Much ado about wind

Weary members of Addington Highlands Council spent most of their council meeting on Monday (June 1) listening, and talking, about a potential wind power project in Denbigh.

Presentations in opposition to the project by Rosemary O'Connor, Alice Madigan, Dianne Isaacs, and Paul Isaac were received, and there was one in support of the project by Ed Yanch. Rosemary Oconnor presented the results of an informal referendum on the project. Of 104 ballots cast in Addington Highlands, 101 said they disapprove of the project, 2 approve of it, and 1 was undecided. From North Frontenac residents, 10 ballots were cast, of which 9 were opposed and only 1 was in favour of the project,

Alice Madigan then presented a 540 name petition opposing the project. She said that most of those who signed live in or around the hamlet of Denbigh.

Dianne Isaacs then suggested that council seek legal council concerning whether the fact that Nextera has offered to pay up to $350,000 per year for 20 years to the township only if council supports the bid and the bid is ultimately successful, constitutes acceptance of a bribe, which would make the township open to legal scrutiny. Paul Isaacs presented an excerpt from a contract that he said revealed some of the potential pitfalls of the NextEra lessee agreements. Although owners of properties where turbines are located will receive at least $7,000 per year through the 20 year life of the project, those that contain roads will receive a minimum of $2,000 per year and those with transmissions lines a minimum of $1,000 per year. Because Ontario Power Generation will be in a position to appropriate lands of those property owners who refuse to have power lines run across them, Isaacs said the township should insist that the landowners who are forced into accepting the line should receive “at least 2 or 3 times what those who are willing to have their lands used are paid.”

Councillor Bill Cox intervened as far as the contracts between Nextera and residents are concerned,
“It is not our role to intervene in private contracts entered into by residents. Where would we stop if we started meddling there?” he said,.

Finally Ed Yanch pointed out that the township stands to receive $7 million over 20 years if the project goes through, and the economic activity would bring needed work for local residents.

“In my years living here there were two other occasions this kind of Nimbyism took place. One was when the provincial government was thinking of selling off cottage lots, and the other was when Bon Echo was proposed. Both times there was opposition, but where would Addington Highlands be now without cottages on our lakes and Bon Echo Park,” he said.

Later, in the body of the Council meeting, Councillor Tony Fritsch made 5 separate motions relating to wind power proposals.

The first two were endorsed. They were that staff contact municipalities where NextEra and RES Canada (the two companies who are seeking council support for wind power project) have completed projects to find out how the process worked.

The others, that township staff contact 10% of the 60 municipalities in Ontario that are already hosting wind projects to see what their experience has been, that council prepare a 'bargaining position' prior to meeting with Res or NextEra to finalize the Community Vibrancy agreements, and that no decision on the matter be made prior to August 4th, were rejected by Council.

Council will be meeting on July 6, and that is the final meeting before NextEra needs to submit their bid, and unless a special meeting is called for later in July, the decision on NextEra will be made at that meeting. As far as RES Canada is concerned, the township has not been approached with a deadline, but the company has set up public meetings on July 2nd from 6 to 9 pm at the Denbigh Hall.

A list of questions submitted to NextEra and answers from the company are being posted on the Addington Highlands website this week. We will link to it from Frontenacnews.ca

Other matters

A picnic table is to be installed, at a maximum cost of $200, outside the Denigh library to encourage use of the free wifi at the library.

Question about dispatch in Denbigh – Councillor Kirby Thompson said that he has been approached by Denbigh Firefighters concerned that since the dispatch service has been moved to Kingston they are not receiving some calls within their territory, which are then being handled either by Plevna or Northbrook based fire departments, which are located further away. The query will be forwarded to Fire Chief Casey Cuddy.

Tenders

A tender was awarded to Danford Construction for the rehabilitation of Hughes Landing Road in the amount of $672,860. Danford was easily the lowest of four bidders. In second place was Crain's Construction at just under $1 million, followed by Greenwood ($1.17 million) and Cruikshank ($1.22 million)

The paving contract for both single and double surface treatment on various roads was awarded to Greenwood Paving at a price of $18,440 per kilometre (single surface) and $35,670 per kilometre (double surface). There were only two bids for the contract, and Greenwood’s was the lowest.

Proposed Septic Re-inspection program

In a delegation to council, members of the Septic Re-inspection Committee, Terry Kennedy and John Duschene, outlined a proposed septic re-inspection plan for the township.

The plan involve asking the existing septic haulers (the honey men) in the township to keep records and inform the township of properties owners who have and have not serviced their systems in the proposed regular 3-5 year time frame.

