The regular meeting convened slightly late, due to a closed session with the Township solicitor, re the Johnston Point developer’s appeal to OMB.

Auditor’s Report

In his spoken report to Council, auditor Howard Allan softened what seemed to be a somewhat critical report, describing most of the issues addressed in detail as ‘housekeeping’.

These included comments about adherence to the township's procurement policy. In two cases, the purchase of gravel and an equipment rental contract, more than $25,000 was spent on an item that was 'sole sourced' and the transactoin was not then recorded in the minutes of a council meeting, which Allan said should always happen in the future. He expressed concern over reconciliation of items such as bag tag sales, building permit and development charges and tonnage charges at landfills.

As well, he pointed to long standing un-funded cost of $471,000 for Sydenham that the township is hoping to cover with future development within the village. Allan recommends that since this will likely not be settled within this term of Council, it should be financed in some way as the township looks at water rates and long term capital plans for the water system.

Allan said that, despite the issues he highlighted, over all 2014 had been a good year for the Township; “We believe the financial management at the township is very good: operations are breaking even and revenues are coming in for capital projects.”

However, the province is introducing a new indicator called ‘asset consumption ratio’ which advises a municipality to be setting aside sufficient capital reserves to be able to comfortably address the accumulated amortization of infrastructure as it ages. South Frontenac’s capital reserves for this purpose presently are almost 9% (slightly lower than the previous three years), while 20% is suggested to be a more appropriate figure.

To address this, Allan recommended drawing up a ten-year financial plan, something the township is much closer to having now than ever before. He praised Treasurer Fragnito and CAO Orr for their excellent work. Mayor Vandewal agreed that the Township “has been very well served by its staff.”

Larcon Rezoning Application

Planner Mills recommended rezoning in the southern edge of Harrowsmith, which would combine two applications dealing with the same property: a lot addition which would enlarge an existing industrial lot where a storage business is located, and a severance to create a residential lot with reduced frontage. Pat LaLonde, a resident who lives across the road from the property in question, expressed concern that the expansion of the industrial property would result in the filling of a drainage ditch, and would lower her property value by introducing storage lockers right across the road from her home.

Mills explained that there was a 20 metre setback from the front property line, and emphasized that the Official Plan encouraged industrial development in hamlet areas.

Later in the meeting, Councillor Revill requested the final reading of the rezoning by-law be deferred until the planner had an opportunity to make recommendations about berms or plantings to shield industrial activities on the property. Mills said he would meet with Ms LaLonde to discuss what combination of set-back and berm might allay some of her concerns. The motion was deferred.

Johnston Point

Councillor Sleeth brought back his notice of motion to have an independent peer review of the environmental study on the Johnson Point subdivision, but asked to remove the requirement that the developer cover the cost of this. At Mayor Vandewal’s suggestion, he replaced it with the requirement that if the cost of the peer review came above $3.000 it should come back to Council for approval. The motion passed.

Councillor Sutherland’s information report about Johnson Point which had been distributed to councillors April 14, was included in the Agenda material, to go on record. It includes a county map that chractersizes the entire bay which is next to Johnston Point as a wetland, and quotes section 5-2-10 from the OP which quite clearly requires a Lake Impact Assessment, and makes no mention of trout lakes.

Light from Communication Towers

Councillor Robinson said he had had complaints from Colebrook Road residents about the bright flashes of light from the new tower on Highway 38. Orr said this was outside Township control: these lights are mandated by the Province for aviation safety.

Death and Taxes

Treasurer Fragnito sought Council’s approval to cover the Cemetery 2013 & 14 deficits of $28,427 from Township’s cemetery lot addition reserves. When asked why cemetery rates could not be raised instead of using taxes to subsidize the cemeteries, CAO Orr said the deficit is as high as it is, because sales of burial plots dropped off when the rates were raised two years ago.

“Eventually, people will have to start purchasing plots again, and the situation will begin to rectify itself,” he said. 

