Just over a year ago, Hartington and area residents and other concerned citizens banded together under the name of the Pleasant Valley group after receiving requests by a company wanting to test their residential water.

They did some research and found out that plans were being made to develop a 45-acre parcel of land located between Petworth and Boyce roads near Hartington.

The proposal, which was formally submitted to Frontenac County last fall, is for 49 residential lots that range in size from 0.82 to 1.02 hectares. Malroz Engineering Inc. was hired by Frontenac County planner to peer review the proposed application, which was submitted by Terry Grant Construction along with a hydro-geological and servicing study, and a terrain analysis. These were prepared for the proponent by ASC Environmental Inc. and completed in October 2013. To date trees have been cut on the site and eight wells have been drilled and tested.

Harrowsmith resident Dan Bell, a member of the Pleasant Valley Group, called for a public meeting, which took place at the S&A Hall in Harrowsmith on Saturday, (February 1). The purpose of the meeting was to update concerned citizens about where the proposal now stands and to share some of the information in the reports. Close to 40 people attended, including South Frontenac councilors John McDougall, Allan McPhail, Pat Barr and Bill Robinson. Councilor Ron Vandewal was on vacation and sent his regrets.

Numerous concerns were raised by the public at the meeting.

Michelle Foxton, a lawyer and member of the Pleasant Valley Group, said that she has received reports back from some of the commenting agencies that have been consulted by the county.

At the meeting she handed out copies of some of the reports

She said there is a “a disconnect” between the council of South Frontenac and county council … "What is not clear is exactly how we go about proceeding to make sure that our concerns are met. The question needs to be asked - how is it that certain members of the public know more about this than the councilors of the township? I think that that is how a lot of these developments are able to go through so easily in the first place.”

Hartington resident Linda Stewart, whose home backs on to the proposed site asked, “Given the lack of communication between council and the county, I want to know how much influence this council has on the county.”

Councilor Allan McPhail granted there is a ‘disconnect’ but said that in the past the township has been able to make changes to other proposed subdivisions.

He also said that so far no information has been brought forward to SF council by the county and added that, “Information does not tend to come to us until all of the other commenting agencies have done their work first and that is when we are supposed to put our wisdom to it.”

“What we are being told over and over is that there will be a public meeting,” Foxton responded. “The problem is that the public meeting will happen at the point when the township's official plan gets changed and then what ability do we have at that point to comment and to get the information that we think is critical to those agencies? The commenting agencies need to know about the public's concerns before they write their reports so they can investigate our concerns.”

Foxton, who sat on the committee that developed the township's Official Plan, wondered how plans of subdivision are able to bring in lots that are so much smaller than the minimum lot size in the Official Plan.

“This subdivision is being proposed at 150 feet of frontage, which is almost half of what is recommended in the OP. What possible justification does the planner Lindsey Mills have for saying that that is acceptable?”

Foxton referred to a report from the Quinte Conservation Authority, who have numerous concerns, specifically with storm water management, potential well contamination, and densely placed septic systems

“What I want to achieve today is to have council members ask for all of these reports, get them, look at them and focus on what it is they are saying.” Foxton said that two of the drilled wells on the site are “so bad that the Quinte Conservation Authority is ordering that they be immediately decommissioned”. She cited a third well that requires immediate remedial measures. She said that judging by the sheer number of items that the commenting agencies want clarification on, “You have to question the reports that the proponent has submitted.”

Councilor John McDougall, who sits on county council, said he has seen none of the reports though he knows about the application.

“My understanding is that all of this information first goes through the necessary check points of the planners at the county before it comes to County council. The professional planners look at it first and if it becomes apparent that the reports are lacking, the planners would identify that before it comes to council.”

He commended Foxton and her team on their work in raising the red flags and making council aware of the issues

Three of the four Frontenac townships are set to take advantage of an offer by Frontenac County to provide planning services. South Frontenac is the one township that is not going to avail itself of the service, and its mayor, Gary Davison, has been asking for months for a report into how much it will cost the county to provide the service.

In delivering the report, Manager of Planning Joe Gallivan provided information from six other counties in Eastern Ontario that provide planning services for member municipalities, mostly at no additional cost.

He did say, however, that a charge-back of $30 an hour for planning work generated directly by the member townships would cover the county's costs.