The estimated cost to township to maintain records and to provide the necessary licensing is approximately $6,000 per year. Property owners will be expected to pay to keep their systems properly functioning. Councilors Tom Dewey and Bill MacDonald were the first council members to congratulate the committee representatives on their work and their proposed plan, saying it is a definite step in the right direction.

Councilor Brent Cameron he praised the committee for their hard work but he said felt that the report also fell drastically short on one key point.

“It is the 2-4% of property owners you cited in your report who have systems in need of either significant repairs or total replacement that bothers me. In some cases that could cost anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 and we live in a community where many home owners are barely hanging on. Some people will simply not be able to afford this and will be forced to leave their homes. This on the whole is a good report but it's incomplete. There is a huge hole here and I have a problem going forward with this until this fact is properly dealt with” Cameron said. The report was accepted for information and council instructed their staff to prepare a detailed report regarding the adoption of the recommendations the committee proposed.

Council approves waste management agreement with Product Care

Council approved the contract with Product Care regarding waste diversion for household hazardous waste. The agreement reimburses municipalities for schedule materials that include paints, stains, coatings, and aerosols.

K&P Trail gets councils endorsement to go ahead to Sharbot Lake

Anne Marie Young, manager of sustainability at Frontenac County got the approval of council in her request that they support the County of Frontenac's application for Canada's 150th Community Infrastructure Program for the K&P Trials extension to Tichborne and Sharbot Lake. In the motion passed by council, the township will approve the use of municipal lands required to endorse the application.

NFLT storage request denied

CAO Jim Zimmerman suggested that council not approve a request from Brian Robertson that the North Frontenac Community Theatre be allowed to store a trailer at the township yard on Wagarville Road. Zimmerman cited lack of space at the site for his recommendation, which was endorsed by council.

Proposed 150th anniversary funding options move from Parham Library to Mountain Grove

Due to specific funding deadlines in Canada's 150th anniversary infrastructure funding grants, Mayor Frances Smith proposed that council consider those particular funding options for the Mountain Grove fire hall and library stating that they “would qualify very nicely for this program more so than the proposed the Parham library. “Although this is not in the budget, given the grant deadlines, Mountain Grove fits the criteria far better than Parham,” she said.  

Zoning By-law Updated

In a brief public meeting, Planner Lindsay Mills presented four proposed ‘housekeeping’ updates to the Township’s Zoning By-law: 1) requirement for a three-metre minimum separation between all buildings on a property, primarily for fire separation: 2) inclusion of shipping containers as accessory buildings, so they cannot be placed in the front yard and could not constitute a principal building on a vacant lot: 3) Add “shipping containers’ and their other common names to the definition section, and 4) eliminate the Special Limited Service Residential-Waterfront zoning on Big Clear Lake in Bedford district, as this is more appropriately Official Plan wording and the lake is neither narrow nor highly sensitive. (Deputy Mayor McDougall pointed out that it is moderately sensitive.) There were no comments from the public, and the by-law was passed later in the meeting.

Fee for FIT (Feed-in Tariff) Program

Councillor Sutherland brought a notice of motion that the Township charge a $300. fee for each FIT (solar power farm) application they process. Council agreed.

Stop the Sale of Hydro One

Following Linda Hunter’s proposal to last week’s Committee of the Whole, Council agreed to send a letter recommending Hydro One be kept as a wholly owned public asset. McDougall noted that this may be too late, for he has heard the provincial government’s voting on the matter tomorrow.

Harrowsmith Zoning Amendment

Planner Mills recommended that Council proceed with rezoning a narrow-frontage residential lot on the Larcon property in Harrowsmith. The second part of the application which involves a lot addition to an already industrially zoned property is still unresolved, due to concerns expressed by neighbouring property owners.

If the road allowance isn’t there, can it be closed?

A proposal to close and sell (for $50,000) a portion of Township road allowance in Storrington district between lots 6&7, concession XII, was postponed until the planner can get more information. The prospective buyer’s lawyer, Peter Radley, gave a brief history of property surveys which have not shown a road allowance: “Mr Mills’ map is the only one that does show the existence of a road allowance,” said Radley. Also, before proceeding, members of Council want to view the property.

Draft Official Plan Update

Lindsay Mills presented Council the current updated version of the draft Official Plan for consideration and review. Although the Province’s stand on forbidding development in rural areas has softened, he noted three remaining areas of concern in the Province’s comments: that all private lanes must become condominium common elements; development on waterfronts must have a 120 metre setback, and any development near a waterbody would require a marine archeological study. Also, until now all land use designations have fitted on one township map, or schedule. Now, so much information is required that five schedules have been created: Land use, Environmental protection, Roads, Aggregates and Natural heritage systems.

Next steps in the official plan’s progress will be: July 13, open house presentation to the public; Aug 18, statutory public meeting; Sept 1, revised version presented to Council for adoption; September 11, submission to the Ministry for final approval.

Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program

CAO Orr asked Council for an immediate decision on a project to submit for a federal grant program which was announced May 15, with the closing deadline of June 9th. “The funding is to renovate, expand or rehabilitate community and cultural infrastructure, should be shovel-ready, but not currently in our budget. The application needs to be detailed in regard to the proposed project and its budget, and tell how it is linked to Canada’s 150th anniversary. If granted, government funding will likely cover 33.3% of the cost.” Orr managed an air of objectivity throughout this statement.

After discussion, Council agreed to propose the renovation of Storrington Centre, for an estimated total cost of $200,000.

Negotations to ramp up this summer for K&P Trail

Anne Marie Young, the Manager for Economic Development at Frontenac County, reported to a meeting of Frontenac County Council last week (May 20) on the next steps in the ongoing effort to complete the K&P Traill.

She said she will be setting up meetings with property owners living along road 38 between Tichborne and Sharbot Lake.

A number of property owners have pieces of the former K&P rail line running through their property, and the county will be seeking easements to allow those sections to be upgraded and turned into publicly accessible 4 season trail. With the trail now almost completed between Orser road, at the bottom end of the county, and the hamlet of Tichborne, only that final piece remains. Once it is finished the K&P will be a link between the Cataraqui Trail which passes through Harrowsmith and the Trans Canada Trail at the trailhead in Sharbot Lake

“That section is all we have left to complete, but as Council knows it is a complicated section,” said Young. Sections of trail in the 9 kilometre stretch were sold by Canadian Pacific to the abutting property owners. Young said that she will be working with some trail supporters in the local community to help her approach those property owners to seek easements so the trail can go through.

As far as financing construction on the final section, which will cost about $500,000, she suggested that the county could apply to a recently announced federal funding program for infrastructure projects related to the 150th anniversary of Canada in 2017.

“The program has a tight time line. It was announced last Friday and the deadline for applications is June 9th” said Young.

In order to jump on the grant opportunity, Council approved a motion authorizing staff to prepare the application, and committed to funding 50% of the $500,000 cost of the project if the matching grant comes through.

Thus far, the cost of the trail, which has turned into a multi-million dollar project, has been covered through a series of grants. Some county funds, which have come through a federal gas tax rebate, have also been used, although no direct property tax dollars have gone into the project.

“I think we will have a good chance at this grant,” said Young, “after all John A. MacDonald's funeral train travelled along the K&P, so the prospect of marking the 150th anniversary by bringing that rail line back to life as a trail is something we will certainly make note of in our application.”

Ombudsman unease

In his monthly report, County Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Pender focused on the factr that the provincial ombudsman will soon be turning his focus onto the actions of municipal councils. The ombudsman, Andre Marin, currently has a staff of 22 and a budget of $11 million per year, both of which may be doubled in short order.

As of September 1st of this year, the Ombudsman's office will have the authority to investigate decisions of school boards throughout the province, and on January 1st of 2016, municipalities will be open to it's scrutiny.

“The ombudsman does not have the authority to overturn decisions of elected bodies, but by publicizing flaws in how decisions were made he can change things simply through moral suasion and public pressure,” said Pender.

Pender added that municipalities have the ability to appoint their own ombudsman, but even if they do, the provincial ombudsman will be able to over-ride the authority of any municipally appointed individual.

“In the past, ombudsman's only launched investigations after receiving a complaint, but now they can act on their own volition, based simply on media reports or their own concerns,” he said.

“This is being presented by you as a threat,” said a member of Council.

“I would not characterize it as a threat, so much, but I think Council should be aware that the world around us is changing and you would better be ready to change. I would suggest in my 30 years in the municipal world there hasn't been a widespread abuse of transparency, but council members may indeed face increased oversight.”

Items that council members, both at the county and the township level, need to be concerned with, according to Pender, is that the content of phone calls and emails are within the purview of the ombudsman.

Aspects of Council decision-making that sometimes raise concerns are conversations between council members that take place outside of official meetings, and whether in-camera meetings always take place for legitimate reasons.

Absenteesim at Fairmount Home continues to raise concerns

The monthly absenteeism report, which was initiated under the former Council over concerns about sick time among staff at Frontenac Paramedic Services, is now showing a large increase in sick time at Fairmount Home.

During the first four months of 2015, absenteeism is up by 44% over the same time period in 2014, which itself was 12% higher than the winter of the previous year. In 2013, between January and April, 2934 hours were lost to sick time. That number rose to 3305 in 2014, and jumped to 4783 this winter.

Steve Silver, the interim administrator of Fairmount, said that he will be looking at the situation with his staff.

