Ah_wonders

Jeff Green | Jul 06, 2006

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Addington Highlands wonders about COMRIF

by JeffGreen

As Addington Highlands considers what to do about the third and final application deadline for the COMRIF (Canada Ontario Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund), Road Superintendent Royce Rosenblath informed council that he has been in contact with an engineering firm that is offering to prepare the necessary engineering study and application form for COMRIF at a price of $5,000.

Addington Highlands was unsuccessful in its application to rebuild the Skootamatta Lake Road/Hughes Landing Road intersection in the first go- around after spending $7,000 in consulting fees for the application. Council then decided to re-submit the same application for round 2, even though they had been informed that a $21,000 engineering report was required.

“Five thousand dollars sounds a lot better than $21,000” said Mayor Ken Hook when the matter came up at an Addington Highlands Council meeting this week.

“I’m just wondering about spending another $5,000 when I’ve already spent $7,000, and I might still have the toothache, if you know what I mean,” said Councillor Bill Cox.

“Leona Dombrowsky said she could give us some phone numbers to call to try and put some pressure on. Apparently that was successful for Central Frontenac,” said Reeve Hook.

Council passed a motion giving Royce Rosenblath leave to pursue the matter further, ensuring that he obtains more than one quote for the work.

The Skootamatta Road, which was identified as the township’s number one road priority in a road needs study, is a boundary road with North Frontenac, and Addington Highlands had approached North Frontenac Council about submitting a joint application in the first instance, but North Frontenac decided to try and get funding to widen the Mississippi bridge instead, and has failed to secure funding for that project on two occasions.

Salt shed tender accepted – Only one tender was received after a tender call for the construction of a salt shed in Denbigh. The same company that built a salt shed for the township last year submitted a bid of $237,231, about $7,000 more than last year’s shed cost. Construction is slated for completion in September.

High Speed Internet – Council agreed to support the efforts of Terry Shea of the Land o’ Lakes Tourist Association to secure high speed internet and cell phone service for the region. Shea has written to MPP Leona Dombrowsky, who forwarded his letter, accompanied with a supporting letter of her own, to the appropriate federal and provincial ministers.

In describing the need for such service, Shea concluded “When we have lobbied web providers and cell phone companies, we were told our region does not have sufficient year-round population to justify the technical support. Cell pones and high-speed internet access need to be considered essential, especially in rural areas that are located within a few hours drive from major centres.”