South Frontenac Committee of the Whole

Wilma Kenny | Nov 15, 2017

Outdoor Furnace Issue
Neighbours Mary Royer and Jim Varrette made presentations about their neighbour’s outdoor furnace, which Royer says has caused her ongoing health and comfort problems with its smoke. She uses an inhaler and sometimes a mask, cannot open her windows, and has had her indoor smoke alert set off. Varrette, who lives on the other side of the furnace, although aware of the smoke, says he’s upwind of it much of the time. Royer asked why Council couldn’t enforce its recent bylaw which forbids operation of an outdoor furnace which interferes with ‘any reasonable enjoyment of the environment.’

Mayor Vandewal called on Councillor McDougall, who said that he had talked numerous times with the furnace owner, and felt the man had tried hard to minimize emissions: “The furnace is small, very efficient, and he uses wood that’s dry, well-seasoned,” said McDougall, recommending that Council continue to monitor and assess the situation. Considerable discussion followed.

Councillor Revill said they needed to set specific time limits on any expectation of improvement. Although all agreed that an objective assessment of the problem would need to be made, no one had a concrete suggestion of how to measure, on a 24-hour basis, the frequency and density of the emissions. It would also be necessary to be able to establish and then measure an unacceptable level of smoke.

CAO Orr added that as long as the furnace owner was making serious efforts to improve the situation, it would be legally difficult to shut the furnace down.

Council will seek further information and agreed to try to find a way to resolve the problem. Orr added that if something was deemed to be “a public nuisance,” there is a process to address it, but the process must be able to be seen as fair and transparent.

Budget Delegations
Although Council had invited public delegations to address issues related to the township’s 2018 budget planning, only one delegate appeared: Jeff Peters read a letter from the chair of the Inverary Lake association, asking Council to grant them $15,000 toward the cost of preparing a lake assessment study of Inverary Lake. In reply to the letter’s reference to the Sydenham Lake Association’s study completed this year, Councillor Schjerning said that there had been no cost to the Township: the study had been heavily funding through the Source Water Protection program, because the lake is a reservoir for the Sydenham water system.

CAO Orr confirmed that the Township has never given money to any of the local Lake Assessments. Mayor Vandewal added that the studies for Buck and 14 Island Lakes had cost $80.000 or more, and all the area lake studies done so far have shown a drop in phosphate levels. There was a brief informal exchange about the recent rise in algae growth in some area lakes.

McFadden Subdivision Draft Plan Changes
Planner Mills recommended two minor changes to a draft plan which has already been submitted to the County for approval. The subdivision proposal in question is located near Perth Road on McFadden Road, between Norway Road and the Cataraqui Trail. A recent letter from the CRCA has asked that no direct accesses be provided to the Trail, as there are already two access points reasonably nearby. (Councillor Sutherland said he felt this was an unfortunate request, for it meant residents would have to go by road to get on the trail.) However, a 1-foot reserve is to be placed along the rear portions of the two lots that abut the trail. Also, a provision for widening McFadden Road needs to be added, for the current roadway is only 9 metres wide at one point, instead of the required 20 metres.

Accessibility Presentation
Jannette Amini presented the annual Accessibility Advisory Committee report from the County. Among South Frontenac’s accomplishments, she noted the accessible features incorporated into the upgrade of facilities at the Point Park, the Sydenham boat launch ramp and planned for the new Perth Road Fire Hall. Councillor McDougall thanked Amini for keeping the Frontenacs informed of accessibility requirements and encouraging councils and businesses to continue making their facilities more accessible to all.

Cataraqui Trail Video
Council enjoyed a six-minute video produced by the CRCA about the Cat Trail from Sydenham to the Opinicon. It began with a great series of archival photos taken when the rail section near the Opinicon was first constructed, then moved into drone videos taken this September along the present-day trail.

No Council Meeting Next Week ..
but Saturday’s special budget meeting’s still on, beginning at 8 am!

Orr asked Council’s permission to cancel the November 21 Council meeting, because there is nothing on the agenda. Councillor Revill’s suggestion that they could “get together for tea and cookies” had no takers.