However he recommended that the county wait a year before starting to charge the townships for the work.

“We recently purchased software that allows us to track our time. We can spend this year gathering data and then it will be clear what the charges will come to,” Gallivan said.

He also pointed out that if the county begins charging for the service, there will be an additional cost to ratepayers in South Frontenac.

“We already do the work for plans of subdivision and plans of condominium, most of which are done in South Frontenac, and we have never charged for that until now,” he said.

Gary Davison did not see why there should be a one-year delay.

“I would think the townships would be happy to pay it right away, while we are doing this tracking. $30 an hour is a pretty reasonable price,” he said.

“I think we should continue along on the current path, where we do not charge, at least until we can get some more data. Don't forget that we all benefit from increased development because it generates increased taxation over time,” said Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski.

Frontenac Islands Mayor Dennis Doyle said that his township has been making use of the county planning service for over a year, “and the service, I must say, has been excellent. We are happy to pay. But I agree we should take a year to make sure we get it right.”

A motion to forego charges for a year and gather data was passed. Mayor Davison and Councilor John McDougall voted against the motion, as did Frontenac Islands Councilor David Jones. 

It cost $190,000 more than had been budgeted to complete the K&P Trail section between the trail head at the south end of Harrowsmith and Craig Road, just north of Verona.

Frontenac County Manager of Economic Development, Anne Marie Young, brought the news to a Frontenac County budget meeting last Wednesday, January 30.

In her detailed report to Council, Young outlined how the cost of a new deck for the walking bridge of Hardwood Creek was one of the factors, as were delays resulting from what she called “access problems”. The latter was a reference to the difficulties encountered over a piece of land that needed to be acquired from Bob Leonard of Hartington, which led to an expropriation process.

More significant yet were the added costs resulting from the fact that the additional section ended up being 11.4 kilometres, 1.8 kilometres longer than had been estimated, and there were unexpected problems with culverts at various points along the way.

The on site work for the project was provided by a member of the public works department of South Frontenac Township. The reality of the over-runs became clear late in the fall of last year, as the construction window for the year was waning and the project was at a critical phase, according to Young.

“As the need and requests for culverts, geo-textile, etc. came forth and with the project then reaching a crucial and controversial part of the trails, the project lead felt it vital to the timeliness of the project, and fearing further delays to obtain authorization for cost over-runs, agreed verbally to the requests. This was undertaken outside of the requirements of the Procurement Policy [of the County]. The full impact of these cost over-runs became evident with the final invoice received in January, 2014,” she wrote.

In the end the project, which was budgeted at $518,000, cost $710,000. In order to come up with the $518,000 that was budgeted, Frontenac County provided $350,000 (taken from a federal gas tax rebate) and grants from private sources and the Trans-Canada Trail were to cover the rest.

A request was sent to the Trans-Canada Trail to cover all or part of the overage, but if that application is not successful, the county will be on the hook for the $191,000.

“Lots of good things happened with the trail, but I want to express the concern that we were not informed while this was happening,” said Frontenac Islands Mayor Dennis Doyle.

Doyle then suggested that the contractor be approached to see if there is any way the invoice can be modified. “I think we would have approved these expenditures. The thing to do now is to take the extra money off what we spend on the trail this year,” he added.

South Frontenac Mayor Gary Davison agreed. “Essentially we did $190,000 more than we planned in 2014 and we will do $190,000 less in 2014.”

It was suggested that the next phase of the trail, from Craig Road to White Lake Road in Central Frontenac, which is scheduled for completion in 2014, be done with the services of a project manager to guard against over-runs.

Anne Marie Young expressed confidence that even with a decrease in the budget, the trail can be extended to White Lake Road this year.

“The goal of this trail is to get to Sharbot Lake and meet the Trans-Canada Trail,” she added.

“When they are built properly trails are a big business,” said Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski.

“We are going to have to look at avenues of funding for this other than federal gas tax,” said Gary Davison. “We all want to build this trail but at what cost?”

Sometime on Monday night (February 3) an oil furnace located on the mezzanine of the North Frontenac Township office and public works garage started leaking oil.

No one knows exactly what happened, but the speculation is that a pilot light went out and the oil kept being pumped out. The furnace had been serviced recently.

