North_Frontenac_Council
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Feature Article - June 21, 2007North Frontenac Council – June 14, 2007
by Jeff Green
Pioneer Museum – Marg Axford of the Cloyne and District Historical Society made what has become an annual visit to update council on the museum’s progress and invite councillors to attend the opening day of the museum on June 23rd.
Mayor Maguire confirmed that council would be donating $500 towards the museum this year. Marg Axford thanked council, and talked about the museum’s need for space.
“We are probably going to be looking towards building what people call a drive shed in the next couple of years,” she said.
As well, the popular local historical book, Unto These Hills, published in 1978, is out of print for the third time, and the museum is planning to put out a new edition. “Any book that reaches its fourth edition is something of a Canadian best seller,” Axford said.
More on Pine Lake – Deputy Mayor Jim Beam asked that an agenda item on revisiting council’s resolution not to support a grant application from the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFNA) be brought forward. The application was aimed at furthering their construction and programming plans at the Pine Lake boat launch. The resolution withholding support had been passed in early May, with councilors Olmstead, Cole, Watkins, and deputy Mayor Beam supporting it.
“I was asked to bring this forward,” said Beam.
“Have you reconsidered your position?” Mayor Maguire asked Jim Beam.
“No,” Beam replied.
Maguire then asked the three councilors who had supported the motion whether they had reconsidered.
They all said no.
“Why would you bring this to the table if no one has changed their position? This is a total waste of council’s time,” Maguire said.
“I was asked by a resident to bring it forward and I brought it forward,” Beam replied.
“We don’t bring matters back because someone who disagrees with council’s decision asks us to unless we have a reason to. This is just rubbing salt in the wounds that are already there, and wasting council’s time,” Maguire said.
Later in the meeting, Maguire told council that he received a call earlier that day from Ministry of Natural Resources representatives from Bancroft informing him that the Environmental Assessment completed by the AAFNA in regards to development of Pow Wow grounds, the building of an arbour, and a parking lot on the site on the south side of Ardoch Road satisfies the MNR’s concerns. A letter of approval for that portion for the project is forthcoming from the MNR. The AAFNA has made it known they are planning to complete this work this summer, in time for their Pow Wow on Labour Day Weekend.
As well the MNR has undertaken their own Environmental Assessment concerning building a community centre and a parking lot on the other side of Ardoch Road.
Randy Malcolm invited to visit Council – A letter from Chief Randy Malcolm was passed on to council from the Chief Building Officer.
“I would like to start by saying that I am the elected Chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, ….. not to be confused with a splinter group known as AAFNA that broke away from the main community back in August of 2002,” Malcolm wrote.
In his letter he expressed concerns around the “project at Pine Lake that AAFNA is doing.” Malcolm says he is concerned about the implications of AAFNA not applying for permits. “This situation has gotten so bad over the last few months that our community is in the process of changing our name so as not to be confused with this group,” Malcolm wrote. He wondered why no one has asked members of his community to participate in meetings regarding Pine Lake.
Council decided to invite Randy Malcolm to address a cuncil meeting in the near future.
Fireworks – Council has decided to support the Lions Club fireworks on Mazinaw Lake with a $1,500 donation, and fireworks in Plevna with a $600 donation.
Twin Pines - Frontenac Shores Dave and Pat Storms from the Twin Pines Resort brought council an update on their resort development plans.
The Storms have been working for two years now on a plan to turn their resort into the first fractional ownership resort in eastern Ontario.
They plan to build up to 34 luxury log cabins, replacing trailer sites and existing cottages, and then sell five-week packages in the new cabins.
The development is split into two parts, one called Frontenac Shores, and the other Twin Pines.
After two years of planning, and numerous back and forth negotiations with the township, Dave and Pat Storms informed council that at a recent meeting with township staff, it was agreed that the development will commence on the Twin Pines portion, and a Site plan agreement should be ready for council’s approval by August 16, allowing the Storms to begin construction later this summer.
A demonstration cabin has already been built, and deputy Mayor Beam was scheduled to represent council at a ribbon cutting on June 16, since Mayor Maguire had to fulfill his duties as Frontenac County Warden that day.
Subsequent to the council meeting, Mayor Maguire sent a letter expressing his support for the project, and offering council’s support.
