North Frontenac Council – February 2

Jonas Bonnetta | Feb 04, 2015

Mayor sees a long shadow from Ardoch Lake development

“These are precedent-setting decisions,” said Mayor Ron Higgins regarding how the township should move forward on a development proposal for Ardoch Lake. The Malcolm/Ardoch Lake Association (MALA) has requested that council hire an independent planner to research the environmental impact of the 34-lot vacant land condominium development proposed for the lake.

Ardoch lake Property Owners have already hired their own consultant, Gord Neilsen from Michalski Neilsen Ltd.

Neilsen, in his report on the proposal, said that Ardoch Lake is a “high-quality water lake” and that although his opinion is that the lake “can withstand some additional shoreline development ... the scale of currently proposed development is of major concern.”

Neilsen goes on to say that “changes in the water quality, recreational, aesthetic, fisheries and wildlife qualities of a lake, which can be brought about by excessive shoreline development, are generally irreversible” and that increasing the dwellings on the lake by approximately 400% must be approached with considerable caution. Mayor Higgins said that council needs to be “careful in how it navigates this proposal” as it will set the tone for how the township balances economic development with environmental concerns in the future.

Councilor Gerry Martin suggested that if the township was to bring on a consultant for this purpose it would be a bad decision to hire Neilsen as it could show a bias that might possibly work against them if the matter eventually finds its way into the court system.

There was some concern expressed about the cost of hiring a new consultant to prepare a similar study on the development and North Frontenac Planning Coordinator Jenny Duhamel said she is looking into the developer's responsibilities regarding covering the costs of such a research project.

Council also plans to consult with Joe Gallivan, the manager of Sustainability Planning for Frontenac County.
Mayor Higgins and Councilor Martin both said it is best if they step away from future discussions regarding the Ardoch Lake development due to a conflict of interest, as they both have residences on adjoining Malcolm Lake.

Strategic plan moves forward

Councilor John Inglis expressed a concern about the township's new strategic plan. In reference to the new plan Inglis said to Mayor Higgins, “I'm a little surprised by the process....a little nervous, [it seems] a little too centred on you”.

Higgins, who comes from a consulting background, explained how the plan was drafted based on the previous strategic plans and goals. He said that his approach in his first year as mayor was to not take on too much at the county level so that he could focus on implementing this new strategic plan, and expressed his comfort with the associated workload. A motion to go to the public with the new plan was passed with only a slight amendment; the term “balanced score card” was changed to “progress report.” The township is preparing to roll out the new plan in a series of town hall meetings as well as press releases.

War memorial well underway

Councilor Martin updated council on the progress of the war memorial. The cement footings have been poured and the next steps are on hold until the frost is out of the ground. Martin mentioned the possibility of obtaining a piece of military field equipment to have on site permanently as well installing some benches. There was some discussion as to whether it was feasible to have local soldiers' names carved into the stone of the memorial but some councilors raised concern about the difficulty of accounting for everyone and felt that missing someone on the list would be problematic to the public. All councilors present were very impressed by the memorial progress. Martin also said that one of his goals as councilor is to have archives set up for North Frontenac. “We are losing our history,” Martin said, “I'm passionate about conserving the important past of the area.”

He said there will be more news forthcoming. 

A year-round future for Bon Echo?

Officials from the Land O'Lakes Tourist Association, Lennox and Addington County, and Addington Highlands met with MPP Randy Hillier earlier this year to discuss the possibility of keeping Bon Echo Provincial Park open all year round. It currently closes in October and opens again in May. The plan is to have yurts - built with assistance from Algonquin College's construction program – available to rent as winter accommodations as well as snowshoe trails and other winter activities in the park. Yurts, circular, domed tents typically built on solid wooden bases, are easy to heat and ideal for this type of application. They are quite popular in other Ontario Parks that are open in winter, like Algonquin and Killarney. LOLTA reached out to North Frontenac council to see if they would be interested in having a representative from the township participate in the conversation. The council voted to have Councilor Fred Perry represent NF Township, with Councilor Gerry Martin as an alternate. Perry and Martin both have connections to the park.