The first burn ban of 2015 was declared by South Frontenac Fire Chief, Rick Cheseborough, late last week, but was lifted after the rains on Monday. Spring burn bans come into place because as the snow recedes, the dead grasses, leaves and other vegetation from the previous year can easily catch fire and spread. Until new growth takes hold, there are considerable fire risks.

Meanwhile, concerns were already being raised about the potential for low water levels for the coming recreation season, but significant rains on Monday have made a difference. According to readings after Monday's rain, Mazinaw Lake, the headwaters of the Mississippi River system, had climbed to within 14 centimetres of normal levels, from 34 centimetres (13 inches) under normal a day earlier. Other lakes further down the watershed are at lower levels relative to normal. Big Gull is 27 centimetres below average. Crotch Lake, which is used as a reservoir lake for the lower lakes in the system, remained 57 centimetres below average levels for this time of year even after the rain.

Meanwhile within the Rideau system, Bobs Lake, which is used as a water source for the Rideau Canal, is 25 centimetres below normal, although it is only 15 centimetres below the target level set by the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority.

Frontenac County is holding meetings at each of the four townships over the spring and summer months. The first of these meetings took place last Wednesday (April 15) at the North Frontenac Council Chamber in the mezzanine of the Plevna Fire Hall.

At the start of the meeting, an in-camera session concerning wages was held, after which in open session, council approved two separate agreements. The first was with CUPE Local 2290. An Interest Arbitration Award report, which is binding on the two parties, settled terms for 2013 and 2014 retroactively. The wage settlements are 1.75% in 2013 and 1.5% for 2014. With the settlement, the parties will be able to begin negotiations for 2015 and beyond.

A negotiated settlement has been reached between the county and CUPE Local 109, which represents the operators of ferry services for Frontenac County. The three-year agreement runs until 2017 and includes wage increases of 1.5% in 2015 and 2016 and 2% in 2017.

No funding for coffee table book on Frontenac County

Orland French and his publishing company, Wallbridge Books of Belleville, produce hard cover books about Eastern Ontario Counties. These include a book on Lennox and Addington that was reviewed in the Frontenac News several years ago, and most recently Wind, Water, Barley and Wine: the Nature of Prince Edward County.

The books include geological and historical information, natural history, aerial photography, and statistical information. They are designed as collectors' items and promotional material for the local counties.

French appeared before Frontenac County Council in March, proposing to produce a book about the County to mark the 150th anniversary. He was seeking a commitment of $70,000, the cost to be split between the county and its four constituent townships.

In return he would produce 2,800 copies for the use of the townships and the county. The books could be sold for $40 to return a profit to the investors in the long run.

The 150th Anniversary Celebration Committee took a look at the proposal and recommended that the county invest.

However, in a staff report, CAO Kelly Pender pointed out that the task of selling the books would be saddled on county staff, who are already busy and would have to take time away from other duties. As well, the potential exists that the selling will not be entirely successful.

His recommendation, which was not taken up by the 150th anniversary committee, was that since “the historical book project as presented by Mr. Orland French requires a prohibitively high initial investment and, given the extremely labour-intensive nature of selling the books, the potential for the County of Frontenac to recover its cost is low, and the project holds relatively low value as a marketing tool for the region, be it resolved that the County of Frontenac not provide financial support for the historical book project as presented by Mr. Orland French.”

Pender also pointed out that the county's procurement policy says that unsolicited proposals for financial investment are not to be considered by the county.

“You can, as a council, suspend your procurement policy and consider this, but that is the policy,” he said.

Councilor John Inglis from North Frontenac said that he thought that, given Mr. French's track record, “there is no problem of credibility. There is certainly room for this. I would propose that we support it to some extent.”

His position was the opposite of Ron Higgins, the Mayor of North Frontenac, who said, “I do not want to support this in any way.”

In the end Higgins' view represented that of the rest of Council, and the proposal to support the book was defeated by a vote of 8-1.

