South Frontenac Council Report - June 10

Wilma Kenny | Jun 26, 2025

Railton Corners

A public meeting was called for comments on a proposal to rezone a portion of the property along Railton Road belonging to St Patrick’s Church, in order to facilitate the creation of two residential lots. The proposal also recommends a site-specific Community Facility (CF) zone be placed on the balance of the lands ion order to provide 40 off-street parking spaces. (Much of the property currently used for parking is on road allowance which is expected to eventually be needed for upgrades of the intersection.)

There were no comments from the public; staff will bring a more detailed report considering applicable policy along with a draft by-law to Council  at a future meeting.

Outdoor Furnace Concerns Spiral out of Control

Mary Royer  of Verona came to Council to report an outdoor furnace, located on the property next to her house on Verona Sand Road, which she says is not complying  with any of the regulations regarding location, times of burning and permissible fuels for such devices. “Its black smoke… is forcing me to move from my home.” Her neighbour, Susan Foley, spoke in her support, calling the furnace “a public nuisance.”

Mayor Vandewal reminded them that they had used up the 5 minutes allotted for presentation; “someone else wants to speak” and suggested she leave her notes for the Council record. She left her notes.

At this point another resident, Steve  Leonard, attempted to speak top council. Mayor Vandewal refused to let him speak, as he had addressed council at a previous meeting on the same issue.

“You cannot speak, This meeting is cancelled,” said Vandewal.

A relative of his asked if she could address council, but had not register. The recording of the meeting was suspended at this point, and the meeting reconvened several minutes later, and proceeded without incident.

County’s Economic Development Update

 Richard Allan and Debbie Miller, of the County’s Economic Development staff, gave a photo presentation on the current status of the Frontenac Trail. Councillor Leonard asked “How long will it take (for the County) to complete the whole loop?” Allan replied “You could do it now if you had the right equipment, but our goal is for a hybrid bike to be able to complete it in 20-30 km stretches (between facilities for food and lodging.)”

“How long will it take (for the County) to complete the whole loop?” Allan replied “You could do it now if you had the right equipment, but our goal is for a hybrid bike to be able to complete it in 20-30 km stretches (between facilities for food and lodging.)”  

Turcotte asked “What about including the Frontenac Islands in the County’s economic development planning? The somewhat vague reply was that planning for the islands was similar to most of the Townships, but the ferries presented challenges.

Mayor Vandewal commented that having ATVs permitted on the trails would ‘be a big economic driver.’

Line Spike Concert

Council designated the Line Spike Frontenac Concert near Harrowsmith on June 28 & 29 to be a Municipally Significant Event, in order to support the Alcohol & Gaming Commission of Ontario’s Special Events Permit Application.

Planning Standard

Council received the “Standard for Hydrogeological Assessments: Consents and Additional Dwelling Units” and directed staff to use it for all planning applications, where applicable.

Appointment of Building Inspector

Kathleen Pulfer was welcomed as the new building Inspector.

CAO Performance Appraisal Working Group Appointed

Councillor Morey asked how many meetings this would require: the reply was two: both in July, or one in each of July and August. Leonard and Morey agreed to form the committee.

Private Lane Upgrade Program

Council approved a total of $115,996  in subsidies for this popular and successful program which was originated by former Councillor Del Stowe. Councillor Pegrum asked how ‘frequent users’ were defined; the answer was anyone who had used the program at least two times in the past 5 years.

Next Meeting

The June 17 Council meeting was cancelled due to lack of issues on the agenda; the next meeting will be July 15, or if necessary, at the call of Council