Councillor John McDougall asked whether the monthly absenteeism reports could be augmented with some more contextual information.

“The numbers don't tell the whole story,” he said, referring to the fact that, for example, Fairmount was hit with a flu outbreak this winter, which may explain some of the increase in sick time.

“Colleen Hickey [Manager of Human Resources] has been working on a new version of the absenteeism report which we expect to have available for the June meeting. Hopefully, Council will find it more helpful,” said Kelly Pender.

Meanwhile, absenteeism at Frontenac Paramedic Services is down by 16% for the first 4 months of 2015 as compared to 2014.

Joe versus the ministry

Manager of Planning Services Joe Gallivan said that he expects that by the June meeting he will have received the Ministry of Municipal Affairs detailed response to the 1st ever Frontenac County Official Plan, which was submitted for ministry approval late last year

“Judging from the ministry response to the Lennox and Addington Official, I'm not optimistic. That response is long, detailed, and prescriptive, which is what we are afraid will happen in our case as well,” said Gallivan.

He added that on some of the key issues, particularly permitting new lot creation on private roads under clearly defined conditions, County Council has given him direction to make the case to the ministry and to the Ontario Municipal Board, if necessary.

The ministry is expected to insist that new lot creation be restircted to pubcli roads, except in cases where either a plan of subdivision or a plan of vacant land condominium is undertaken by the applicant.

Gallivan pointed out that 60% of properties in Frontenac County were developed on private roadways. He then said that a $60,000 study the county has recently completed demonstrates the viability of private roads in the county, and that changes in the new Provincial Policy Statement which favour the counties' position have all given him confidence in the stance the county is taking.

“If as I now expect, this does go to the OMB, we will be prepared to make a very strong case,” he concluded.

Parking Restrictions Proposed for Sydenham

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth unveiled a map showing proposed parking restrictions for the village of Sydenham. He said that the current village parking by-law needs to be brought up to date. It presently does not address some of the current conflicts such as; parking on both sides of streets so narrow that traffic is reduced to one-lane, overnight on street parking in the winter and cars parking with two wheels on the sidewalk in front of the bank, post office and High School. Segsworth recommended the next step be a public open house for village residents to view and comment on the proposals. Councillor Schjerning asked whether parking restrictions could be suspended for specific events such as Canada Day and the Bubba Bowl. Segsworth said that although that was a possibility, the first step for events would be to maximize the village potential for off-road parking. There was general agreement that although there were parking concerns in other areas of the Township, it would be best to concentrate on one area at a time.

Waste Diversion Rates

Defining waste diversion as “the process of diverting waste from landfills”, Segsworth listed a number of ways this could be accomplished: blue box recycling, household composting, use of hazardous waste disposal site, bottle deposit returns, e-waste and bale wrap. Waste Diversion Ontario calculates a percentage diversion rate by comparing the weight of diverted matter to the total weight of waste, both garbage and recycling. Presently the Township has only estimates of landfill garbage, so our estimated diversion rates have varied widely from year to year. Segsworth hopes this can be much more accurately calculated once the new weigh scales at Portland waste site come into use. In Storrington district, where all waste weights are available, the diversion rate comes out at 23%. Segsworth added that there is certainly room for improvement in in the Township’s diversion rate.

Multi Year Roads Plan

Segsworth presented a draft five-year roads plan, subdivided into arterial roads, bridges, villages, local roads and local upgrades. He said it was by necessity a ‘living document’, open to change depending on current needs and funding. However, it gives an overall plan to inform councillors faced with questions from residents about specific road issues, and a roads budget plan.

Reduced Road Speeds

A number of requests for road speed reductions have been reviewed using the Council endorsed TAC automatic Speed Limit Guidelines analysis tool. Final speed limit recommendations have been modified in some cases to conform with current speed limits, for roads within villages and to maintain uniformity of road segments. If approved by Council, this will reduce speeds on twenty road segments. Details of recommendations are in the agenda notes for this meeting, on the Township website.

Hartington Brownfields

Segsworth reported that work is progressing well at this task: only the northwest corner of the property still needs more investigation.

Delegation

Lindsay Hunter proposed Council consider a resolution to stop the sale of any part of Hydro One to private interests. Her presentation was unusually clear, focussed and succinct.  

Norcan Lake Lane comes back to haunt NF council again

After passing a motion in January that bans council members and township staff from talking to anyone - the press, the public at large, and those directly involved - about the ill-fated Canalodge subdivision on Norcan Lake, residents from two previous subdivisions that were put up by the same developer on the same lake came to council this week.

And once again the name of the developer behind all three subdivisions, David Hill, was at the centre of a dispute.