County to look at 68 areas of service delivery with a view towards collaboration

A report from the so-called CAOs group on shared service delivery was presented to Council. The group is made up of the Chief Administrative Officers of the county and its four member townships, who were all on hand at the meeting. Since the meeting took place in North Frontenac, the CAO from Frontenac Islands, Darlene Plumley, had to board a ferry at 6:00 am to make the 10 o'clock start time in Plevna.

The report starts with the premise that two long-held beliefs about the relationship between the townships and the county needs to come to an end.

“Holding to the traditional characterization of upper tiers [counties] as out of touch, or the lower tiers [townships] as not up to the task, only guarantees a limited future for the County,” the report said.

The report identified 68 different items of service delivery, under eight headings: human resources, municipal planning, corporate communications, council co-ordination, finance, economic development, emergency planning, and Information Technology & GIS/mapping.

It suggests that each of the 68 services be analysed according to a matrix where the ease of implementing change is considered as well as the expected cost savings/service improvement. Those areas that are both easy to change and liable to improve service and save money will be pursued first, and others will be pursued later on or left off entirely. While there are a large number of services to be considered, in the short term planning and information technology services are the focus.

“At this time we are looking for support for this process in principle, and we will bring back a further report in the fall," said CAO Pender. “Any item that we identify for change will be brought to council on its own, and the costs and benefits for all involved will be put before Council."

“I think this is definitely a positive venture,” said South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal.

“I certainly welcome this and the role that the CAOs are playing," said South Frontenac Councilor John McDougall.

Parham library branch under siege

The future of the Parham branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library (KFPL) is very much in doubt.

Central Frontenac Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Jim Zimmerman reported to Council on Tuesday, April 14. that he has been contacted by the Limestone District School Board concerning the Parham Library.

“They said that they do not want anything in the way as they try to find a buyer for the Hinchinbrooke school property, so they have offered to sell us the portable where the Parham Library branch is located as long as we move it off the site."

Councilor Jamie Riddell said, “Can we not throw it back at them? My feeling is, we tell them we will move it as soon as they get an offer on the property.”

“They made it quite clear that they have no intention of entertaining something like that,” said Zimmerman. “They want the portable out of there or abandoned by June 1.”

Zimmerman said that he has had a discussion with the executive director of the KFPL, who said that the library has had plans to close the Hinchinbrooke branch dating back a number of years. The township is planning to build a new fire hall in Parham later this year and would like to include a library branch in the new building. Zimmerman indicated that it would be possible to move the portable from its location next to the closed school to a spot nearby, next to the Parham ball field, which has washroom facilities.

“Could we not close the branch temporarily, store the books, and put them in a new branch when the fire hall is built instead of spending thousands to move it?” asked Councilor Bill MacDonald.

Zimmerman indicated that, given that the library board's commitment to the branch is lukewarm at best, closing the branch temporarily may not be a good idea.

“They also said they have no budget for outfitting a branch this year,” Zimmerman said.

Several years ago a consultant's report for the KFPL called for a radical re-thinking of library service in Central and North Frontenac. It called for a 5,000 square foot branch to be built in Sharbot Lake, and the closing of all three other branches in the township.

The report was received but not endorsed by the library board of the day. However it has never completely gone away. Since that time, Central Frontenac Township, which is responsible for the buildings that house library branches within its borders, has indicated repeatedly that they are not inclined to build a large branch in Sharbot Lake, and are committed to keeping all four branches (Arden, Mountain Grove, Parham, and Shabrot Lake) open. In the interim the Library has renovated the inside of the Arden branch, a commitment to its future, but has not done any work on any of the other branches, leaving the future of both the Parham and Mountain Grove branches in doubt.

The KFPL board has also demonstrated its willingness to close branches if it sees that usage is low - even if the host township is opposed to the closure, which is what happened with the Ompah branch in North Frontenac.

