Sf_twp_07-37

Jeff Green | Sep 20, 2007

South Frontenac Councilby Wilma Kenny

Does South Frontenac have its building permit yet?At the Sept 11 Committee of the Whole meeting, Councillor Hicks had expressed concern about the manner in which repairs to the old stone schoolhouse (township property in Hartington) had been carried out. He asked why, if the run-down state of the building raised health and safety concerns, neither the Portland District councillors nor the Chief Building Official had been notified of the need for immediate repairs. CAO Burns agreed that proper procedure had not been followed. At tonight’s council meeting, Deputy Mayor Stowe asked whether or not a building permit had been issued for the building repairs. Mayor Davison said he assumed so. Stowe said he wanted to know for certain: the township requires residents to obtain permits, so the township should set a positive example by following its own rules. Burns agreed to confirm that the permit had been obtained.

Policy re illumination of intersections

Bill Blum, Public Works Manager, recommended Council adopt the Provincial Illumination Warrant Standards for Intersection Illumination. At present the township has no policy regarding intersection illumination. The provincial standards could become the basis of a policy to address all potential safety concerns, and would assist in assessing requests for illumination at all township road intersections, including intersections of public and private roads. Blum noted that probably very few public/private intersections in the township would qualify for publicly funded partial illumination. However, it would still be appropriate to allow for partial illumination if the requester agreed to assume the cost of installation and upkeep. Council passed a motion to adopt the provincial standards.

Communal garbage collection boxes for private lanes

There continue to be many complaints about communal collection locations for garbage: there is a problem with untagged bags at these sites, especially in the summer, and locations without boxes are targeted by animals, making a mess for township staff to clean up. Council passed a resolution to encourage the use of communal collection boxes by providing a ‘standard specification’ and subsidizing half the cost, providing the Private Lanes Associations agree to the ongoing maintenance of such boxes and also agree to monitor and tag any untagged bags. Councillors Hicks and Robinson were opposed: Robinson said this amounted to "going into business with the community." Councillor Vandewal countered that he thought it was council’s role to work with the community to try to resolve problems such as this.

Minimum Standards for Private Lanes

Council approved on a trial basis the establishment of a fund in Bedford District to partially subsidize the upgrading of substandard private lanes to minimum acceptable standards as outlined in Public Works Manager Blum’s report, which lists the following criteria:

- Private lane associations be the vehicle used for approaching the township.

- The Existing Lane Standards adopted by Council December 2006 be applied.

- The private lane be inspected both before and after the completion of the work.

- That receipts accompany any submission for subsidy funding.

- That the (available) $20,000 be pro-rated based upon the monetary value of applications received.

- That the amount of subsidy funding be limited to a maximum of 50% on any application received.