Central _Frontenac_Council_June 11
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Feature Article - June 14, 2007Central Frontenac CouncilUn-assumed road maintenance back on the back burner
by Jeff Green
Michael Wise and other Kennebec Lake residents living on the Blue Heron Ridge and Thrush Trail, made their third or fourth appearance before Council within the past year. The have been asking that Council move forward in consideration of providing partial support for the maintenance of their road, and other similar roads in the township, whose residents provide large amounts of tax dollars but must pay for their own road maintenance.
Council has never indicated if it is interested in putting any money into these roads.
Instead, as Councillor John Purdon did on this occasion, they have stuck to questions about the overall implications of that kind of funding.
“Do we know how many un-assumed roads there are?” Purdon asked.
Michael Wise has met with Chris Matheson of the township since appearing before council back in March, and found “there is no definitive answer to that question based on the [townships] database.”
“Are there other townships that do this?” Purdon asked.
Wise said there are three or four that he is aware of.
“I think its essential that we have more information. We need to know exactly what we are doing here,” said Councillor Gary Smith.
Although the delegation has provided information in the past, much of that information was presented to the previous Council, and the first time Councillors, of which there are 5, are not familiar with it.
“I think we need to bring back all of the information, and we need to produce a list of all the roads in the township that would have to be involved,” said Mayor Janet Gutowski. “I know you gentlemen have been here before, but we will get to an answer for you eventually, even if it is not the one you are seeking.”
Council passed a motion asking staff to produce a list of un-assumed roads
Insurance for ATV Event –
Joe Dupuis from the Hinchinbrooke Rec. Committee appeared before Council asking for their endorsement of a family fun day at the Parham Fairgrounds that is slated for July 28.
“We are planning to have a petting zoo, karate demonstrations, and many other events throughout the day. After all the events are over, at 4:00 pm, we have been working with the Frontenac ATV Club on an obstacle course event.
It is designed to be a slow speed event, emphasising driving skills, balance, etc., and the Atv Club is very keen on this and have run these kinds of events in the past,” Dupuis said. “I have been emailing back and forth with [township treasurer] Judy Gray about this and answering questions from the township’s insurer, but every time I answer a bunch of questions they come back with more questions, so I thought it was time to come to Council because we need to get final approval in order to move forward here.”
“I support this. If we listened to our insurance company, we would never do anything. They were against the Sno-Drags a few years ago, and we went and did it anyway,” said Councilor Frances Smith.
“Is the ATV club getting insurance?” asked Councilor Purdon.
“As a member of the Ontario ATV Assocation, they have a certain amount of insurance, but the township needs to be covered. The townships’ lawyer is happy with the waiver the ATV club has prepared for participants, and the insurance company has not said no, it just keeps asking further questions.
Council passed a motion endorsing the Family Fun Day and ATV event on July 28th.
Oyez! Oyez! – Paddy O’Connor was the only applicant for the position of Town Crier. He cried out his application for the benefit of Council
“A pleasure to confront you all, here in the Mountain Grove Community Hall.
A happy occasion for one of us, while others despair and envy with lust.
We live in a county with beauty galore, to share with our neighbours who wish to explore.
Now to quote and old farmer who cries a lot, from his humble abode near Lake Sharbot.
Our land is precious and so are our lakes, let’s honour our good fortune and do what it takes.
The Town Crier may look a tiny bit odd, but deep in his heart he is close to a god. He spreads the word, and makes people merry, who better than I, even though I’m a bit hairy.
God bless this wonderful country, Canada”
Notwithstanding his application, O’Connor was appointed to the job by a unanimous vote of Council.
Truck tender – Tenders were received for the purchase of a tandem truck and plow equipment. Three contractors bid on the Cab and Chassis portion of the tender. The lowest bid was from Edwards Ford Sales, $102,589.74 (taxes in) for a Sterling truck. Two other bidders were $7,000 and $9,000 higher for International trucks.
“Sterling seems to be working hard to get into the market,” said Councilor Jeff Matson.
The township already owns three Sterling trucks.
Council accepted the staff recommendation to purchase the truck from Edwards Ford, and Plow equipment from Champion, of Carleton Place, for $80,370 (taxes in).
The overall cost of $182,959.74 was well under the $200,000 budgeted for the purchases.