As it happens, both of the Frontenac County Citizen representatives to the KFPL board are from Central Frontenac, John Purdon and Anne Peace-Fast. South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal is the Frontenac County Council representative.

It was suggested that the local representatives on the board be brought up to speed about the situation before the KFPL Board meeting, which takes place on April 22. A representative from Central Frontenac may attend as well.

While Council is concerned about what the library board may do, there was outright anger expressed towards the Limestone District School Board.

“It bothers me that we may have to spend $10,000 to move the portable and set it up for six months while the Hinchinbrooke site sits empty. There is no buyer in sight for that property,” said Councilor Brent Cameron.

“The township went out of its way to help the school board build Granite Ridge Education Centre. We even cut the building fees and our building department did everything for them - and this is what we see from them,” said Councilor Jamie Riddell. “I think we should talk to the school board trustee from our area about this.”

The matter was left to township staff to bring back more information about options for moving the portable and keeping the branch open.

Clean Audit

Vicky Leakey from KPMG made her annual visit to Central Frontenac to present the audited financial statements that she has prepared. She brought relatively good news. Thanks to a $1.56 million provincial grant towards reconstruction of the Fifth Lake Road, which joins Central Frontenac and Stone Mills township near Tamworth, the township took in $11 million in 2014.

Meanwhile, expenditures were down marginally and the amount of money in reserve funds was up. The township has about 19% in tax arrears, which is higher than the provincially recommended 15%, but Leakey said that the percentage had been stable at that rate and “given the income levels among residents that number is not a worrisome one. If there was a sudden spike, say to 22%, then I would be more worried,” she said. Reserves are also healthy, she said, giving an overall positive tone to the presentation, which was shorter than in past years.

“I have one question,” said Councilor Bill MacDonald. “Did you do the audit for Mike Duffy?"

“I have to go now,” said Leakey.

Building permit numbers remain up

After the first quarter of 2015, permits for three new residential units have been purchased, up from 0 in 2014 and two in 2013. The total value of construction for 2015 is now at $1.15 million for the year, up from $262,000 last year and $453,000 in 2013.

$3 million tender

Crains' Construction of Maberly has received the largest road construction tender for Central Frontenac since Road 38 was rebuilt in 2004. At a cost of $3,000,829, which was $42,000 under budget, Crains' was the lowest of four bids on the contract to reconstruct Fifth Lake Road.

Consolidated service delivery

Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Jim Zimmerman made a preliminary report on a comprehensive plan that Frontenac County CAO Kelly Pender presented to a meeting of the CAOs from the four Frontenac Townships and himself earlier in the day. The report, which was to be discussed again on Wednesday at a Frontenac County Council meeting in North Frontenac, provided a grading system for consolidating 68 different services offered within the county.

“The system is designed to determine if combining forces to deliver specific services will be beneficial or detrimental,” said Zimmerman.

While many of the items in the report will be looked at over time, Zimmerman thought that the county was in a hurry over the Information Technology and Global Information Systems departments.

“They have pans to hire three people by the end of the year, so we will have to look at that part of the plan pretty soon,” he said.