The oil penetrated to the first floor, mainly into the office of Deputy Clerk Tara Meiske, but also into the offices of the Treasurer Angela Miller and CAO Cheryl Robson.

“Because it is oil and can cause adverse health effects to those who are exposed to it, we called all staff and told them to stay home,” said Mayor Bud Clayton at the beginning of a previously scheduled budget meeting.

Although North Frontenac Council meets on the same site as the township office, they hold their meetings on the upper floor of the fire hall, which is a separate building.

By the time the councilors arrived, police tape had been hastily put up to block all the entrances to the office, and township managers were milling about in the council meeting room.

“We have called our insurer and they told us to call in a service company to see what can be done, and we are waiting for them to get here,” Clayton said, “but I would not be surprised if it takes at least six to eight weeks to clean up and re-open the building.”

All the vehicles in the garage were pulled out and road crews were working, but the garage remained evacuated.

Staff donned fire gear to enter the building to access the main server and other computer equipment so a temporary office could be set up.

“We will likely use this room, and maybe we will move one of the fire trucks from downstairs to another location to make room for temporary offices,” said CAO Robson, “but it really is too early to tell what exactly we will do. We need to be up and running somehow.”

In a demonstration of how uncertain the situation is, at one point during the budget meeting, Robson followed her normal practice of asking council if one of the managers, Chief Building Official George Gorrie, could leave the meeting because the item that required his expertise had been dealt with.

“But I don't have anywhere to go,” Gorrie whispered to Robson, sparking nervous laughter from members of Council.

The budget meeting carried on as normal, and any potential costs resulting from the accident were left to the side for now.

Councilors did talk about some alternative locations for a temporary township office, including the works garage at Lavant Station in the eastern corner of the township or the former MNR office in Plevna, but Mayor Clayton said it was too early to make any plans.

“Anyone who has any ideas is welcome to bring them forward; however, we are going to have to talk about this further, that is certain,” he said.

New annual community project grants policy established

The township will solicit applications on a yearly basis from community organizations for projects supporting community programming. The total amount available will vary from year to year, depending on the amount set aside in that year’s budget. Deadline for applications is the last business day of March, with grant decisions to be announced by May 15. Further details will be available on the Township website.

Payment by credit card

Council approved Treasurer Fragnito’s recommendation to enter into an agreement with the (Canadian) company Paymentus to offer third party credit card processing for the Township. This means the Township will not need to set up a merchant account, and will not be susceptible to fluctuations in the fee percentage. Taxpayers will be able to use Visa, Mastercard or American Express. User fee will be 2.8% of the payment amount, with a minimum fee of $3.50.

Appointment

Councillor Barr was appointed to the County’s new Seniors Housing Task Force.

Tax bill timing adjusted

As a housekeeping measure, the Corporate Services Committee has recommended a change in timing of the Commercial, Industrial and mixed assessment final billing, from October to August. Further information will be included with the February interim tax notices, and on the township website.

Public works tenders

Council approved the bid of Smiths Construction for supply and application of surface treatment in the amount of $626,653. Since 2009, the unit price the Township has paid per square metre has risen one cent for single surface treatment, and two cents for double surface.

Public Works has contracted with Tallman Truck Centre to purchase a 2015 tandem dump truck for $209,921; the lowest bid.

Site plan for recreational resort

Council passed a by-law authorizing Mayor and Clerk to enter into a site plan agreement for development of a resort on a 100 acre property known as Applewood in Storrington District, on Loughborough Lake. The land was zoned for this purpose several years ago. The development proposes 44 units, with each two-unit cabin serviced by its own septic system.

Feature Article - October 26, 2006

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Feature Article - October 26, 2006

Is amalgamation on the table in SouthFrontenac?

by JeffGreen

Gary Davison has placed amalgamation at the centre of his campaign to replace Bill Lake as mayor of South Frontenac. But even he says that any change in the way three key services - road maintenance, waste management, and recreation - are funded in South Frontenac is several years off, at least.

If Bill Lake is re-elected, it might be longer still.

“Go slow, do it right, don’t mess it up,” is what Bill Lake said to sum up his attitude towards amalgamating all of the services and assets in the township when interviewed on the topic this week.