Gord Hawley, the president of the Norcan Lake Cottagers' Association, which represents the owners of 27 properties that share responsibility for the upkeep of a three-season laneway, Norcan Lake Lane, requested that the township take over the maintenance of the lane.

Hawley pointed out that 10 years ago when the property owners with frontage on the lane signed the deeds to their property, which committed them to paying their share for its upkeep, they were not informed that the lane would become an access road for properties further along the road and to a popular lake as well.

“It was not a through road when we signed the deeds, but it is now. Yesterday, which was a holiday Monday, over 300 vehicles went by my property, on a road that I personally pay to maintain. Since the township gets the benefit from the traffic, and the benefit from the taxes from the 27 property owners on the lane, the township should pay for minimal maintenance on the lane,” said Hawley.

He also pointed out that the five largest properties on the lane are still owned by the developer, David Hill, who has not paid his share to the association.

“We took him to court and we won, but we do not expect we will see any money from him,” said Hawley.

He then added that a number of members of the Norcan Lake Association are now refusing to pay, and the association will likely fold at the end of this season.

“I expect I will be the last president of this association. I don't se how we can survive if we don't have enough money to cover the grading that needs to be done and the gravel that the road needs,” said Hawley.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that Norcan Lane is part of the route for the spring and fall Ompah Community Association ATV runs, and a promise by the association to grade the corners of the road after last year's spring run was never followed up on.

A number of council members said they were concerned about setting a precedent by taking on responsibility for a private laneway, but Councilor Denis Bedard said there are already precedents.

“We maintain Arcol Road; we maintain Sunday Lake Drive; we maintain the Mosque Lake Road. We have made decisions in the past to provide something for those residents; why not these? It is not winter maintenance they are asking for, just what is needed to make the road passable for three seasons.”

“We will be considering a report on maintenance on private roads later in the meeting. Let's look at this when we consider that report,” said Councilor Wayne Good.

Mayor Ron Higgins said that he would be in favour of approving a one-time $2,000 grant to the Norcan Lake Association to get them through this year. "That will give us time to consider our public works manager's report and come up with something for next year's budget cycle.”

The rest of Council did not agree and the $2,000 proposal was rejected.

Later in the meeting, the report on the unmaintained roads maintenance policy, written by Public Works Manager Jim Phillips, was presented to Council. It considered five different roads, including Norcan Lane, and went into detail about the history and state of repair of the road.

“An inspection of Norcan Lake Lane was recently conducted on April 24, 2015, at which time the condition of the road was found to be in fairly good condition, similar to the condition found two years ago and noting that the road had not yet been graded this year ... In fact this road was in better condition than many of the gravel roads maintained by the township ..." the report concluded.

The report said that the township is facing a cost of $300,000 overall in order to keep its network of gravel roads in good repair, and does not have that amount of money available. Adding additional roads would only add to that shortfall.

Although Council did not speak directly to the request for support from the Norcan Lake Association, it accepted Phillips' report as written, putting the matter on the shelf for now.

Snow Road Community Centre – Council will allow the Snow Road Community Centre Committee to do some further work at the centre, including painting the bathroom and putting in a horseshoe pit on the grounds.

Crotch Lake Cleanup – the clean-up of Ardoch Road by members of the Crotch Lake Association was approved for next month, with the township providing some gear for the use of the volunteers.

Tay Valley poaches another Frontenac County municipal professional – Angela Millar, the treasurer of North Frontenac, has left the township's employ to take up the treasurer's job in Tay Valley, where she will start working on June 1.

Millar joins former Central Frontenac Chief Administrative Officer Larry Donaldson at the Harper Road headquarters of Tay Valley.

“I am originally from that area,” said Millar, adding that she went to school at Glen Tay Public School, which is located next to the Tay Valley Township Office.

North Frontenac Council thanked Millar for her efforts on their behalf, and wished her well in the future.

Q: When Could a Tagged Bag of Garbage Cost $20 ?

A: When you bring it to the Loughborough or Portland waste sites: there you will be charged the minimum dumping rate, even if it’s just one bag.

May 5th, councillors Sleeth and Robinson brought a notice of motion that tagged bags of garbage should be accepted at all Township waste sites. “Why should we pay twice, once in our taxes, and again at the dump?” asked Sleeth.

Public Works Manager Segsworth didn’t mince words. “It’s critical that Council knows staff’s view: we feel very strongly that it’s taking a step backward, to accept tagged bags at Loughborough and Portland. We can’t afford to extend alternatives for the convenience of a few. We’re not sitting on the fence in this one.” Residents can dispose of tagged bags for no extra fee at Green Bay, Bradshaw and Salem waste disposal sites: Green Bay is open Sunday afternoons for the convenience of weekend cottagers. Segsworth said that the three Bedford area sites no longer accept any other types of waste.