Delegations to Council
New Leaf Link (NeLL)
Dr Karin Steiner, Executive Director of NeLL, introduced several participants, parents and volunteers from this nonprofit program which provides continuing education, lifeskills and socialization to adults with developmental disabilities. Steiner pointed out that once these young people have graduated from the school system there are no ongoing program resources for them in South Frontenac outside their homes.
Since 2009, NeLL has provided activities and education two days a week, drawing on support from volunteers,
service clubs, individual donors and participant fees. They would like to be able to have sufficient finances to run three days a week for 34 weeks, and have two week-long summer programs.
At Mayor Vandewal’s request, Steiner agreed to provide Council more concrete numbers concerning program costs.
Solar Farm Proposal
Two representatives from SunEdison returned to discuss their intent to submit an RFP application to the provincial government this September. They are proposing a solar project on the Groenewegen property fronting on Florida Road, south of Harrowsmith, and need to be able to show municipal support. Two main concerns of Council are that the public meeting about the project should be widely advertised, should include a take-home information package, and that a reserve fund needs to be established to cover the cost of decommissioning the project after its projected twenty-year lifespan
Perth Road Fire Hall
CEO Orr reported on behalf of Fire Chief Chesebrough about the recent tours of three neighbouring fire halls, and three primary design points related to equipment bays: how many, how long should they be, and should these bays be drive-through? Opinions varied, but there seemed general agreement that two bays should be sufficient. Some said that while drive-through bays might be safest in theory, some of the firehalls they visited were clogging the drive-throughs with storage items.
Councillor Revill spoke of the importance of taking a longer view of the whole Township’s fire system: perhaps plan for one larger central station which would house administration and provide facilities for training of all township firefighters, with two or three mid-sized stations, their locations determined by call-out history, and the rest of the stations could be smaller, with minimal training facilities. He suggested that storage might be provided less expensively by secondary buildings adjacent to the main firehall.
Revill emphasized that immediate needs are not the same as wish lists, and budget restraints combined with “a lot to do ahead of us” mean that reserves would need to be developed to accompany long-range planning. He also strongly recommended engaging an architect to draw up the final plans for the firehalls.
Planner’s Response re Johnson Point
Planner Lindsay Mills’ response to Councillor Sutherland’s ten questions met a lukewarm response from Council. Sutherland said that although an argument could be made to have no development on Johnson Point it would not be reasonable to do so, and was not what the Loughborough Lake Association had asked for.
“It’s better to move on,” he said, adding that there still needed to be an environmental assessment on the neighbouring wetlands, for even though this was not a trout lake, an EA would be a “reasonable and responsible condition”, which would address the importance of preserving water quality and fish habitat. He suggested establishing a ten-meter buffer zone between the lot boundaries and the wetlands and using the lot on the southwest corner as common property with docking facilities for all residents.
Mills had said there already were docks in the wetlands around the bay: Sutherland countered that these docks may have been the result of bad planning decisions, and should not be held up as standards to follow. Mayor Vandewal said that creating the buffer might not be possible in this case, as it would be changing the rules in the middle of the process: however, it might be a good idea going forward. Councillor Mark Schjerning agreed with Sutherland, saying he would like a lake impact assessment, regardless of how that section of the planning act has been interpreted in the past.
Councillor Ron Sleeth said he’d like a legal opinion on the interpretation of that section (5.2.10) of the planning act, and Sutherland asked whether someone from the MOE or MNR could give Council a definition of “protected wetland”.
Mayor Vandewal said the issue would be coming to next week’s Council meeting for decisions.
Trailers (for sale or rent) … again …
The time period for compliance with the prohibition of the use of trailers on private residential property expires on December 31, 2105. This by-law has been haunting Council ever since it was established ten years ago.
Originally intended as a means of addressing the inequality of trailer residents paying no taxes, but using Township services: roads, waste disposal, fire and emergency, etc, it has been dragged out and extended, largely due to the difficulty of enforcement. A lively discussion offered CAO Orr no clear direction: the question of “what next?” will come to Council next week.
Where Would You Like to Live?
How about on a lane called: Abbey Road; Copperhead Road; Coronation St; Lannister; Mockingjay; Pivo; Bacon; Stark; Tamarak (sic); Warp Dr; Weevil; Gator or Bedbug? (I added the last one: has a nice rhythm. W)
These are some of the 127 possibilities that Planner Mills offered Council for consideration and approval. The final list will be provided to residents of newly developed lanes, to expedite the choice of names. The list is intended to be nonoffensive, and should not duplicate those of neighbouring Townships, or reference any living person.

At a recent meeting between South Frontenac OPP, township staff and local reporters, we discussed winter driving in South Frontenac. Constable Roop Sandhu and Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth are working together to try to reduce winter road accidents in South Frontenac. It brought back memories.