“Other townships amalgamated completely nine years ago,” Davison countered, “and the world has not ended. Nobody has lost out.”

When South Frontenac was created, the four townships that were coming together brought different assets with them.

For example, in terms of dump site capacity, Portland township has a dump site with decades of life left in it, while Storrington was about to lose its dump entirely.

The political arrangement made at the time was that each district would keep its key assets, roads, dumps, fire equipment, and recreational facilities, and the councillors from each district would make up a budget for their own district, while the council as a whole would make up a budget for shared services, such as downloaded roads, policing, etc.

With the exception of the fire service, which has now been amalgamated and is headed up by a full time fire chief, everything has basically remained the same after nine years.

This does not sit right with Gary Davison.

“There has been no talk on this at all for nine years,” he said. “What I’m saying is we need to do a review and we need to develop a strategic plan.

“One of the first things I would like to know is where we can-be, what our vision will be in 10 years. This is a long-term plan that will require public input every step of the way, and it will have to be done without creating winners and losers. But, at some point, we should stop making our staff mess around with five budgets.”

“Mr. Davison knows about parliamentary procedures,” Bill Lake responds. “He would surely know that he could make a resolution to discuss amalgamation. In three years on council it never came. Now, during an election, he wants to talk about it.”

(Bill Lake and Gary Davison will be participating in an all-candidates meeting tonight at the Verona Lions Hall, along with the six candidates for Portland Councillor and two candidates for school board trustee. The meeting starts at 7 pm. Watch for further coverage of the municipal election in next week’s Frontenac News, including profiles of the candidates in Bedford, Portland, and Loughborough districts)

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Feature Article - October 26, 2006

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Feature Article - October 26, 2006

Central Frontenac Council

by Jule Koch Brison

Central Frontenac Council will be going right down to the wire next month with their Official Plan.

As requested, Planner Glenn Tunnock had prepared several amendments to the plan that were worked out over a five-year review, and brought those back to council on Monday for approval.

However, further changes were requested by council, the main one being in connection to site rehabilitation after mining.

In discussing the relationship of the Mining Act to the Planning Act, Tunnock said that the Mining Act takes precedence over the Planning Act in the exploration stages, but that it would not be easy to actually open a mine; that the Planning Act would take precedence.

Councilor Logan Murray asked if there was anything that could be put into the Official Plan to give the township site alteration control, to force mining companies to rehabilitate sites. Tunnock said that he could raise the question with the ministry; that the township could just enact a site alteration bylaw, but it would be wise to have policy direction in the plan.

With the election and a new council looming, Mayor Bill MacDonald consulted Township Clerk Heather Fox on whether it was advisable for council to adopt the prepared amendments right then and work in the further changes later. She replied she would prefer that council not do that, and several councilors concurred.

November 28 is the last date that the present council can approve the amendments to the Official Plan and they deferred the matter until then.

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Feature Article - August 17, 2006

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Feature Article - August 17, 2006

Addington Highlands Council, August 8, 2006

by Jule KochBrison

A procedure that could extend the capacity of the Denigh Waste Site would not be recognized by the Ministry of the Environment (MoE), according to Township Clerk Jack Pauhl.

At the Denbigh meeting last Tuesday night, council discussed proceeding with the closure of the Denbigh site, as it is over capacity. The MoE has requested additional monitoring that will be very expensive and Reeve Hook noted that with what AH is spending on Kaladar, Mackavoy and Denbigh, the township is already over budget on waste disposal. Council decided to set up a meeting with Quinte Eco, a consulting firm AH has contracted to prepare the reports on the Denbigh site, and the MoE.

Later in the meeting Roads Supervisor Royce Rosenblath told council that he was speaking to someone who can screen the sand out of a waste site and repack the contents. In some cases, Rosenblath said, the garbage that is left only occupies about 30% of its former bulk. He said that for years an average of about 50 tons of fill a week was spread in the Denbigh site, and offered to enquire about the screening process with townships that have used it. Building Inspector Wayne Kivell thought that the Township of Carlow-Mayo has used it successfully.

Jack Pauhl, however, said that the MoE does not recognize the extra space; it only counts what goes through the gate.