Deputy Mayor McDougall agreed with Segsworth, saying that while increased efficiencies at the waste sites were originally a contentious issue, there seems to now be a lot more acceptance of the current system which provides weekly curbside pickup for all Township households on public roads and helps provide end-of-lane bins and bear-proof containers.

Councillor Sutherland said he appreciated the vast improvements in the waste disposal system, but asked whether the Township could offer a year’s trial at permitting tagged bags at all sites.

Mayor Vandewal said that many of the residents who opposed curbside pickup now seemed to appreciate it; “It could create more problems if we went back now. I don’t think we should ignore our staff.”

The motion to change the system was strongly defeated.

Trailers, Licensed and Otherwise

The (twice extended) time period to comply with the Township’s 2004 prohibition of the use of trailers on private residential lots expires Dec 2015. Following a lengthy discussion at last week’s Committee of the Whole meeting, Council still could not provide a clear resolution to this long-running saga.

Issues raised included: lack of ongoing public health enforcement, replacement of old trailers with new ones, new trailers still appearing on new lots without licences or enforcement, the cost of enforcement, the need to deal decisively with the trailer issue, and the social implications of removing trailers where people live in them as a year-round residence.

Based on Council’s discussions and the reduction of the numbers of licensed trailers over the past few years, CAO Orr drew up a compromise recommendation with the following points: extend the compliance date for the prohibition of licensed trailers on private residential property to December 31, 2019; ask the Health Unit to reinspect the current 81 licensed trailers to ensure waste disposal systems are in compliance with environmental regulations, before their licences can be renewed; direct bylaw enforcement services to proactively enforce the prohibition of unlicensed trailers, and advise in writing all current trailer license holders of this change.

A motion to accept this recommendation passed without discussion.

New Leaf Link Support

Council agreed with Corporate Services Committee’s recommendation of a one-time transitional grant of $3,980 to New Leaf Link to assist their relocation to a more accessible site. Councillors Sutherland and Schjerning said that although they agreed with the grant, they both saw this as a Provincial responsibility. Deputy Mayor McDougall agreed, but also suggested that it was possible that Frontenac County might be able to offer some transportation help for the group.

Applewood Resort

Council passed a bylaw permitting a revision to the Applewood site plan agreement that will permit the developer to build four rental units on the property (presently zoned Recreational Resort Commercial), where he is proposing a condominium development.  

Volunteer Septic Re-inspection Program

The volunteer septic program will be available to property owners on Big Clear Lake and Silver Lake this year, at a cost of $6000 to the township. Of those lake associations wanting to offer the program to their members, Silver Lake was chosen because it is defined as an at-capacity trout lake, highly sensitive to pollutants and Big Clear Lake because it has a high density of structures. Crow Lake is the last at-capacity lake in the township that has yet to be offered the program.

Council approves tandem snow plow truck purchase: Council approved CAO Jim Zimmerman’s recommendation for the purchase of a tandem snow plow trick from Oakes Truck sales at a cost of $222,650. The truck will replace the township's truck # 4, a 2000 Ford Sterling Tri-axle.

No decreased speed limit on Road 38 near Evergreen Road: Council agreed with CAO Zimmerman's recommendation to leave the 80 km speed limit in place on Road 38 from Evergreen Road to 100 metres north of the Hydro One transmission facility at Hinchinbrooke. Zimmerman was instructed by council to look into the matter and found after referencing Book 6 of the Ontario traffic manual that reducing the speed to 60km/hour would “be problematic”.

“This highway has been designed for speeds of 80km/hour and the request does not comply with the Ontario traffic manual recommendations,” he said. He added, “If we reduced the speed limit there we would have to look at all areas where school buses pick up kids along 38 and in our township that would be somewhat problematic." In lieu of reducing the speed limit, the CAO recommended additional brushing in that area to improve sight lines. This was approved by council.

Councilor Dewey asks to see the numbers

Councilor Tom Dewey requested that council be able to see financial reports from recreation committees in order to see what monies are going in and out. He cited the model that the Heritage Festival uses in their annual reports. Council passed a motion requesting staff to look into the matter.

Delegations: Catherine Tysick of Northern Frontenac Community Services and David Townsend of Southern Frontenac Community Services spoke to council about new shared initiatives between the two organizations. The first addresses the homeless population in North, South and Central Frontenac townships through a Homelessness Prevention program, and the Housing First and Rapid Re-housing programs. With extra funding there are now two staff members instead of one who are providing support to the homeless populations in all three townships. Townsend cited that in 2014 SFCS dealt with 216 households in imminent threat of losing their homes, and NFCS has identified a further 30 from Central Frontenac and 12 from North Frontenac.

“In rural areas the homeless population tends to be 'invisible' and this initiative will help,” he said.