I have never forgotten the time my mother was seriously injured in a car accident on an icy road just north of Kingston and the terror of rushing down two flights of stairs in the middle of the night in Toronto to answer a heavy pounding on the door, to meet the uniformed policeman who had come to tell me.

I also remember vividly another time, the sense of a thousand pounds of moving metal out of my control, watching the guard rails loom up first on one side of the road then the other, while time slowed down incredibly during the few actual moments before the car thumped to a stop, safely, in a shallow ditch. Afterward, the adrenaline hit, the disorientation, the shivering, the sheer luck this time.

Those of us who drive, or know people who drive, can tell similar or worse stories. In other words, all of us.

Our local police, emergency rescue staff and volunteers, and road crews are far too often grimly reminded of how an apparently normal situation can snap within seconds into a scene of horror.

The roads crews work hard at keeping our roads safe to drive, and are continuously trying to improve, to respond as quickly and effectively as possible to the results of capricious winter conditions. “We know there are things we could be better at,” says South Frontenac Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth, “and we’re constantly trying to improve.” Segsworth welcomes comments and questions, preferring phone calls to e-mails. (613 376-3090, ext 3322).

The Ontario Municipal Act of 2001 divides roads into five classes: the 400 highways are class 1; Road 38 is class 2; the former county roads are class 3; the rest are classes 4 & 5. This ranking is determined by measuring a combination of posted speed and traffic volume. Details of minimum standards of maintenance are set for each. These standards address things such as monitoring road and weather conditions, snow clearance, ice treatment, potholes, etc. Details are available on the Service Ontario website.

Most times, the S.F. Roads Department exceeds these standards: e.g. according to the legislation, on a class 3 road such as Sydenham Road an icy surface must be treated within 8 hours, and 8 cm/3” of snow should be cleared within 12 hours. For our part, we must be prepared for driving in snowy, icy conditions during weather changes.

“The major cause of all rural Ontario road accidents is speed too fast for the road conditions,” says Roop Sandhu of the South Frontenac Detachment. Sandhu’s three main recommendations are:

1. Drive at a speed appropriate to the road conditions;

2. Have winter tires and good vehicle maintenance (e.g. winter wiper blades, washing fluids topped up);

3. Carry an emergency kit: blanket, flashlight, phone, additional warm clothing, etc.

He reminds us that at 60 km/hr, it takes 20 metres to stop on a dry road, but 70 metres to stop from the same speed on ice: “Adjust your speed, slow down when conditions are poor, leave a greater distance between vehicles.” Sandhu also recommends using full headlights, not just running lights in snowstorms, so your vehicle’s tail lights are visible. “And don’t pass a snow plow. They’re there for a reason.”

It was ten years ago this week that 911 service was introduced in North and Central Frontenac and upgraded in Kingston and South Frontenac, tying civic address numbers to land line phone numbers in all of Frontenac County for seamless dispatch of fire, ambulance and police service throughout the county.

The ceremony marking the launch of the service took place on December 8, 2004 at the North Frontenac Telephone Company office, which had become the central meeting point for the 16 key volunteers, municipal and EMS personnel who had been working on the 911 project, some of them for seven years.

The project was in the early planning stages in the fall of 1997, months before the founding of North and Central Frontenac, and one of the first key pieces of information that was identified was the need for up to date mapping for the new townships.

Marcel Giroux, who came on as chair of the 911 committee at that time, recalls that the only comprehensive mapping that was available then were the Ontario Base Maps. The problem was that those maps had not been updated for Frontenac County for decades.

“The maps were dated from the early 1960s, and were pretty much useless for our purposes,” he said, when interviewed this week. “We pretty much had to start from scratch."

The process suffered a few delays along the way, the first of which was the ice storm that greeted the newly amalgamated townships at the very start of 1998. The politicians and emergency services personnel, who put in countless hours dealing with the ice storm and its aftermath, would undoubtedly have benefited from all the mapping and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) that are available today, which are in many ways an off-shoot of the 911 process. As it was, it was local knowledge and chain saw-wielding road crews and volunteers who were relied upon to keep everyone safe and warm.

