South Frontenac Council

Wilma Kenny | Oct 14, 2015

In the absence of Mayor Vandewal, Deputy Mayor McDougall chaired the meeting.

Desert Lake Causeway’s Culvert

Bill Pedersen, retired owner of Desert Lake Campground and Larry Showler of Frontenac Outfitters, came as a delegation about the culvert between Desert and Holleford Lakes. Speaking of the area’s enormous potential for tourism and small-boat recreation, they asked whether the culvert could be replaced by a bridge similar to the one that had been removed in 1989, to again allow boat passage under the road. The current culvert is due for repair by relining. They hoped that a bridge might also improve the water flow through Holleford Lake, which has become silted and clogged with weeds over the past 15 years.

Councillor Sutherland questioned the value of a bridge, saying he lived near the Mitchell Creek bridge, and since the higher bridge had been installed, the traffic of sea-doos has become an annoyance. He recommended looking at ways of making the short portage across the roadway more convenient.

Budget Time Begins

Council has been asked to comment and provide direction on the proposed 2016 capital budget. The capital budget reflects expenditures that are greater $5,000 and either have a lifespan of over one year, add value to an asset, or are a one-time expenditure.

As a first step, CAO Orr submitted a proposal for a Non Public Works capital budget of $192,500 with $112,500 coming from 2016 taxation, $80,000 from reserves which have been set aside for this purpose. This will address items relating to technologies for corporate services and protective services: both building and fire departments. The public works section, which includes facilities, roads and solid waste services will come forward October 27, and these, along with the operating budget, will be discussed at a special Council session on Saturday Nov 14.

Council has set a target increase in the township’s levy at 2%.

Procedural By-law – absent mayor forced into chain

Council finally moved into the home stretch of what has been a grueling year-long process of bringing their procedural by-laws up to date. Originally proposed by Councillor Schjerning, the process has drawn varying degrees of interest from Council members, but all seemed pleased to have the final issues narrow to a very few.

All agreed on using Roberts’ Rules of Order for situations where the rules of the Canadian Parliament are silent.

Schjerning pressed to reduce the number of meetings from four to two per month, saying that “some staff members have said they find the preparation of reports for weekly meetings is onerous.” When asked about this, CAO Orr said that the number of required reports would not change, though there might be a bit more time to gather information.

“Human nature being human nature, there will still be a scramble for deadlines.” The vote was 4-3 in favour of the status quo, with the possibility of trying out a twice-a-month schedule in the third year of their mandate.

The final issue was a dress code for Council: would all but Pat Barr be required to wear a shirt and tie to meetings? There was quick agreement that individual councillors could be depended upon to dress neatly and appropriately, without resorting to a formal dress code.

The real discussion centered around the township’s new chain of office: now they have one, when should it come out of the drawer? In the mayor’s absence, the final vote was 4-3 in favour of his wearing the chain of office at each meeting.

Johnson Point Development

Councillor Sleeth will arrange a boat so councillors can view the shoreline from the water at Johnson Point on Loughborough Lake, an area proposed for subdivision development. This will be done before freeze-up, while the water’s low.