North Frontenac Opts Out Of Municipal Services Corporation

Jeff Green | Aug 17, 2022

North Frontenac will not be buying in to the Frontenac County Municipal Services Corporation. When the vote came up at the regular Council meeting of the township on Friday, August 12, the 6 member council was split down the middle, and a tie vote is a losing vote in Ontario municipalities.

Councillors John Inglis, Fred Fowler and Wayne Good voted in favour of the proposal, arguing that is offered the possibility of more development opportunities within the township, particularly in the hamlets of Plevna and Cloyne.

However, Councillors Gerry Martin, Vernon Hermer voted against the proposal, which carried a $97,000, the township share of start up costs for the corporation.

Because Councillor Fred Perry died earlier this summer and council chose not to replace him because a municipal election is coming this October, there was only on person left to vote, Mayor Higgins.

“I had to pause before casting my vote,” Higgins said when contacted early this week from the annual AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) conference in Ottawa, “I was kind of hesitant. I wanted to be a family member of Frontenac County. I wanted to vote in favour because I support the idea of communal servicing as a way of promoting development, but I my head told me this proposal did not add up for me, and you can’t vote on feelings.”

Higgins added that he did not think it was very likely that communal servicing would be relevant to North Frontenac.

“The only place I could see it happening would have been at Ardoch Lake, but that subdivision has already been created with traditional one hectare lots. We have so much Crown Land. This is really more for the other townships.”

If North Frontenac had opted in to the proposal, the township would have paid just over $97,000 in up front money to set up the corporation and would have been an owner of the corporation, with the Mayor sitting as a board member.

Now that it has voted no, the townships who opt in will have to cover the extra cost. The corporation will cost $700,000 to set up and the cost has been allocated to member municipalities on the basis of property assessment values relative to each other.

The municipal services proposal is the culmination of several years of work by the Frontenac County Planning Department, led by Director of Planning, Joe Gallivan.

As part of its goal of promoting more dense development in specific locations, Gallivan has been working to create more financially viable conditions for developers to create housing and commercial developments with urban style water and sewer services/

This process culminated in July of this year, when Frontenac County Council approved the business case for the establishment of a Municipal Services Corporation (MSC) to operate in Frontenac County. Once established, the MSC will enable local municipalities who buy in to the corporation, to be able to approve planning applications for developments with water and sewer systems without requiring a surety equal to the replacement value of the systems that are being installed. The MSC will assume that liability, and will also be able to take over and manage the water systems for the developer once they are completed and operated for a set period of time.

“I felt that the consultants who prepared the business case did not adequately consider a non-municipal, or private sector, services model,” Higgins said this week, reiterating a position he expressed earlier this year at Frontenac County Council meetings. He also expressed his concerns in an email to Gallivan himself, leading to Higgin’s being censured by the Frontenac County Integrity Commissioner for inappropriate communications to a county staff member.

North Frontenac was the first to consider the matter. While all of the other three Frontenac Townships have held meetings since the July 18 Frontenac County meeting when the business case was accepted, it was not on the agenda.

The county set an August 18 deadline for a response from the townships, which will need to be extended as none of the townships have meetings scheduled before that date.

All three have developments in their sites which would be more attractive under if a Municipal Services Corporation were in place.

Frontenac Islands recently extended the boundaries of Marysville on Wolfe Islands to encourage growth in hamlet. South Frontenac is working on a senior’s housing development in Verona, and Central Frontenac is working on a senior’s housing development at the former Sharbot Lake Public School site that was the subject of a pilot study into the possibilities offered if an MSC were in place.

Other items at North Frontenac Council

Fire Department

Members of the Fire department received recognition for exemplary service.

Land Acknowledgement – Council asked staff to consult with The Shabot Obaadjiwan, Snimikobe and Ardoch Algonquin First Nations to develop a land acknowledgement statement for the township to use at meetings and ceremonial events.

First meeting at the helm

The meeting was the first one to be held under the supervision of Clerk Administrator Cory Klatt, after the retirement of Cheryl Robson last month.