Giroux approached the townships in the late spring of 1998 to get them on board for the 911 system.

Two people were sought from each of the seven former townships that made up the two new townships to do the hard work of identifying each of the over 8,000 properties on over 200 public roads and 400 private lanes within the two townships.

The people who took this on were: Dick Hook and Bill Rowsome (Barrie), Dave and Nancy Smith (Clar-Mill) Colonial and Annette St. Pierre (Palmerston/Canonto), Marsden Kirk and Jack Nicolson (Kennebec), Faye Putnam and Elva Price (Olden), Gord Whan and Luc Salvador (Oso), and Lloyd Lee and Dave Hansen (Hinchinbrooke). Gleva Lemke took on the role of secretary of the 911 committee, with Marcel Giroux being the 16th member.

“One of the big jobs for the committee members was to sort out all the roads in their own districts and match them with the maps. There were roads with no names, names with no roads, roads with more than one name, and names that appeared on a number of roads,” said Giroux.

CGIS of Perth was contracted to develop brand new maps for the 911 project, beginning the process that has resulted, 15 years later, in comprehensive paper and electronic mapping covering all corners of Frontenac County. Exact locations of properties and buildings are now just a click away on a computer or smart phone.

The 911 process continued for three years, and by the end of 2001, all properties had been identified and civic addressing was in place. It was time to wait for Bell Canada to do some internal work to prepare for the 911 switch over.

In the meantime, the townships jointly hired Chris Matheson as 911 co-ordinator, in order to bring the project to its fruition and to provide the kind of support that the project would continue to require even after its launch. New properties would need to be added to the data base and the system would need to be upgraded over time. Matheson was later hired on as the full time IT (Information Technology) person for Central Frontenac and a similar position was created in North Frontenac, in recognition of the role that electronic information and GIS plays in the current workings of municipalities.

Matheson, who now works for the City of Kingston as a systems analyst, recalls the 911 project fondly.

“It was a good project to work on, particularly because of all the work that the volunteers did right up until the very end, matching phone numbers with addresses. We needed 98% of them assured for Bell to go ahead with it, and they made it happen,” he said.

Marcel Giroux is still a little upset over a decision that Bell Canada made to delay the launch of 911 in Central and North Frontenac until South Frontenac and Kingston were ready for 911 enhanced. A process that was supposed to take a few months ended up taking twice as long.

“I don't know if it cost anyone their lives or anything waiting the extra 18 months, but it did bother me at the time,” he said.

When the system was brought on stream, the volunteers and emergency personnel were all smiles, celebrating the new millennium in Frontenac County.

As 911 moves forward, hooking up GPS systems in cell phones with on-board computers in ambulances, police cars, even fire trucks, will make the service stronger yet as cell service penetrates the far reaches of the County.

It's all a far cry from 1997, when there were not even reasonable paper maps of Frontenac County.

Council Sets Goal of 2%-2.5% Increase for 2015 Budget

In recent years South Frontenac has held budget deliberations throughout November and by this time of year, would have had the Township portion of the budget (excluding County and Education levies) pretty well thrashed out. The election has necessitated this process be moved to the new year.

CAO Orr brought a general summary of major budget issues facing Council, and requested their direction in setting a target increase in the Township’s levy for 2015. Orr’s report pointed out that although Council in the past few years has increased investment in capital projects and service delivery, decreases in Education and County levies have resulted in an overall decrease in property taxes for the average taxpayer since 2011.

On the other hand, The Township faces increased OPP costs, a 1% staff wage increase commitment, and a reduction in Kingston’s contribution to upkeep of arterial roads.There are also commitments to maintain deteriorating infrastructure and buildings, meet Provincial/regulatory pressures, meet expectations for increased services in snow clearing of roads and sidewalks, enhanced weed control, facilities and solid waste, etc. All this must be balanced against political pressure to control costs and maintain taxes.

