South Frontenac Council - Sep. 6/22

Wilma Kenny | Sep 14, 2022

Mayor Vandewal opened the meeting by recognizing Claire Dodds for her work with planning and development: “When you arrived, we had a couple of challenging projects on the books, and you helped work them through.” (The development at Johnson’s Point is currently beginning to fill out, with each property subject to a long and detailed list of site-specific requirements drawn up by the Planning Department and approved by Council.) “Thank you, and we wish you all the best.”

New Furniture for Council Chambers

A staff report asked Council’s support for an increase in the budget allocation for Council Chamber furniture from $15,000 to $25,000, and approval to fund both the original budgeted expense along with the requested additional funds totalling $25,000 from the COVID-19 Safe Restart Reserve. The proposed furniture upgrades reflect the growing use of Council Chambers as an alternative meeting space and would offer greater flexibility in table configuration in Council Chambers for Council and staff attending meetings and also provide space for public in-person access to meetings. With the exception of permanent workspaces at the front of the room to provide seating for the Mayor, CAO, Clerk and Deputy Clerk, all the remaining chairs and (much smaller) tables will be fully flexible: easy to move, or fold and stack away. There was some concern because the drawings did not show much space for public seating, but Fragnito said the accompanying sketches were not to scale, and the new furniture was intended to create more public space than is available with the current arrangement.

New Commercial Credit Card Policy

Shelley Stedall, Director of Corporate Services and Treasurer, brought a proposal for a Commercial Card Policy through the RBC which would replace all current business cards held by staff. This commercial card program will help provide more flexibility to administer credit cards, while providing more control over the use of the cards. With the program being proposed there will also be some savings in bank fees.

In response to Councillor Revill’s query about controls, Stedall said that the general spending limit will be $2,500, but this can be temporarily increased by the CAO at the recommendation of staff for one-time purchases (for example annual registration of Township vehicles is $30.000).

2022 Community Grants - 2nd Intake

Council approved three Community grants: to Frontenac Plowmans Association (for plowing match), Perth Road School (Furnace replacement) and Loughborough Public School (operation of expanded food prep programs).Councillor Sleeth questioned the Perth Road School furnace replacement, until it was clarified that this was actually the former school building, now being used as a public community hall.

Mayor Vandewal said he remembered that once Council had helped one school to buy playground equipment, it opened the floodgates and all the Township schools asked for similar funding: “I don’t like going down that road.” Councillor Sutherland said he felt the main problem was the Province’s lack of support to the schools for programs having to do with lunches and recreation.

Heritage Grant Program

Planner Anna Geladi presented a draft of the proposed Heritage Grant Program for Council’s consideration and approval.

The Heritage Grant Program is intended to assist owners of designated heritage properties under the Ontario Heritage Act with the maintenance, conservation, restoration, and care of heritage properties, on a cost sharing basis. The goal of the program, developed and administered by the Township’s Heritage Committee, is to encourage heritage designation of buildings, and recognize and promote the cultural heritage of the Township. The grant program would be administered in a system similar to the Lake Ecosystem Grants and the Private Lane Assistance Grants. In 2022, $15,000 was allocated by Council to fund this program. An accompanying 18-page policy outlines the program benefits and application/approval process in detail.

Administrative Monetary Penalties – Noise By-law

Having previously approved a by-law to address violations related to trailer licensing and safe property bylaws under the Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs), Council has agreed to include enforcement of the noise by-law as well. The proposed range of fines will be between $100 and $400 for a long list of offenses, including squealing tires, defective muffler, ‘the operation of a motor vehicle resulting in banging, clanking, squealing or other like sounds.” Around this point, Mayor Vandewal spoke up: “A disclaimer: as a youth, I was charged for all of these offences, but it was the Police who charged me, not the by-law officer.” There was general agreement that the bylaw was in need of review to make it a bit more realistic and enforceable, and this will be done later.

Revill asked whether, in the case of a short-term rental, the property owner would be the one fined, and Deputy Clerk James Thompson said yes, that the property owner would be responsible for the conduct of his guests, and this meant that any unpaid fines could be attached to the tax roll.

Dog Control Bylaw Amendment (Order to Muzzle)

Frontenac Municipal Law Enforcement has approached the Township of South Frontenac to request that the Dog Control By-law be amended to include provisions which would permit an animal control officer to require a vicious dog be muzzled and securely confined in specific situations. It is proposed that the By-law would define a vicious dog as a dog that has bitten or attempted to bite a person or other animal, attacked a person or other animal, or that has demonstrated a propensity, tendency or disposition to do so. Additionally, the By-law would define a muzzle as a humane fastening or covering device over the mouth of a dog that is of adequate strength to prevent it from biting.

Councillor Morey noted that Ontario Sheep Farmers have expressed concerns that this could target herding and guarding dogs: Staff agreed to add a note saying an amendment concerning these dogs would be brought to Council at a later date. The muzzle order was passed.

Building Services Review of Timeframes to Issue Permits

At the August 9th, 2022 meeting of Council, several Councillors expressed concerns about the timelines associated with Building Services processing building permit applications. Council provided direction to the CAO and the Director of Development Services to bring back a report and schedule a special meeting to discuss why building permits are taking so long to issue.

Claire Dodds, Director of Development Services, and Chief Building Inspector Tom Berriault presented a nine-page report. One point they made was that, unlike many other municipalities, South Frontenac did not turn incomplete applications away, but worked with the applicant by providing them within two days with a written list of information that they were missing, and helping them address this. Only when the application is fully complete does the ‘clock start ticking.’ Dodds noted that having a zoning compliance officer on staff would be a big help, for that person could help inform the applicants who are unfamiliar with parts of the application process. Mayor Vandewal said “In all fairness, we didn’t know that.”

The statistics and comparisons with similar municipalities clearly indicate that South Frontenac is consistently processing more applications, while meeting the recommended (but not legislated) timelines. Also, the numbers of applications have surged during Covid; it was impossible to foresee the huge increase in Part 8 (septic applications) throughout all municipalities in the past two years.

Mayor Vandewal thanked Dodds and Berriault for a detailed, comprehensive report that “explained a lot.”

Council then moved into closed session.