The MoE has also requested a site plan and site life estimates on the Vennachar site documents that Reeve Hook said had already been given to them. The reports will be sent again, and AH will address some concerns about the site in 2007 if it doesn’t cost too much; however according to the site life estimates, the Vennachar site has room.

A quotation from Jewell Engineering for $4,800 + GST, to prepare an application for COMRIF intake #3, was approved unanimously. The application is to rebuild the Skootamatta Lake Road/Hughes Landing Road intersection. Council has already unsuccessfully submitted applications for the work to intakes 1 and 2, and at the last council meeting, this had prompted Councilor Bill Cox to balk at spending further money on COMRIF.

Council endorsed a resolution by the Town of Smiths Falls, urging the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) to request Ontario to either commit to a thorough review of the whole Market Value Property Assessment system during the current cancellation period, or go ahead with the reassessments as originally planned, so that ratepayers will not be faced with three years’ worth of inflation in 2009.

A Motocross track in Northbrook that was built by Fritz Nussberger needed a building permit, according to Building Inspector Wayne Kivell. Kivell said he has contacted Mr. Nussberger but received no response from him. Council decided to defer the matter until they could get more information.

Reeve Hook gave a brief update on the township’s application for a Trillium grant to build a skateboard park in Northbrook . He said the Foundation is looking favourably at the application and has asked the township to proceed to a formal lease with the Lions, who will let the township use the property for seven years at no charge.

Council voted to raise the township’s mileage rate from 40/km to 45.

A piano that is just gathering dust at the Flinton Hall will be donated to the Through The Roof Ministry.

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Feature Article - August 17, 2006

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Feature Article - August 17, 2006

Bud Clayton declares for mayor in North Frontenac

by JeffGreen

Two-term councillor Bud Clayton will be seeking the mayor’s post in this November’s municipal election. He submitted his papers recently, making him the only candidate for mayor at this point, although incumbent Mayor Ron Maguire said earlier that he intends to run for re-election and is expected to make that decision official before nominations close at the end of September.

Clayton has served on several committees in the past six years, and is currently the chair of the Waste Management Task Force. He also chaired a task force on the township’s halls during his latest term on council.

He differed from the rest of council over this year’s budget, mentioning at the time that he thought major capital purchases should be brought before council for consideration before the budget process is undertaken. He felt it was impossible to give them due consideration with the pressure of the budget hanging over council.

Other confirmed candidates:

In North Frontenac, nomination papers have been filed by Jim Beam in Ward 3, and Fred Perry (incumbent) in Ward 1.

In Addington Highlands not a single nomination has been received for the four council positions or reeve

In Tay Valley Township, only Deputy Reeve Susan Freeman (incumbent) has submitted papers.

In Lanark Highlands, nomination papers have been received for councillors in some wards, but none for Ward 6 (Elphin-McDonalds Corners) and none for mayor.

In Central Frontenac, Janet Gutowski and Bill McDonald (incumbent) are running for mayor.

In Ward 1 Kennebec , Tom Dewey is running;

In Ward 2 - Olden, Bill Guigue (incumbent);

In Ward 3 - Oso, Ed Beattie, Frances Smith (incumbent), and Bob Harvey (incumbent);

And in Ward 4 Hinchinbrooke, Boyce Peters.

The South Frontenac race is already crowded in Loughborough, Portland , and Storrington.

Incumbent Mayor Bill Lake is the only candidate thus far seeking the mayor’s job in South Frontenac, but there will certainly be no acclamations for council in at least three districts.

In Portland , incumbent Bill Robinson is seeking a third term, and he will be contested by at last five people: Yvette Guthro-Page, Mike Cope, Tom Addison, Doug Lovegrove, Jim Hicks.

In Loughborough, incumbent Ron Vandewal (currently the deputy mayor) is running, as are Fran Willis and Ted Hosler.

In Storrington, incumbent Peter Roos is running, as are John Fillion, Larry York, and Norm Roberts.

In Bedford District, only incumbent Dave Hahn has submitted nomination papers thus far.

Two candidates will be elected as councillors in each of the four districts.

School Board election

In South Frontenac, two people are already declared for the school board trustee election, incumbent Ken Gilpin, and Barb McLaren.

There is one school board trustee for Central and North Frontenac and Addington Highlands, and two time incumbent Ann Goodfellow (current Board Vice-Chair) is seeking a third term. She is uncontested thus far.

