The trouble with Yurts

May 03, 2017

At a meeting in Harlowe, Meredith Rush-Inglis and Laura Williams, residents of North Frontenac, made a presentation to Council on Mongolian yurts and asked for an exemption from a $300 penalty they were charged for building without a permit.

A yurt is a domed structure originally used in Mongolia by herders who required a portable structure they could pack up easily as the herd moved throughout the year.

Rush-Inglis and Williams had erected a yurt on their property without obtaining a building permit from the Municipality and they were charged a $300 administration fee for failing to obtain a permit before assembling the structure. Rush-Inglis and Williams were asking Council for an exemption from the penalty charge as well as relief from the building permit fee of $1875, which they suggested was high based on the usage of the structure. Their yurt is intended to be used as sleeping accommodations for guests on their property during the warmer months and not as a residence.

Scott Richardson, the Building Inspector, told Rush-Inglis and Williams that their structure required a seasonal dwelling permit and a building engineer's approval of the substructure that the yurt sits on.

“The deck needs to be constructed to a certain standard,” Councillor Gerry Martin suggested.

“The pricing seems out of line,” Mayor Ron Higgins said.

Rush-Inglis and Williams who applied for a building permit in January 2017 and found that the costs of an engineer's approval might be even higher than the permit costs are suggesting to Council a new building category based on the yurt's unique features in hopes of encouraging a safe and affordable housing option in North Frontenac.

This yurt that they constructed cost approximately $8000 and was setup on a platform with an insulated floor.

“I don't have enough information to make an educated decision,” Mayor Higgins said. “I'd like to defer it until we have an admin report from the Chief Building Official (Jeremy Neven).”

Council voted in favour of deferring the decision.

Building Permits Drop In March
Only 3 building permits were issued in North Frontenac during the month of March compared to 12 at that time last year.

These permits totalled just under $5,000 compared to over $25,000 in March of 2016.

This is the lowest amount of permits granted in the last 5 years.

Head Road Bridge Repair Balloons in Price
The Head Road Bridge repair has been awarded to Baltimore Development and Services Inc. at  $447,185.34, which is $112,185.34 over the budget originally set out.

The bridge rehabilitation project was originally estimated, in 2014, by D.M. Wills Associates, a project management firm, to cost the Township $335,000.

D.M. Wills Associates claims increased material supply costs are to blame and probably attributed to the isolated work location.

All ten bids North Frontenac received for the project were over budget.

Inglis Wants a More Creative Waste Solution
Council voted against hiring Cambium, the current Waste Management Consultant for North, South, and Central Frontenac, to conduct a study of potential, regional-wide, waste diversion tactics.

The study, estimated to cost just over $100,000, would be focused on a review of the current blue box program as well as waste audits and current waste management practices and would build a plan to help the Townships reach their waste diversion goals.

“Our strategy was to look at the County as a whole,” Jim Phillips, the Public Works Manager, said. “We're all doing the same thing but a bit differently.”

“Is there a better way to do it?” Phillips asked. “Is there a larger regional approach?”

“Recycling is wonderful but it doesn't deal with the complete waste stream” Councillor John Inglis said. “The County put $100,000 aside to deal with the post-landfill world in, what I thought, were going to be bold and creative ways.”

“I really can't see why we need to spend $100,000 on a consultant to do it,” Inglis said. “It shouldn't be too hard to co-ordinate with the other 3 townships to do that.”

“I blame the CAO,” Inglis said.  “It's kind of scary to look at alternative and new ideas and I think Kelly (Pender) is scared to do it.”

There is some funding available to cover the costs of the project but “in order to apply it has to be more focused on the optimization of the blue box program,” Phillips said.

“From our point of view $100,000 sounds like a lot,” Mayor Higgins said.