Letters

Jeff Green | Apr 26, 2007

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Letters to the Editor

History on Pine Lake

I own a cottage on Pine Lake, which my husband, my kids and I share with my parents and my brother.

I have been coming to Pine Lake all my life. My father, Frank, has been coming all his life. It's this way because my great grandfather James Derue built this cottage in 1950 and it's been in my family ever since. In fact, it was the first one built on the lake.

At that time, my great grandfather was the local entrepreneur in Ardoch. He and his wife, Elsie, owned and operated the general store and the saw mill. They opened and managed the Pine Lake cottages and trailer park. Even though that was in the 1950s, people still remember and talk about them today.

Last summer a group of people clear cut two pieces of land at Pine Lake -- one beside my cottage and the other across the road. Three weeks ago they drilled a well. They say they are planning to build an office building, a community centre, a parking lot and Pow wow grounds to accommodate 1700 people. They even speak of one day building a seniors home.

I am told by the Ministry of Natural Resources that this group does not legally own this land, that they have not obtained a building permit nor have they conducted an environmental assessment that has been approved by the province to ensure that environmental and safety concerns are addressed. Apparently they have hired someone to do their own assessment, which is not the same thing.

Frankly, I am confused. Why do we have a building code and environmental assessment regulations? Are they meaningless or optional? How can a group of people not abide by our laws and then justify their actions by saying they have history here?

I have history here. I also do my best to follow the laws of our country because I want to live in peace with my neighbours. All I ask is that my neighbours do the same.

Janette Derue-Lane

Re: Ontario Roadsides -

Recently when my grandson Mason Lowery and I were walking along a stretch of Hwy.41 and saw the mess on the roadside, we decided to do some cleanup. It is most frustrating when you see what people toss out the window as they pass by. This ATV trailer full of garbage is some indication of the magnitude of things left on our roadsides.

It took just one-half kilometer to fill this trailer. I think it’s deplorable the way we treat rural Ontario roadsides. I believe we live in the greatest province in this country - why do we not have the good sense to take care of it? It might be tradition to live with rough surfaces, but at least we can attempt to keep the roadsides clean. Maybe if we did our part in keeping Ontario clean, we might encourage the provincial and municipal road departments into helping out with the roads in their jurisdictions. It would sure be nice to see our roadside grass mowing being carried out again as it once was, and the brush cut -- not only to keep it looking nice, but also consider the safety factor for drivers and their families using these roads. Wildlife can be in front of you too easily with the vegetation growing along some portions of our roadsides.

For what it’s worth, last year my wife and I drove to Alaska, across Canada and back through the USA, some 23,000 kms. And I must tell you, as much as I love Ontario, it was most depressing when we came back and looked at the roadsides in Ontario compared to what we had become accustomed to seeing.

I say to you, if we all pull together and do our part, we can make Ontario roadsides second to none and something we can all be proud of.

- Larry Hartin

Dear Editor

Mayor Gutowski must have been a figure skater in a previous life. That was an impressive display of gliding around in circles to set up for the big spin that she performed in her letter that was published here last week. Since creative thinking seems to be in short supply on Central Frontenac council (and let’s not forget that the current mayor and three of the councillors were part of the previous council), here’s a plan that will mitigate the ridiculous mess that they have created. Move the Kennebec road crew and their equipment back to the Arden municipal garage. Move the Olden Fire Dept. into the new four-bay extension recently built onto the Olden municipal garage to house the Kennebec equipment. Take the $465,000 slated for the new fire truck garage in Mountain Grove, add to it the $118,000 that Bill Snyder is so desperate to spend hard topping his favourite side road and there will be plenty to spend on salt domes for Arden and Olden ($240,000 each - Frontenac News, May 25/06) with enough left over to build a nice lounge for the Olden fire crew. Or the $15,000 shortfall can simply be made up by the decreased operating costs that not driving the Kennebec equipment back and forth on the highway all day will provide. That way Mr. Snyder’s neighbours can have their pavement. . . but no lounge for Olden. I wonder if they’ll pave my road too if I keep complaining.

The facilities at the new Sharbot Lake fire truck garage along with the empty municipal garage beside it (the stupidity of that should live forever) and surrounding empty township yard should be plenty to service any of the training seminars Mayor Gutowski lauded, although you have to wonder how many generations will go by before any revenue generated will be worth bragging about.

-Patrick Maloney

Re: “Consolidate rural schools”

I read with dismay the front-page story on the proposal to close and "consolidate" our rural schools. Here is yet another Mississauga"consultant" beingpaid by our tax dollars to recommend the further evisceration of our communities.

With oil and gas prices skyrocketing,supplies dwindling, and global climate change transforming everything around us, further centralization is the last thing anyone but an ostrich should be contemplating.

What on earthcan they be thinking?

In his book, "The Long Emergency", James Howard Kunstler describes North American society as "sleepwalking into the future". If the Limestone Schoolboardshows any sign of taking seriouslythe Mississauga proposalsto close our few remaining small rural schools, we the people should give them a sharp awakening.

Helen Forsey