South Frontenac Council

Wilma Kenny | Nov 11, 2015

Long Closed Session

Council convened at 5:00 for a closed session to deal with several matters concerning litigation, labour relations and property matters. Following this, they came into Council chambers at 7:00 to commence the public part of the meeting.

James Wilson Parkland/ Beach

This is a contentious issue regarding a small patch of beach beside the James Wilson Road which has been used for public swimming for many years. James Campbell, who has applied for severance of three lots, claims ownership of this swim area, although he admits this strip of shore will become part of the road allowance once the road is increased to its allotted width.

Whenever a severance is granted, as a condition of approval, the property owner is required to pay a small percentage of its value (cash-in-lieu) to the Township’s development fund, OR the Township may choose to ask for a small portion (up to 5%) of the severed property as parkland. Most times, the development fund is preferred. However, in this case, Council is considering the merit of asking for a strip of land along the road to create a safer parking area for swimmers.

Five delegates spoke to Council and a number of letters have been submitted on both sides of the issue. Some speakers made pleas for cooperation in keeping the access to Canoe Lake open to the public, while one illustrated the degree of bitterness in the dispute by speaking of “gross, scary-looking people”, and making verbal attacks on individual councillors, and against several of the individuals who had supported keeping the lake access open to the public.

Referencing the principles of English Law that protect the commons, Robert Lovelace spoke as an area resident and a local Algonquin of the importance of protecting the public’s common use to resources such as air and water, asking for ‘mutual respect of our varied needs.’

Last Saturday, Council members had viewed the area in dispute during their fall road tour. They had no questions for the speakers, and there was no discussion: Mayor Vandewal said they would address the issue further at the next Council meeting.

Firefighters’ Equipment

Fire Chief Chesebrough asked Council to consider setting aside reserves for replacement of the fire department’s self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). The department has 45 of these units all purchased in 2005, and warranted for 15 years. However, there have been significant changes in this line of equipment, and already it is becoming difficult to obtain replacement parts for the current SCBA’s. Total cost of 45 new units with their air bottles is estimated to be close to $500,000. Chesebrough suggested $40,000 be set aside in the 2016 budget as an initial step.

Sydenham Triathlon

For the past five years, the Township has partnered with Somersault Events in hosting a successful and popular Triathlon at ‘The Point’ in Sydenham. However, Tim LaPrade, Recreation Supervisor, is calling for a much more detailed agreement between the Township and the organizing group, clarifying conditions and responsibilities, before proceeding further with the partnership. LaPrade has outlined such an agreement for next year’s event, at which the 2016 and previous events will be evaluated, and recommendations made to either enter into a longer term agreement or issue a Request for Proposal for future events.

Budget Marathon this Saturday

CAO Orr handed out sturdy looking budget packages to Councillors, in preparation for this Saturday’s all-day budget-setting meeting. This document will be available on the South Frontenac website (under ‘civic documents’) by Saturday.

Council then went back in-camera to complete unfinished business from their earlier meeting.