Letters

Jeff Green | Sep 28, 2006

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Letters to the Editor: September 21 and 28 editions

Garbage and Recycling in South Frontenac

This letter is sent by a longtime reduce,reuse, recycle, and reclaim person. First and foremost, what is the off set benefit for a garbage recycler in our township? Our family of four practised great garbage reduction in 2005-2006 and as a result had many blue tags left over. Thinking that these tags were already paid for by our tax dollars, we thought that they would be honoured until the end of the year (at least). Well, no such thing. We had to dispose of these tags immediately and start with the new and improved labels that crease, split, and are, in general, a pain in the butt. When I went to put the extra blue plastic tags in the recycle, I found out that these tags had to go in our garbage bag as they were not recyclable. It got me to thinking, why are we having to put tags on the garbage anyway? We are allowed two bags per week. Why couldn't we just purchase extra tags at the end of the year, if we thought we would be over the limit? What genius thought of tagging these two bags in the first place? $$$$. Anyway…

Now on to the current new system of recycle pick-up. Most families have a few glass bottles and jars. I repeat, just a few. This was brought home to me as I toured the village and highway on the way to Kingston yesterday. Most people had no recycle containers out because that part being picked up is very small. Wait until two weeks, when we will need, more than one and less than four containers to put out for the truck full of the recycle stuff that is most recycled. Is the township going to give us another box as the city of Kingston has done to help recycle challenged individuals to distributethe glass and cardboard? These can be small containers for sure.

Does anyone know, now that we are recycling through KARC, if we have no pay access to the hazardous waste site? Do we have access to the leaf and wood chipping site recycle centre too?

Questions and questions. I have placed a call to the South Frontenac person in charge and am waiting for an answer to my voice mail. Probably there is a LONG list of call-back requests and I will have to be extra patient. Not! Is anybody out there listening? Does anybody have answers? Am I alone in my quest for reasonable replies?

And lastly, does anyone have a good, cheap, bee and wasp repellent as my recycle cans and plastic bottles, even though rinsed are a bee and wasp haven on my front porch?

- Brenda Crawford

Re: South Frontenac Recycling Services-September 14, 2006 Edition

Two attendants greeted me on September 08 at the Bradshaw Road refuse disposal site in Bedford : hardly cost efficient. Perplexing information was soon forthcoming. The sorting rules for recyclable material had been changed from four days previous; goods which are completely recyclable in any sane system could not be accepted. An example, plastic bags were causing a problem and should be put into the tagged bags! The attendants were doing their normal excellent job being helpful, while trying to enforce the dictates of a moron hallucinating the possession of managerial skills.

It was explained that Kingston , where the recyclables were going now, has a different set of rules. If the contents of the dumpsters do not meet them perfectly the entire load is returned and dumped into the pit. The impression received was that numerous loads of recycling had been returned over an extended period of time! Apparently some “enlightened” bureaucrat or council member finally got the message, and was trying to cover…….. (add your own words).

All of the recycling I brought in was disposed with bagged refuse; it was the rule of the day. Re-sorting was an exercise in futile frustration, which there were no volunteers for. Never was there any prior or has there been any post information of the changes provided by the township. The foregoing events could have been prophesized by a maggot. The attendants even appeared surprised and confused by the sudden change of orders.

Just how long has this scam been going on? Is this entire recycling/bag tag thing a shell game, a hoax, a further refinement in political smoke and mirrors? Now you see it, now you don’t? Is council just giving another demonstration of their propensity of sucking while blowing or are elements of the managerial staff just plain stupid?

Mr. Adams in his article rightly requests that our township treat us fairly. I personally do not believe that the word “fairly” is even in the vocabulary of our councillor despots; the record proves it. The citizens in Sydenham were not treated fairly, nor were the owners of trailers, nor the citizen hunters nor anyone now trying to recycle: just a few examples. - Paul M. WicherRe: Burglarized again

To Mrs. Teal and the District 4 Recreation Committee, my apologies. The last thing volunteers need is to be criticized for a job they do to the best of their ability. Volunteers donate their time, talents and money in local communities, across the country and around the world every day without compensation. If there is one thing a non-profit organization cannot afford to lose, it is good volunteers; another thing they cannot afford to lose is money.

I should not have implied negligence on the part of you and your volunteers. I simply think precautions could be taken. I volunteered with an organization for three years where we operated a food concession for part of two summers, and I did transport inventory back and forth in my car, two, sometimes three nights a week. Logistically it is difficult, but many hands make light work.

The monetary loss to your group saddens me, as it hurts the very community you serve.- Scott CoxMunicipal election time

It will soon be municipal election time in South Frontenac and many familiar names will be found on the ballot. Lake , Vandewal and Davidson, to name a few, are among those from this current council interested in extending their term. It is at this juncture that the question has to be asked are you happy with the current crop of councillors? Are you satisfied that they have appropriately represented the interests of the people that they purport to represent? Have they improved the state of affairs in South Frontenac in any measurable way?