The second initiative is the expansion of the Hospice Palliative Care program. Funding has expanded this service from one to five days a week to benefit clients in South, Central and North Frontenac. The program offers a volunteer hospice service coordination, bereavement support, outreach volunteer training and administrative support and better connects the local health care professionals with clients in need in their communities.

Crow Lake sign trials

Council was hesitant initially to approve Karen Lahey's requests for a series of community signs to be placed on existing township signs located at the entrance and exit points of Crow Lake Village. The new signs, which were a project of Villages Beautiful, include the following wording: “Welcome to our beautiful community: please slow down and enjoy the view”.

Lahey is hoping that the signs will slow traffic on Crow Lake Road, which she said is an issue that she has been concerned about for years.

The concern raised by a number of councilors as well by CAO Zimmerman was primarily that an approval would allow anyone to make a similar request. Currently the township has no set criteria for signage and a policy would require some definite guidelines.

Zimmerman said, “I would caution council that once you allow private signs to be placed within a right of way, that opens the issue up to everyone who might want to follow suit and it would very difficult to determine what signs are appropriate and what signs are not.” He added that the signs would also need to be maintained.

Lahey said that she would be happy to put up and take down the signs herself and that as a last resort, she would place them on private property. After much discussion considering a future official signage policy, Councilor Brent Cameron said Lahey's request should be approved because the signs seem to be in keeping with township ideals. Council approved the Crow Lake signage conditionally for 2015.

Delegation re approval of Small Fit application

Rob Hitchcock of Abundant Solar Energy Inc. requested on behalf of a client that council support an IESO (Independent Electricity System Operator) application for a 500KW solar ground mount project offered through the Small Fit Solar program on a property located in Hinchinbrooke on Wilkinson Road. Council hesitated and CAO Zimmerman said he has been getting lots of similar requests for support since the IESO deadline for applications is July 13. Zimmerman pointed out that council has two options regarding this and other IESO requests. They could either approve the applications by a blanket resolution or else look at each project individually. He advised council “to be cautious”, citing his concern about ensuring there is a public consultation process for renewable energy projects.

”Property owners might not want to look at solar panels so I would be cautious of approving these projects without public consultation,” he said.

Zimmerman then asked Hitchcock if it was possible to approve the application with conditions. Hitrchcock replied that the IESO “sees things in black and white” and that an approval has to be either yes or no. Councilor Bill MacDonald said he would consider approving the application “only if a public meeting were held first”. Council in the end passed a motion receiving the information and requested that staff look into the matter further.

Council gets tough on back taxes owed

CAO Zimmerman said that council needs to maintain consistency in its approaches to the payment of back taxes. Mayor Frances Smith said, “There is a process already in place and Treasurer McGovern deals with it. He is given the authority to negotiate with the property owner where he can and I don’t think people need to come to us to see if we are going to change the rules.”

Parham library branch update

CAO Zimmerman informed council that the Kingston Frontenac Public Library CEO received a call from the Limestone District School Board (LDSB) indicating that there is a possibility of extending the branch's stay in the existing portable. The LDSB expects the township to pick up any ongoing incidental costs of running the facility after June 1. Zimmerman then handed out proposed draft floor plans for a new Parham Fire Station/ Community Centre, which included a 1000 square foot section that could house a self-contained library facility if the costs fall within the budget or if council approves additional funding for it.

Other news and business

Mayor Frances Smith congratulated Treasurer Michael McGovern on graduating with an AMCTO diploma in municipal administration

Councilor Jamie Riddell spoke of upcoming meetings with Utilities Kingston and Xplornet Internet in the hopes of bringing improved internet services to the Mountain Grove area.

Additional property has been purchased for the Hinchinbrooke fire hall.

Mayor Vandewal opened the meeting with the announcement that a closed session would follow the regular meeting, to discuss “legal and land issues.”

Proposed Process for Official Plan Adoption

Every five years, the Township’s Official Plan has to be reviewed and brought up to date. In December 2013 the Township Planning Department forwarded a revised draft of the Official Plan to The Ministry of Municipal Affairs for review and comments. This plan contained a number of internal changes and provincially mandated changes. In October 2014, the Ministry returned a number of comments which have now been addressed in the current draft plan. Next steps in the process are: June 2, Council reviews the draft, and on July 13 the public will be invited to an open house presentation of the Current proposed Official Plan. This will be followed on Aug 18 with a public meeting before the final draft comes to Council in early September for adoption, followed by submission to the Ministry for final approval.

