Addington_Highlands_Jul 3_07

Jeff Green | Jul 05, 2007

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Addington Highlands Council - July 3, 2007byJeff Green

Two high-ranking politicians, Federal MP and Deputy House Leader Scott Reid, and Liberal MPP and Minister of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs Leona Dombrowsky crossed paths this week at a council meeting in of one of the smallest municipalities in their overlapping constituencies, Addington Highlands.

Dombrowsky, who was making what might be her last trip to Flinton before the upcoming provincial election, when she will be running in the new riding of Prince Edward Hastings, presented the Senior of the Year award to Flinton Community Club stalwart Carolyn Hasler.

Carolyn Hasler was recognised for years of service to the club and other causes. She said she didn’t mind working full time as a volunteer, “because it doesn’t feel like work.” She thanked the other volunteers in the community, and singled out her husband for his unending support.

Leona Dombrowsky said she is going to miss the people that she has gotten to know in her eight years representing Lennox and Addington and Frontenac Counties. “People here have also brought issues to me that were important not only here, but in the rest of the province as well,” she said.

Scott Reid is not leaving Lanark Frontenac Lennox and Addington. He has been acclaimed as the Conservative candidate in the riding whenever a federal election is called, and has already won two elections in the past three years. He came to council to outline the services his office provides, which include helping people to navigate federal departments such as Immigration and Revenue Canada, and helping people who are having difficulty obtaining passports.

“People who are the least likely to pose a threat through international terrorism are sometimes having g the most difficult time obtaining passports because they may be older and were born in rural places and never had a birth certificate. We are always happy to arrange passports for them,” he said.

His office arranges certificates to mark special occasions and he also works on issue advocacy, including some provincial issues.

Scott Reid is also known for buying defibrillators with the pay raise money he, and all other MPs, received in 2001. “MPs were making $109,000 at the time. If a single guy living in a small town can’t get by on $109,000, he’s not trying too hard,” he said.

In the past six years, defibrillators have been donated for hockey rinks, town halls, small police forces and others throughout the riding, and Reid said that a protocol is now being set up to make sure that communities that need the units will be receiving them. In addition to a portion of Scott Reid’s salary, an annual golf tournament has been established to raise money for this project.

Mazinaw Boat launch – John MacDonald from the Mazinaw Lake Property Owners Association brought a proposal to council that is aimed at resolving a problem of access for Mazinaw Lake’s 150 water access cottages that are in Addington Highlands.

In the past, the boat launch at the former Bon Echo Villa Store was used by people, but the store is now closed. There is a boat launch on the North Frontenac portion of the lake, and Addington Highlands has paid for half of all improvements at Tappin’s Bay.

However, John MacDonald said that Tappin’s Bay is overcrowded, “and North Frontenac has shut the door on any proposal to expand that facility.” He came to council to see if the township will lead a push to free up some waterfront off of Mazinaw Heights Road by seeking a land use permit from the Ministry of Natural Resources, which owns the property.

The property would be suitable for a dock, which would not be used for storing boats; it would only be for loading people and belongings from vehicles, which could be parked at the back of the lot. “The ministry said that they would look more favourably on the township seeking a land use permit than a lake association,” MacDonald said.

Two neighbouring property owners, who have cottages to the south of the proposed dock location, also attended the council meeting, and they spoke against the proposal. “This land use runs contrary to the enjoyment of my property,” said one of them, who quoted from the Official Plan in regards to competing interests in property use.

Council will look at the proposal.

Burn barrels – Council received a letter from Lennox and Addington Stewardship Council asking them to consider banning burn barrels on the grounds that they pollute the atmosphere because of low temperature combustion and the burning of recyclable materials.

Deputy Mayor Helen Yanch wondered, “Who are the stewardship council? Are they elected officials? Do they think that everyone lives in some fairy world?”

Fire Chief Casey Cuddy was in attendance, and he said that while he has not seen the letter he “has come to the conclusion that it is time to ban bun barrels. I’ve had 50 complaints about them in the past two years. They would be all right if they were properly set up, and they weren’t burning recyclables, but as it stands they are a hazard.”

Council decided to seek more information about the L&A Stewardship Council.

New pumper- Council accepted a recommendation from Fire Chief Cuddy, and approved the purchase of a Carrier Eone pumper on an International Chassis for $190,000 from Carrier Emergency Inc. for the Denbigh fire hall.