South Frontenac Council - Apr 25/13

Wilma Kenny | Apr 25, 2013

Solid Waste Annual Report

Guy Laporte of AECON presented a brief review of the monitoring of the township’s waste disposal sites. He reported on 10 sites. Five of them are closed, but the Ministry of the Environment still requires ongoing monitoring of surface and ground water for several years after a site has been closed.

LaPorte said that although there had been a slight improvement in diversion/recycling since 2011, much more could be done. He particularly listed clean lumber, scrap metal and e-waste as bulky items that should not be going into landfill, and supported the plan to charge more realistic fees for loads brought to the landfills. 

All township landfills have issues: Loughborough is working to resolve a groundwater problem, and Portland has agreed to work on water level management, partial capping, and obtaining weigh scales to help establish fair and consistent fees.

On the positive side, better grading and compacting procedures have already helped extend Green Bay’s capacity somewhat.

Naming of Roads

Planner Mills asked Council’s direction in setting a procedure for selecting names for new roads and lanes. Recently one lane with a somewhat ambiguous name has had their sign stolen and replaced twice. Mills recommended drawing up a list of possible names that would not duplicate present names, should not be names of living persons, and should not connote any topic that would cause sign theft. There was general agreement, though Councilor Vandewal said that sometimes a particular road might have an historical reason for a name not on the list.

Council Compensation Review

After some discussion, Council decided to follow a suggestion from the Corporate Services Review Committee, to establish a four-person citizen committee to review the method of compensating members of Council. Presently, Council members get an established honorarium, and are paid separately for meetings attended. There are other expenses related to fax and computer use, which may need to be updated and made more consistent. The township will advertise for applications from potential committee members.

Trailer “Creep”?

CAO Orr reported that staff has been getting many complaints about unlicensed trailers in the Township. These complaints usually come from residents who have been paying their annual license fee, but they are not prepared to reveal where the offending trailers are located. Orr said that the last trailer inventory was done in 2001, and there is bound to have been some degree of ‘trailer creep’ since then.

(Since amalgamation, the Township has technically prohibited the establishment of trailers on private residential properties, with the exception that a trailer may be used temporarily during the construction of a residence. Such a trailer must pay an annual licensing fee, and must be removed once construction is completed. Enforcement of the prohibition has been postponed at least twice: in 2009, Council extended the date for compliance to 2015, saying that until then, all existing trailers must be inspected by Public Health in order to be granted a license, and no new trailers are to be situated in the township ‘on an ongoing basis’, other than in a designated trailer park.)

Several councilors seemed in agreement with Vandewal when he said: “This is an example of creating a by-law we can’t enforce. Nobody has the appetite to say ‘pull them all.’ This by-law hasn’t been created right, or carried out right.”