Building boom? not quite - A report from Ian Trickett shows construction projects valued at $3,717,000 have been commenced so far this year. The compares favourably to the $2,202,00 at the same time last year and $3,325,000 in 2005. This total comes from 54 permits in 2007, which is less than the 58 at the same time last year and, and a whopping 84 at the same point in 2005.
So, why the high total construction value? More than 1/3 of the total in 2007 comes from a single project, the Medical Centre upgrade, valued at $1,200,000, which is being undertaken by the township itself. Without that project, construction in 2007 would be marginally lower than 2006 and substantially lower than 2005, which was a boom year.
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Feature Article - June 14, 2007CF Council rejects portable bleachers for now
by Jeff Green .
In response to complaints about the state of the bleachers at the Sharbot Lake Ball field, a staff report recommended that Central Frontenac Council purchase four pre-fabricated 50-seat aluminum bleacher units.
The units are portable, and at this week’s council meeting, Mayor Gutowski said they could “be moved to Sharbot Lake beach for Canada Day, or to Parham for the fair, or other events.”
Councillor Philip Smith (Hinchinbrooke) said, “The bleachers at the ball field in Parham are in just as bad shape as those in Sharbot Lake, so why do we so suddenly have to do this?”
Councillor Bob Harvey (Oso) said, “The men’s ball team came to council last year with a proposal to build new bleachers themselves, but we didn‘t let them do it because of liability. So, we knew about this problem. It isn’t a sudden thing.”
Other councillors raised a concern that the portable bleachers could be too portable, and might be stolen. “I don’t see a concensus emerging on this,” said Mayor Gutowski, and the proposal was sent back to staff or further clarification.
In the meantime, council accepted a proposal from Northern Connections to demolish and remove the existing bleachers at the Sharbot Lake field as part of one of their training programs. The demolition is scheduled for this week.
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Feature Article - June 14, 2007Central Frontenac goes without public works manager
After undergoing a hiring procedure, conducting interviews and considering several candidates, Central Frontenac Council decided not to hire a public works manager after all.
The position has been vacant since Bill Nicol resigned from the job back in early February. “We interviewed some very good candidates, candidates with strengths in various areas, but in the end we never found a single candidate that we were comfortable with to encompass the entirety of the job we were trying to fill,” said Mayor Janet Gutowski after the decision was taken.
“The township will be undergoing an organizational review,” Gutowski added, “and we thought it was a good idea to wait until that review is completed in any event, when we should know in more detail what kinds of skills we need in a public works manager.”
Council has decided to maintain the status quo for the time being, with existing staff member Steve Reynolds providing leadership in the area of road maintenance and construction, and Bryon Dawn, a part-time consultant hired earlier this winter, continuing on providing advice regarding construction matters. Both men will report to acting Chief Administrative Officer John Duchene.
The team of Reynolds and Dawn were front and centre at council in late May, as the bearers of the news that the township’s road construction budget did not jive with cost estimates they came up with when looking closely at the work that will be required to complete the projects Other Stories this Week View RSS feedIntegrate_this
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Feature Article - June 14, 2007Integrate this: film night about Canada/Us integration
Groups like the Council of Canadians have been sounding the alarm bells in recent times over a series of initiatives and high level meetings between Canadian, US, and Mexican Officials, which are aimed at building the NAFTA trade agreement into a so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership.
According to Michelle Dorey of the Kingston Chapter of the Council of Canadians, border security measures, for example, that are coming into force are as much about access to oil and water resources in borderless North American markets as they are about anti-terrorism.
Next Wednesday (June 20) in Kingston, at The Screening Room, 120 Princess Street, the Council of Canadians will be showing the movie “Hoodwinked: the Myth of Free Trade”, a review of the effects of free trade featuring David Orchard, Rt. Hon. John Turner, Stephen Clarkson, Shadia Drury, Peter Urmetzser, and Jim Stanford. There will also be a talk and question session. The cost is $8 and the event starts at 7:00 pm Other Stories this Week View RSS feedAddington_Hidhlands
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Feature Article - June 21, 2007AH Council refuses to reconsider Denbigh dump closure
by Jule Koch Brison
Paul Isaacs appeared before council to ask them to reconsider the temporary closing of the Denbigh dump. Isaacs said, “I’ve been pondering the closure and couldn’t understand why… there must have been some threats, some kind of bureaucratic blackmail. There is nothing positive about closing the site…For the community it is an outright hardship.” Isaacs asked Reeve Henry Hogg to poll the council to bring forward a motion for reconsideration.
