North Frontenac Council - May 15/25

Jeff Green | May 21, 2025

Laura Logan, President of the Shabomeka Lake Association (SLA), came to Council to discuss issues of concern regarding the boat launch and landing area on the lake.

She said that, of the 100 cottages/houses on the lake, 50 use the boat launch to access their water access property. Day visitors to the lake use the boat launch as well.

As part of her presentation, she made a proposal for clean-up of the area. There are many items at the boat launch, including boats and trailers, many that have been there for years.

She suggested that the township or the SLA tag the items in the spring, and that SLA will communicate with their members to have them identify items that belong to them, and arrange to remove them. For items that are not claimed, she suggested they be removed, and either sold or off-sold for scrap, as most of the items are metal.

There are both that have been in place for years and are mostly buried at this point.

The second request was for two additional lights at the boat launch for safety at night. There is a light at the boat launch but none in the area where vehicles are parked.

The SLA has purchased solar powered lights and is willing to do all the installation and handle all the costs.

They would like a sign to be put up at the boat launch to say “15 minutes usage for loading and unloading” to discourage people from setting up picnic tables and spending the day in the area.

The presentation was received by Council, and the proposals will be brought to the next meeting of council, with the benefit of a staff report regarding the implications of moving forward with them.

Community Grants

In response to an annual process, Council received applications for 8,317.28 from 9 community groups for the program, which was approved by Council, with a budget of $9,000 this year.

Seven of the groups requested the maximum individual allocation of $1,000 for a variety of initiatives. These include: Ompah/Plevna parade , Cloyne and District Historical Society, Clar-mil Volunteers, Lions Club of Land O’Lakes, North Addington Education Centre, Ompah Community Association, and North Frontenac Backroad Studio Tour. The other two groups asked for less.

The Clarendon Central School Parent Council asked for $950 toward the purchase of items for the school kitchen, and the Cloyne Recreational Volleyball program requested $367.28 for rental and insurance coverage in the NAEC gym. Council
did not debate any of these requests.

They did talk about a late request from the North Frontenac Amateur Astronomy Club to cover onsite security costs and advertising costs for a weekend event they are planning this summer. The request was for $1,000 dollars.

Staff included the request for Council’s
consideration, saying Council could refuse the request because it missed the deadline, could grant the remaining $682.72 in the 2025 budget, or the entire
$1,000 – putting the program $300+ over budget.

Councillor Hurtl said there is a deadline for a reason, and asked how late the astronomy club was, which turned out to be one day.

Councillor Fowler proposed to go ahead with the grant for $1,000, in addition to the rest of the list.

Councillor Good said that the night skies initiative and the observation pad in the township has never resulted in any appreciable economic development in the township, a position supported by Councillor Hermer.

Councillors Fowler and Regent said the township supports other initiatives, including Summer and Winterfest and should support this group as well, a position reiterated by Mayor Lichty.

The full allocation, accepting all applications before Council, and the late application by the astronomy club was approved in a 4-2 vote.

“I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again now,” said Wayne Good, “they come in the dark, they leave in the dark and they don’t leave any money here.”

$20,000 stormwater study on Backshot Lake Road

Council approved a $20,000 agreement with Greer Galloway to “to inspect the stormwater infrastructure, identify needs / costing, and provide a planning report” in support of a provincial grant application, under the “Health and Safety Water Systems” program from the government of Ontario.

Public Works Manager Darwyn Sproule said that he has applied for this grant for a number of years without success but he is more optimistic this year because the grant’s focus has changed from increasing the potential for new housing, to improving environment and health and safety. This is the first time a study has been required for the grant, and he said the study will be necessary for other grant opportunities, if this one is not successful.

The stormwater system on the road was put in in 1975.

Battery Storage Proposal Coming in June

As part of the presentation of minutes from the Environmental Task Force meeting on April 29, Councillor Huetl, who chairs the task force, said that two battery storage companies, Alectra and Inergex, have expressed interest in bringing a facility to North Frontenac, at the Highway 506 waste site.

He said that the committee has been preparing information about the risks and benefits of this kind of project, and is prepared to post the information on the township website, and elsewhere.

Councillor Huetl said that the companies are planning to make a presentation to Council at the next meeting, on June 12th. He suggested that the information package about the facilities be held back until that meeting, because some of the information that comes forth on June 12, about the specific proposal being made for North Frontenac, may change the information package.

Council accepted Huetl’s recommendation.

Huetl said the proposal will be for a large facility, 14 megawatts. When a proposal was made in South Frontenac last year for battery storage, it came with an ongoing payment to the township. Nonetheless, South Frontenac Council decided they would not become a willing
host for the project, and it did not go forward.

Fees and Charges Bylaw

Council approved an amended “fees and charges” bylaw, updating dozens of fees charged by the township, from waste management fees to dog tags, even photocopies.