Perhaps a quick recap of issues that have been brought before council over the past few years would help people reflect on their councillor’s performance. I will leave it up to the individual reader to decide whether these issues were well handled by their elected representative or not: Trailer issue, Sydenham Municipal Water System, ATVs on municipal roads, Mitchell Creek Bridge, Recycling, to name a few

If you think these issues could have been better handled, if there could have been more appropriate resolution, if the interests of the people could have been solicited and considered in determining their resolution, then now is the time to do something about it.

It is clear, from reports of council meetings, that all is not harmonious in the council chamber. Council continues to operate, split along district lines, with little evidence of an attempt by any councillor to take a broader perspective on any issues on the council table. Taking this into consideration, now is YOUR opportunity to make changes. Now is the time to use the democratic electoral process to bring in councillors who are capable of viewing issues from a broad perspective and who believe that they sit on council to represent the people rather than to further their own personal perspectives, goals and egos.- Alastair Lamb Lost in Sharbot Lake

Over the past year a group of 20 men and women gathered together at Sharbot Lake High School on Wednesday evenings to learn how to change their eating habits so they feel healthier. Weight Watchers has been in Sharbot Lake for 15 years. This year we celebrated with a member who lost 100 pounds. This journey took about a year and a half and lots of dedication on the part of that member, the encouragement of other members and the guidance of the trained Weight Watchers leader.

Weight Watchers is committed to helping you achieve a healthy, livable and sustainable weight loss. Recent research proves that people who choose to lose weight with Weight Watchers achieve significantly greater results than those who go it alone. - Dianne Lake, Weight Watchers Leader

Dawson College shootings

Well 19 more people were shot in Montreal . FOR WHAT?

The gun registry should not be cancelled, but it should be adjusted. No one except the police and military should be allowed to own any guns more deadly than a single shot. If a hunter can’t hunt well enough to get a close and clean shot, he or she should not hunt. Hunters should learn to shoot more accurately and less meat would be ruined, and fewer animals would suffer injuries that are not immediately fatal. Yes, it would take a year or two for the game to calm down and let anyone get close, but there would soon be more game. Don’t forget that millions of tourists like to see deer and bears in the wild. Tourism means $$$.

Hunters managed to feed their families for a couple million years with spears and archery and frankly archery would be easier and so popular that Canada would attract thousands of archers from other countries. (More $$$)

Most importantly, the next “sick people hunter” would probably get only one victim with his single shot gun. - Carmel Gowan

Addington Highlands Business Breakfast

The Addington Highlands Economic Advisors for Development (AHEAD) committee announces that there will be a business breakfast at the Kaladar Community Centre on Thursday, October 12 at 8 a.m.

The theme is "Meet the Candidates" who are running in the forthcoming municipal election. This will be a great opportunityfor Addington Highlands business people tomeet and listen to their candidates discuss their economic views for the township.

Tickets are $7 each and are available from AHEAD members, who will also be contactingAH business people. Call 613-336-2522(Pine Grove Motel) for further information, or for the committee member nearest you. - Larry Pealow, AHEADBag tags

The innovatively impoverished satraps of an ever increasing number of municipalities are deceitfully adopting and promoting “bag tags” plus volume quotes as an integral part of the solution to the unsolvable, at least to this point, garbage problem. The citizenry must realize they are already paying for refuse disposal through their inflated property taxes. Why bag tags? Bag tags are a tax scam, not included in our assessments or township budget. This is found slush money for the township. Regardless of what smarmy monikers extol the virtues of bag tags/quotes, they are rip-offs of the taxpayer in their present form.

Brenda Crawford, “Letters to the Editor”, The Frontenac News, 9/21/06, brings to our attention just how arrogantly insidious the system is. Her family unit is penalized because they are efficient recyclers! Their discretionary income/sending power is reduced because South Frontenac Township arbitrarily in their “unquestionable wisdom” pre-charges them for tags, which because of their conscientiousness they never use. Incredibly, there is no mechanism in place for a refund, a credit to be applied for next year’s tags, a reward for the extra effort--nothing but rules, procedures and threats of even more charges for non-conformity, typical South Frontenac Township mentality. The methodology put in place by the township is negative, convolutedly illogical, stifles any aggressive recycling incentive, poorly thought out, ill managed, bereft of meaningful insight and communication, counterproductive, actually absurd and a perfect study in folly. The system is defeating the purpose and will to recycle! Why go through the bother of recycling only to be shafted for your efforts? The tags themselves cannot be recycled and likely are not biodegradable either. Brilliant!

We are beset with the same problem as Mrs. Crawford. Our family are efficient recyclers, reusers and composters, raised not to waste hard-earned money. We are going to have numerous unused tags which we have already been ripped off for. We also have no intention of throwing them away. Therefore, two courses of action are open (1) we are prepared and happy to sell any of our extra tags (Bedford) to whoever should require them at a pleasant discount to township prices; or (2) if sales should be poor, we will stuff what we now recycle into garbage bags, tag them and deposit them in the refuse pit. I would suggest that similar action or even more inventive methods by the electorate might--though I would not put money on it--wake up the wooden heads on council and the managers taking up space in the township offices. - Paul M. Wicher

South Frontenac Recycling

I would like to offer a few suggestions with respect to the garbage collection and recycling process in South Frontenac Township . Firstly, the present bag tag system only rewards people for using no more than two bags per week. It does less for people who work harder to reduce their trash to one bag a week or less. Why not allow residents to return unused tags at the end of the year for a tax reduction, or continue to let people use up their bag tags from the previous year, and even apply them to larger items dropped off at the landfill site?