In reply, Hogg pointed out that the closure is temporary and that council has already applied for a certificate of approval to expand the site. Hogg then asked the four councilors if anyone wanted to bring forward a motion for reconsideration. No one responded. He asked twice more but still there was no response and so Paul Isaacs’ request was denied.
- The McGuinty government announced on June 6 that it is accepting applications for Rural Connections, a $10 million program aimed at bringing high-speed internet to rural municipalities. However, resident Ian Brummell attended a meeting and said that there was no hope for Addington Highlands to get in on the program as it is for municipalities with much more advanced projects.
The township received two bids for rockblasting and removal on the Hughes Landing/Skootamatta Lake Road, one for $1035/hr, and one for $884/hr from Danford Construction. Council accepted the lower quote.
- Council accepted a quote of $2073.89 from Quinte Eco for replacing two groundwater wells at the Kaladar dump that have been destroyed, probably by bears. Councilor Helen Yanch asked if the township’s insurance would cover the wells, but Township Clerk Jack Pauhl didn’t think so, as the destruction was not an accident, and also, the replacement cost from Quinte Eco is less than the deductible.
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Feature Article - June 7, 2007Split depens on North Frontenac Council: Beam, Cole, Watkins and Olmstead, the Four Amigos, control votes
by Jeff Green
After winning a convincing victory in last fall’s municipal election against the two sitting councillors who had been the most critical of the way he ran council, and then taking on the mantle of Frontenac County Warden, North Frontenac Mayor Ron Maguire might have thought his influence on North Frontenac Council would be on the rise right about now.
It hasn’t worked out quite that way.
The first vote taken by the new council seems to have been a harbinger of things to come. Rookie Councilor Jim Beam in a 4-3 vote defeated incumbent Councilor Fred Perry for the Deputy Mayor position in a 4-3 vote.
The four new members of Council: Wayne Cole, Lonnie Watkins, Bob Olmstead, and Jim Beam, have flexed their majority muscles several times over the past few months on other, more substantial, issues.
Twice, those same four council members have thwarted Maguire’s intentions towards Pine Lake, where the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation has been developing a site on Crown land for the past year.
The first time was in February, when Councilor Cole proposed setting up a meeting with all levels of government over the development, a move that Maguire argued would undermine the interventions he had undertaken with Ardoch Algonquin and Ministry of Natural Resources officials.
It happened again a few weeks ago, when the Ardoch Algonquins proposed that council join with them in applying for a grant from a provincial rural economic development program. After debating the proposal for over an hour in an in camera session, it was defeated by that familiar 4-3 margin.
The past week, the same four councilors, who represent Wards 2 and 3, had an impact on the nuts and bolts of township operations, when they refused to endorse the purchase of a tandem truck as proposed by the township’s Public Works Manager John Ibey.
The purchase had been approved in this year’s budget and came in at $191,715, less than the $200,000 budgeted.
In a written report describing the process he used in obtaining pricing for the trucks, Ibey said “proceeding through RFP’s [Request for Proposals] with these specific dealers has resulted in the dealers obtaining pricing concessions from the manufacturers and the township has received excellent pricing on trucks for this purchase as well as past purchases from these dealers.”
However, Deputy Mayor Beam took exception to the fact that the two quotes Ibey presented to council were for trucks made by two different manufacturers.
“I would like to compare apples to apples. If we are going to buy a Sterling truck, I want to see it compared to another Sterling truck, not just an International truck,” said Deputy Mayor Jim Beam in response to Ibey’s recommendation.
Ibey pointed out that truck dealers generally keep to their own territory and are reluctant to compete with dealers handling the products from the same manufacturer in neighbouring territories, but the four councilors would not be swayed.
“When I’ve been talking to people around the township, they all say that we should be putting things out to tender,” said Councilor Watkins.
“What would the impact of re-tendering have on our delivery date for the truck?” asked Councilor Fred Perry.
“It generally takes 10 weeks for a truck like this to be built and equipped,” Ibey responded, “so if it takes a month or six weeks to tender, that would put us back that much time.”
The cost of advertising the tender in some of the larger regional newspapers, such as the Whig Standard and the Ottawa Citizen, was raised as an issue, and Township Clerk-Planner Brenda DeFosse said her understanding was that the cost would be in the range of $2,000, which would have to be included in the budget for the truck purchase.