Larcon Zoning Amendment

This concerns a proposed lot addition and rezoning of a one hectare parcel of land on the Wilton Road on the southern edge of Harrowsmith. The lot addition would have to be rezoned as industrial to match the already existing industrial zone of the property it will join. Neighbour Pat Lalonde has twice expressed her fear that this industrial property will damage her property value and be incompatible with a residential area. (The stated plan is to eventually enlarge the storage rental business that is on the existing industrial lot.) Planner Mills noted that the Township’s zoning by-law would require a site plan agreement with stipulation for a substantial buffer combining berm and plantings along the road front before any further development could take place on the property.

Mills also recommended that “open storage” be removed from the list of possible uses within urban industrial zoning. Further decision was deferred until it could be confirmed that all the neighbouring residents had received notification of the proposal.

Planning Department Proposal

Planner Mills asked Council’s approval of his intent to set aside blocks of uninterrupted work time. He proposes using Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon to concentrate on review and assessment of large projects. CAO Orr supported this idea, saying that staff wanted Council to be aware of this change. Council agreed with Mills’ plan.

Wind, solar projects lining up at Addington Highlands’ door

The wind resource in the Denbigh region has drawn another company into the mix as the deadline for the Large Renewable Procurement (LRP) process from Ontario Power Generation approaches.

Renewable Energy Systems of Canada, who first approached the township with a preliminary proposal for a wind project in 2008, returned on Monday with a presentation that was geared to attract the support of Council, and the public at large as well.

“We have a tradition of developing the lowest impact site possible by maximizing the setback from residences and points of interest,” said Stephen Cookson, the director of project development for RES Canada during his presentation.

NextEra, a company that approached the township earlier this year asking for support from the township for a project in the same area, is proposing a mix of sites for 80 to 100 turbines, some to be located on Crown and some to be located on private land, to produce up to 200 megawatts of power in Addington Highlands.

RES – Canada, on the other hand, is planning 30 - 50 turbines to produce between 100 and 150 megawatts of power. While Cookson said the sites would be a mix of Crown and privately owned land, used under lease agreements, they also said that the majority of the project would be located on Crown land sites.

The company has yet to complete all of the analysis it needs to do in order to finalise its bid, and one of the issues that needs to be confronted is that of grid capacity in the vicinity of the proposed turbines.

When contacted after the meeting, Cookson said that grid capacity to receive power from the Denbigh area was not made available in 2008, and that was why RES did not pursue a project at that time.

“We are hopeful that the grid capacity will be available this time around,” he said.

Cookson also said that RES would be presenting their plans at a public open house/meeting some time later this year.

“We have been having a lot of discussion, information and input within the community and with council ever since NextEra came forward with their plans,” said Councilor Tony Fritsch “and the issue of setbacks comes up often. Are you open to across the board, council-suggested minimum setbacks for all your installations?”

“We are open to suggestions, and we are committed to minimising impacts and generous setbacks. The constraint comes in when setbacks make a project unviable from a financial perspective, so it’s a trade-off,” said Cookson.

RES will also be making an offer for a community vibrancy fund before Council decides whether to support the project or not. NextEra has offered $1,750 per mw, which would come out to $350,000 per year if the township supports their project and they end up winning the LRP.

“We have two competing companies coming before us,” said Reeve Henry Hogg. “Are we obliged to support only one project?”

“You could support one, both, or none,” said Cookson.

“Is it possible that both would get built?” Hogg asked.

“It is possible, but not likely in this case, partly because we will be choosing overlapping sites on Crown land,” said Cookson.

Solar projects get support

Utlilia Amaral of SunEdison and Rob Hitchcock of Abundant Solar Farms both made presentations for small-scale solar farms, which are being contemplated under a small-scale renewable power projects procurement process that is also being sponsored by Ontario Power Generation.

SunEdison is proposing a 7-acre solar farm project on a private property on Wilson Hills Road, east of Northbrook, which will have a 500-kilowatt capacity.

Abundant Energy has four projects under development, all of the 500-kilowatt size. Their projects would be located at 2570 and 1548 Upper Flinton Road, and on Concessions 3 and 4, Kaladar.

Neither solar project developer offered any inducements to the township for a motion of support, but they both indicated that the impact on neighboring properties would be minimal, and that vegetation would be planted at the perimeter of the project sites, blocking public view of the panel arrays.

Council provided blanket support for the two projects and any other solar project that comes forward.

Budget approved, levy up by almost 5%

The 2015 budget was approved. The township will be levying a shade under $2.4 ($2,399,973) million from Addington Highlands ratepayers for local services, up about $113,000 from 2014 (the 2014 levy was $2.287 million) In percentage terms the increase is 4.9%.

When the township rate is combined with Lennox and Addington County taxes, which are up by 2.7%, and education rates, which are flat, the average Addington Highlands ratepayer will see a total increase in the 3% range on their tax bills this year.