township that have fallen four years into tax arrears, and he noted the upcoming sale of five properties in the township that fall into this category. A tax sale will take place on November 12. Tenders will be accepted in a sealed bid process until 3:00PM.

By-law approves 1/3 of councilors' salary to be deemed “expenses”

A by-law was passed by council approving that one third of the remuneration paid to councilors be deemed expenses. The by-law is effective as of December 2, 2015.

By-laws regarding new speed limits passed

A number of new speed limits were approved by council in the form of a new by-law and will be posted. These changes will include the following newly posted signs: a 40km/hour sign on the Arden Road north of civic number 5916, and a 60km/hr sign south of civic number 5916; a 50km/hr sign on the Henderson Road from Highway 7 to Baker Valley Road, a 60 km/hr sign from Baker Valley Road to the hamlet of Henderson and a 50km/hr sign in the hamlet of Henderson. Further, a new 60km/hour limit sign will be posted on Long Lake Road beginning at Public Beach Road and running south for 1000 metres.