After council decided to put the purchase out to public tender, Councillor Perry took the four rookie councilors to task, saying “you should realise that you have undermined the public works manager here.”
Councilor Wayne Cole denied this, saying, “Nobody is questioning John Ibey’s competence. We just want to get different prices for the same truck.”
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Feature Article - 31, 2007K&Pto become link to Trans-Canada Trail
by Wilma Kenny
K&P to become link to Trans-Canada Trail: In a close vote, Council agreed to proceed with the purchase from Bell Canada of the former K&P rail line through Portland and Bedford districts. The land will be turned over to the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority for development as part of the Trans-Canada Trail system. CAO Burns pointed out that this approach to the Trans-Canada would be a major achievement for future economic development in the township. The purchase will be paid, not by township recreational reserves as originally proposed, but by a Rural Infrastructure grant to Frontenac County of $289,000. This grant will cover costs of land acquisition, surveying, bridge construction and trail development. As well the township will acquire lands in Verona and Harrowsmith not required for the trail, which may have potential for road development or other township uses. Councilor Fillion of Storrington district scoffed at the suggestion that there would be any economic benefit in having the trans-Canada trail through the township. "Not ten people have used that trail (the portion near his residence) in the past five years. Are we catering to a special interest group?" Both Portland and Storrington Councilors voted against the motion.
Omaha Orange Trucks
Council revisited the ever-popular question of township vehicle colour, voting to have all trucks, large and small, the same colour. Public works Manager Bill Blum had noted that this increased both the cost and wait time for delivery of new trucks, and suggested some more common colour be chosen. However, consistency, distinctiveness and Omaha Orange won everyone’s vote.
Project End Zone
Council agreed to provide five-year bridge financing of up to $490,500 to North Frontenac Arena for their renovations and upgrading.
Powerboat Races on Sydenham (Lake) Reservoir... will not be taking place this year, due to lack of local interest or sponsorship.
Summer Meetings
Scheduled Council meetings for the summer will be July 3rd and August 7th.
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Feature Article - June 7, 2007Not just a fundraiser: the Relay for Life in Parham
by Jeff Green
The
first of what is to be an annual event at Prince Charles Public School
went off without a hitch last Friday Night as Verona area residents
flocked to the school to see student performers and adult bands for a
bbq, dance, and silent auction.
School Council President Nicki Gowdy was pleased with the outcome of he event.
“There were a lot of people whose kids are 23 or 24 now, that came out to the school for the first time in years. That was the kind of reaction we wanted. The school is central to the community, and we wanted to celebrate that,” she said. Other Stories this Week View RSS feedNf_council
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Feature Article - 31, 2007NorthFrontenac CouncilReport
by Jeff Green
MURAL PROPOSED FOR SNOW ROAD FIRE HALL Rodger MacMunn brought his dream of bringing murals to the locations of former train stations of the K&P rail line to North Frontenac Council last week.
MacMunn has spearheaded several murals in Central Frontenac over the last couple of years, including two for Sharbot Lake, one at Good’s Store in Parham and one in the Piccadilly area. He outlined his overall goals for the project in a written submission, entitled “The Dream”.
In it, MacMunn talks about plans to put up murals along the K&P line from Kingston northwards, making up a self-guided driving tour of the K&P.
“There’s a wonderful wall [on the new fire hall] just waiting for a mural,” McMunn wrote. “Snow Road was, for a time, the biggest shipping point for maple syrup in the Dominion of Canada. As well, there is a spot for smaller murals, perhaps a replicated poster from yesteryear. Since this would be the end of the tour, there needs to be more than one mural here. Just north of Snow Road, the K&P entered Lanark County; it becomes difficult to follow on township roads, and our road tour ends.”
In presenting a maquette of the proposed design of the Snow Road mural, Rodger MacMunn pointed out that all the murals that have been produced thus far have been done with fundraised dollars. “No tax dollars have gone into this so far, and I don’t suppose any should. If North Frontenac would like to take this on, it means taking on fundraising, or seeking grants.”
He estimated the cost of the project at $28,000.
Later in the meeting, the township’s recreation co-ordinator, Roger Miller, sought direction from council on whether to pursue a Trillium grant, as the next deadline, July 1, is approaching. Council decided that Milller should shop the idea of a mural project to the Trillium staff in order to determine if applying for a grant this time around is a viable option.