Orr asked Council to provide direction to guide staff in the development of the 2015 preliminary capital and operating budgets. Based on Council’s direction staff will prepare a draft budget, assess impacts, review alternatives and present the details to Council for their budget meetings which will begin in mid-January. Goal is to achieve budget approval by March 3.

Council was in general agreement that an increase in the Township levy of 2% to 2.5% would be acceptable.

Proposed Official Plan Amendment

Planner Lindsay Mills presented background information on a proposed Official Plan amendment which would permit the creation of a subdivision with freehold (ie, not condominium) lots to be located on a private lane which will be commonly maintained, as in a condominium development. Mills said that this would avoid the maintenance issues now common to shared private lanes, without requiring the Township to assume the road once the subdivision is complete. The province is now requiring that any new lanes created in Ontario be established as a common element in a condominium. (even though the lots they serve may be independently owned). This proposal will be brought to a public meeting at next week’s Council meeting, Dec 16.

New Sound System

Council directed staff to obtain and install an integrated sound system in the township hall which will make it easier for councillors, staff and the public to be able to hear the speakers during meetings.

Committee Structure and Procedural Bylaw Update

Considerable discussion accompanied these issues, which will be decided on at next week’s Council meeting.

New E-Newsletter on its Way

The Clerk’s Department is initiating a quarterly e-newsletter to provide updates from all departments, to include information about issues such as road construction projects, winter road maintenance, updates on the budget process, changes to garbage and recycling schedules, etc. The first edition will be available through the Township’s website in January 2015.

The Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund was originally set up as a way to compensate small, rural townships for costs that were downloaded to them from the Province of Ontario in 1998.

Since then it has morphed into a means of helping those municipalities deal with the fact that they lack the property assessment that larger municipalities enjoy, but still have significant obligations to live up to.

The overall amount transferred through OMPF has been decreasing in recent years, but some municipalities have still seen increases.

In Frontenac County it has been a mixed bag. Central Frontenac Township will receive $1.66 million, an increase of $42,000 over 2014.

South Frontenac will receive $1.47 million, a marginal increase of $8,300.

The most disappointed township will likely be North Frontenac, which will receive $1.1 million, an increase of $29,000. However, since North Frontenac is facing an increase in policing costs of almost $140,000, the small increase in their OMPF funding is cold comfort indeed.

Frontenac County does not receive OMPF funding directly, but the province has taken back a number of the costs that were downloaded on the County in 1998, including some of the downloaded charges for the Ontario Disability Supports Program and some from Ontario Works.

The province calculates that this upload is valued at $3,300,000.

Central Frontenac sending Tom Dewey to County

Tom Dewey defeated Bill MacDonald 6-3 to become the second township representative, along with Mayor Frances Smith, for the new term of Frontenac County Council.

Central Frontenac held their inaugural Council meeting on Tuesday evening (December 2) at the Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake. The meeting did not include any of the normal business of council; that will come at a meeting on December 9.

Aside from taking the oaths of office for mayor and council, the major piece of business on the agenda was the selection of the county council member.

Bill MacDonald, who represents ward 3 (Oso), was nominated by the other ward 3 councillor, Sherry Whan. MacDonald has a long history on Frontenac County Council, both before and after amalgamation.

When it came time to vote, there was a geographical component to the results.

Tom Dewey, a second term councilor who represents ward 1 (Kennebec) was supported by the other ward 1 councilor, Cindy Kelsey; both ward 2 (Olden) councilors, Jamie Riddell and Victor Haase; as well as both ward 4 (Hinchinbrooke) councilors, Phillip Smith and Brent Cameron.

Sherry Whan and Mayor Smith voted for Bill MacDonald.

Dewey's appointment to county council is for the entire four year term of council.

Jamie Riddell was the only candidate for the largely ceremonial role of deputy mayor, a one-year appointment.