Secondly, we need a convenient way to recycle scrap metal. This is a valuable commodity which should not be going into the landfill.

Thirdly, we need a reliable and consistent way of dealing with household hazardous waste that doesn’t involve long waiting times or unrealistic costs. Perhaps a deal can be brokered with Kingston that doesn’t require residents to pay $30 each time they want to responsibly dispose of some old paint tins and batteries.

Finally, in spite of the work involved in recycling, a lot of people certainly seem to be doing their part. Since reducing, reusing and recycling are everyone’s responsibility, it would be useful to know how well we’re doing. Someone asked this question of Council in a letter to the editor back in the summer, and I was disappointed that no one in the township administration took the time to respond. Let’s have some feedback! - Stephen Dukoff

Liberal spending

A few months ago, I wrote a letter critical of our local MPP and Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky. I had pointed out that in the Ontario Budget document, funds for Agriculture were cut for the second year in a row. This brought forth a challenge from one of her staff that I was misleading readers, and that spending had gone up.

In my defence, I directed them to look at the budget numbers in the actual government publication and on the Finance Ministry’s website. I also made the observation that the McGuinty government’s tactic was to slash the department’s budget, then make flashy spending announcements in order to make it look like they were doing more for farmers and farm communities.

This week, Premier McGuinty showed up at the International Plowing Match in Peterborough to announce $185 million in “new” money. While any money directed to assist this vital industry is welcome, the complaints I made six months ago still stand.

First, the money the Liberals are putting back into Agriculture is still less than they took out in the spring. If someone borrows ten dollars from you and pays back only six, you may say thanks, but you would still ask what happened to the other four.

Second, farmers make their decisions on what to plant, how much to plant, and the size of herds they run in the spring. That is when they need to be certain about the money needed for seed, fertilizer, equipment and livestock - not now when most farmers have already taken the hay off their fields.

These announcements always seem to come in September which, coincidentally, occurs next year in the final days of a provincial general election. McGuinty and Dombrowsky will no doubt try to buy the votes of farmers and farm families. Unfortunately, Ontario ’s farmers are not inclined to be bought off so cheaply. - Brent Cameron

Re: Burglarized….Again.

Mr. Cox, ever heard the old saying “Don’t blame the victim?” Anyway, we would like to personally invite you to join our Recreation Committee. It seems your enthusiasm is quite impressive to be the one to load all of the stock from our canteen into your vehicle (which I hope is a Van!) after every ball game or other event that is taking place. Then the next night you would need to re-load the van and travel back to the canteen to unload the supplies, serve your customers who probably aren’t going to be very impressed that the freezies aren’t frozen, or their pop isn’t ice cold, on one of the hottest days of the summer. Only then to have to turn around and cart the stuff once more back to your van, then return home where you try to find a spot in your house to keep the items separate from your own household goods. Oh yeah, hopefully you don’t have children who once they spot all of the different kinds of pop, chips, chocolate bars, ring pops, bubble gum, lollipops and freezies won’t insist on having “just one!”. Did I mention how heavy those cases of pop are? Then you also have the hot dog wieners, hamburgers, buns and all the trimmings, the cases of bottled water, the coffee, sugar, milk and popcorn. Wow, it’s definitely a work out especially if you have ball games 3 nights in a row! On top of this is the fact, that we are volunteers, with full time jobs, family commitments etc….

But, you know what…it’s not just about the stuff that was taken, it’s also the vandalism that has occurred at the canteen and the bathrooms that are attached. It’s uncalled for. The point of our letter which some may have overlooked, was to make residents in and around the area aware of what was happening to us, just in case they may have had something that at the time seemed minor happen…like a “misplaced” gas can, the garage door being unlocked when they thought it was secure. Once all this information is combined it adds up considerably as well as leaving a detailed trace of events.

We didn’t just sit around and let our goods be stolen, we took preventative measures to protect our communities investment. This is a block building, with a steel door and steel frame with locks that may be more secure that a lot of people’s homes. Problem is, when a criminal wants in nothing will get in there way. Although chocolate bars seemed to be the easy target for these thieves, our last break-in resulted in a loss of over $700 plus property damages. Fortunately, we have some of the finest police officers in our area who are on this case!

I hope you’re not saying that for anyone who has had the misfortune of being burglarized that they should pack up their prize possessions every time they go out to risk them being stolen from their vehicle. Boy, Jeff Foxworthy would have a field day with this one! (Moving? No we just pack our stuff up once or twice a week!!!)

We appreciate and urge anyone with motivation and ideas to join our recreation committee, our commitment is to work to improve and provide for the people in our area. After all, it is your committee.

Christine Teal, Member of District #4 Recreation Committee