Miller will report back to council.
SKOOTAMATTA LAKE ROAD A letter came from Addington Highlands (AH) Reeve Henry Hogg regarding the Skootamatta Road upgrade project, for which AH has recently received a substantial grant.
Given that the road in question is a boundary road, Hogg’s letter said AH is soliciting “your municipality’s input with respect to the reconstruction project.” The letter concluded by asking if North Frontenac was willing to “have a joint meeting to discuss any aspect of the project.”
Interpreting the letter as an invitation to invest money into the project, Mayor Maguire said, “We don’t have anything budgeted for this.” Public Works manager John Ibey pointed out that North Frontenac “spent $15,000 to reconstruct what we call Hill 19 on that road.”
Although council expressed reluctance to be involved in the road project, the idea of a joint meeting with AH Council was well received and staff was directed to contact AH staff in order to set one up.
ROAD REQUESTS - Residents who live off of Helen Lane on Big Gull Lake, and Hydro Lane into Mosque Lake Road both sent letters to council asking for road maintenance on their roads. In both cases the roads are on Crown land, and are not part of the township’s normal road maintenance schedule.
Helen Lane, which serves 11 cottagers near the Holiday Haven Resort, is covered by a land use permit between the residents and the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Keith Rowe, the so-called road manager for Helen Lane, requested that the township do some grading and remove some rock in order to improve the road.
In response, Mayor Ron Maguire pointed out that the township does not have responsibility over Helen Lane, which is on Crown land.
“We have a land use permit for the boat launch at the end of the road,” said Councilor Wayne Cole.
“But not for the road,” said Maguire.
It turns out that the township is responsible for the maintenance of 21 boat launches on Crown land through land use permits, but not the roads that lead into the boat launches. “If we do work on this road, we’ll have to do work on the other 20,” Maguire said.
The residents who live on Hydro Lane, on Mosque Lake, were living on a road that was nominally maintained under the township’s Crown land Stewardship Program - that is, until the road was removed from the program this past winter. Recreation Co-ordinator Roger Miller explained that it was determined that access to the lake and an adjacent lake did not require this road be maintained and it was dropped from the program.
Ruth Weindorff, a resident of Hydro Lane who was in attendance, said she had been told by an MNR official that the residents who live on the road should get together and pay for maintenance. “We don’t live on a private road,” Weindorf said, “ and we don’t have a land use permit for the road. It is the MNR’s road to maintain, and the township shouldn’t walk away from their own land use permit and leave us with no maintenance.”
Council made no commitments to the requests.
ROAD CONSTRUCTION BUDGET Details concerning how the $200,000 road construction budget will be spent were released.
Paving was proposed for 2.2 kilometres on the Matawatchan Road, 2.7 km on Kashwakamak Lake Road, 1km on Myers Cave Road, 1 km on Head Road, 4km on Ardoch Road, 2 km on Mountain Road, 1.8 km. on Arcol Road, and 1km on Smith Road. Paving costs were estimated at $10,000 per kilometre
In other road construction work: $6,500 in repairs were proposed on the Ardoch Road,;$4,500 for ditching, breaking rock, and gravel on the Shabomeka Road; $17,000 for ditching and gravel on the River Road; $5,000 for ditching and realignment on Whites Road; $2,000 for repairs to the Mountain Road; and $5,000 for ditching and gravel on the Arcol Road.
Council accepted the proposed projects.
MINISTRY WARNS AGAINST COMMERCIAL PERMIT HOLIDAY In response to a request from Steve Smart of Smart’s Marina, township staff investigated the idea of freezing property assessment for a period of time and setting up a building permit holiday for commercial enterprises that want to renovate and expand their operations.
As the mayor had expected, freezing property assessments is not within the jurisdiction of the township since assessments are determined by an outside corporation.
Clerk/Planner Brenda DeFosse said that she had contacted the Ministry of Municpal Affairs and Housing who told her they “did not recommend waiving building fees for one select classification of property, due to the fact that it is not supported by the Municipal Act, and that legal advice should be sought if being seriously considered.
“In fact, they warned us against it,” DeFosse added.
Council decided not to make any changes to their current policies.
“We still need to find some way to encourage commercial expansion,” lamented Mayor Maguire, “we can’t maintain this township on the backs of residential ratepayers forever.”
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