South Frontenac Council Feb 21/23

Wilma Kenny | Mar 01, 2023

Sydenham Water 2022 Annual Summary

Julie Runions of Utilities Kingston delivered the annual report for the

Sydenham Water Treatment Plant, which supplied water to residents of Sydenham at “rates which allowed adequate treatment while not exceeding permitted flows.” The one test result last year that showed bacteria was attributed to a sampling error, as subsequent resampling from the same location, upstream, and downstream showed no problem.

It is interesting that Sydenham water usage is based on the typical Canadian average water usage per person, which is 220 litres per person per day (source: Stats Canada 2017). The report states that “Once all services to the water distribution system are completed (ie, all eligible residences are connected to Sydenham water) an accurate calculation of water usage per person for the village of Sydenham can be arrived at.”

RED Grant Application Supported

The Rural Economic Development (RED) program is a provincial program that provides grant money to organizations to create strong rural communities and open the door to economic development. Staff has proposed that South Frontenac apply for this grant in the amount of $240,000 to assist with the building and installation of wayfinding signage over the next three years. The Township’s portion will be $560,000, plus and additional $220,000 for gateway signage, which is not addressed by the RED program. The township’s portions of these costs will be funded out of the working funds reserve. The 2022 budget’s allocated $60,000 has been carried forward toward Gateway signage.

Councillor Pegrum asked, “What if we don’t get the grant?” CAO Fragnito replied that staff would come back to Council requesting that the signage program be extended from 3 to 5 years.

Development Services Staffing

Following a review of Administrative roles in Building and Planning, Development Services are recommending that Council approve replacing the current Planning Assistant position with a Planning Coordinator, and creating a Planning Clerk position. These changes are intended to streamline the development approval process and will cost an estimated $79,300 which will be funded from the implementation of the Heritage Review fee and Zoning Compliance Review fee. This increase in fees will be user-based, and will create no burden on existing taxpayers.

As well, separating the zoning compliance review from the building permit process will shift the zoning review from the building inspectors to planning and will also provide for a separate zoning review prior to a building permit application being received, thus providing for a better level of customer service. One dedicated planning staff will become responsible for all zoning compliance reviews.

Current staff have the expertise to assume the natural heritage review (recently transferred from the Conservation Authority), which will be more efficient and less costly than outsourcing this service.

Planning Fees Update

In general, it was determined that current South Frontenac planning fees are notably lower compared to the average fee calculated for similar sized municipalities.

Councillor Pegrum noted that some of the comparison tables from other municipalities included Muskoka gateway areas whose constituents’ social and economic status would not be comparable to ours: he suggested that neighbouring townships might be more accurate comparators. (Loyalist Twp was included).

“The Answers are Coming!”

Councillor Ruttan asked for a clearly defined outline of development requirements in settlement areas: staff gave a quick verbal summary of directions in the Official Plan, but said more specific details will soon be forthcoming in the new Official Plan.

Family Day

Both Councillor Leonard and Mayor Vandewal commented on the success of Family Day celebrations at Piccadilly: “Unbelievable”, “Insanely busy!” “An appreciative crowd!” Both estimated an attendance of around 700. They praised Recreation and Events Coordinator Amanda Pantrey for her planning and organization: “Amanda and her crew did an awesome job of set-up and planning.” However, Mayor Vandewal said Pantrey needed more staffing help for future events: he expressed disappointment that many of the students and volunteers who were counted on to stay all day tended to leave early, so that only a few people were left when it came time to pack-up.