South Frontenac Council

Wilma Kenny | Jan 13, 2016

Township Offered Historic Mill on Napanee River

In considering Chris Kerr’s application to sever two residential lots on the Napanee River at Petworth, the Committee of Adjustment suggested Council might wish to consider asking for parkland instead of cash-in-lieu in order to acquire the remains of the Petworth Mill building for preservation and possible future renovation. Councillor McDougall spoke of this as “a wonderful opportunity” and said that building inspector Gas had described the stonework as “an outstanding example of old world craftsmanship”, noting the masonry and design of the lower waterflow arches was “a phenomenal piece of work”. (see note, below.) Most of Council was interested in the idea of acquiring the mill, but Mayor Vandewal expressed strong opposition because of liability issues, and the cost of restoration if the site should become designated as historical. McDougall said the Township had no historical architecture committee, it could not be declared historical in the way buildings in Kingston are designated. Planner Mills reminded Council that the southern wall of the structure could be said to already belong to the township, in that it is on the road allowance. He also said that the Official Plan placed a heavy emphasis on “maintaining cultural heritage”. CAO Orr agreed to do a legal enquiry about liability, and a risk analysis.

Note: McDougall gave a brief history of the Petworth Mill, the second oldest in Portland: it was built as a grist mill in 1845, and for most of the 1800’s it processed large amounts of grain, helping make Petworth a thriving little town. Some time prior to WW1, the mill stopped production. By 1919, upstream Verona was experiencing problems with the water level of the Cameron Swamp, so local farmers took six cases of dynamite down to Petworth, where they blew the dam and ‘improved the swamp drainage a bit.’

CRCA Response re Applewood Docks

Two representatives of the Cataraqui Conservation Authority, A.Schmidt and T. Beaubiah, came as a delegation to discuss their inspection of a recently-built dock at the Applewood subdivision site (Loughborough Lake). This was in response to a letter of concern from local resident Matt Rennie.

They found the dock in question to be 28 feet longer than the approved 120 feet, and the water depth in and around the dock was less than specified in the permit. However, Schmidt said that these differences did not affect the control of flooding or erosion, nor interfere with the natural features of the wetland or the lake bottom. Therefore, the dock structure was acceptable as it still met the intent of their regulations and policies.

He said that when the original permit had been issued in 2011, the CRCA had an agreement with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to “review proposals in consideration of the fish habitat provisions under Section 35 of the Fisheries Act” (which includes destruction/alteration of fish habitat). Now, due to recent changes to the fisheries Act, the CRCA no longer has an agreement with the DFO, so all future concerns relating to fish habitat should be directed to the DFO.

Fitzgerald Quarry

Planner Mills brought an information report on the proposal to permit deeper extraction of the Bedford site. In response to concerns expressed by neighbouring property owner Stephan Duerst, a hydrogeological report states that the activity “is not expected to impact the wells (in the area) nor is it anticipated to affect the creeks observed on the site,” as it will not be removing water, or “dewatering”. Also the operation is not proposed to be expanded, only continued.

Road Closure

Public Works Manager Segsworth announced that Anderson Road in Bedford was damaged Sunday by water from a collapsed beaver dam, and will remain closed for an indeterminate time.