Nominations will not close until September 29th, and ballots will be mailed out on or around October 16th. The News will have full coverage of the campaign, and we are in the beginning stages of planning all-candidates’ meetings. If anyone would like to help set up the meetings, please contact us immediately at 613-279-3150

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Feature Article - August 17, 2006

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Feature Article - August 17, 2006

The battle for mayor is joined in Central Frontenac

by JeffGreen

At the tail end of a somewhat sleepy August council meeting, a motion moved by Central Frontenac Councillor and mayoralty candidate Janet Gutowski, sparked an interesting exchange between herself and incumbent Mayor Bill MacDonald.

The motion said that “staff be required to provide a written report and receive permission from council prior to hiring a consultant or outside expertise.”

In response to the motion, Township CAO Heather Fox wrote a short report, citing a passage from the township’s procurement bylaw which states that staff may seek out the expertise of external consultants for certain specified purposes. Fox’s report concludes that if Councillor Gutowski wants to accomplish the stated objectives of her motion she would be required to propose an amendment to the procurement bylaw.

In speaking to her motion, it became clear that Gutowski’s concerns stem from how the township’s budgeting process was carried out this year.

“It is council’s role to represent the public,” Gutowski said, “Some of the major decisions made in our budget were made exclusively by staff. Two of these decisions cost $600,000.”

Of the two decisions Gutowski was referring to in her remarks, only one was delineated, the decision to build a new fire hall for the Oso fire crew.

In that case, the Chief Building Officer, Ian Trickett, enlisted an engineering firm to determine the safety of the building after the deputy fire chief called him in to see some water damage that had developed in early March. The engineering firm subsequently concluded that the building is not safe for occupation and council was faced with the necessity of building a new fire hall when they discussed the fire budget in April.

“It was the building inspector who called the engineering firm, which is something that he has the authority to do if he is concerned about the safety of a public building, as far as I know,” Heather Fox said in response to Councillor Gutowski.

“There wouldn’t be a need for this bylaw if there was better communication,” Gutowski said.

Council retains the ability to approve or disapprove any staff recommendation,” Mayor MacDonald said. “Personally, I don’t want to tie the hands of staff. We meet every two weeks, and sometimes staff has to act more quickly than that … but I don’t think that staff has overstepped its authority. There are procedures that are spelled out, and they follow them.”

Other councillors piped in concerning a perceived lack of long-term planning by council, expressing the idea that council is always reacting to things, and is unable to see problems developing over time.

Gutowski then piqued MacDonald by saying, “In your role as mayor, you are in communication with staff on an ongoing basis, and it is your role to bring information to the council.”

“I want to make it clear to you, that I have not held back information from council at any time. As far as the Oso Fire Hall is concerned, I found out about it at the same time that council found out.

“You have to remember that we have been facing issue after issue coming down at us from afar since this township was established nine years ago. The downloading and the new regulations have been relentless. How can you engage in long-term planning when you are always facing this kind of pressure? We are extremely lucky in Central Frontenac that we have been able to keep the staff we have, or we would be in a mess right now,” MacDonald continued.

In the end, Janet Gutowski withdrew her motion.

Mayor MacDonald submitted his nomination papers for the upcoming municipal election a week ago. After publicly speculating about retiring from the mayor’s job, which he has held for nine years, the entire life of Central Frontenac Township, MacDonald began to waver about a year ago, and throughout 2006 he has been considering running for a fourth term.

In outlining his reasons for running again, he said that there are ongoing projects that he would like to see to completion, particularly the rehabilitation of Hwy. #7 and some of the county-based initiatives he has been involved with.

Just this year, the redevelopment project for Road 38 was approved for federal and provincial funding. This is a project that Bill MacDonald has worked on throughout his tenure as mayor.

“Leona Dombrowsky wondered what I would be calling her about after Road 38 was approved; well she’s going to hear from me about Hwy. 7. It’s been from both ends right to the edge of our township, and we need to get that road fixed in Central Frontenac,” MacDonald said in an interview with the News last week.

Janet Gutowski announced her intention to seek the mayor’s post last November, and submitted the nomination papers in January of this year. She cites a desire for more community involvement in township matters and in economic development, a cause she has championed for three years as councillor.

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