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Jeff Green | Apr 26, 2007

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Trail talk inCentralFrontenac

byJeff Green

K&P TRAIL ADVOCATES Doug Knapp, a long-time trail advocate from Kingston, appeared before council to exhort the township to assume the K&P line from Piccadilly to Sharbot Lake. Knapp was not aware of the most recent initiatives take by Frontenac County (see Surprise, Surprise on page 1), but he said that it would not take very much work to turn the part of the trail that runs from Piccadilly to Tichborne, where it meets with a 3-kilometre stretch in the Bedford District of South Frontenac, into a usable trail.

The portion running from the north end of Bedford to Sharbot Lake is problematic, Knapp admitted, because much of the line has been sold to private landowners, and some people have built houses in the middle of the former rail line. Knapp recommended using Road 38 in those cases for the time being, to ensure that the trail is complete between the Cataraqui Trail in Harrowsmith, and the Trans Canada Trail in Sharbot Lake, ensuring that Frontenac County is part of the Trans Canada network. He said this would have economic development benefits.

BUDGET APPROVED Final 2007 budget numbers were presented for approval. In order to balance the township budget, which represents 60.5% of the municipal tax bill, an increase of 1.6% in the tax rate charged to Central Frontenac ratepayers by their own council will be implemented.

Taking into account the levy for the County of Frontenac, which represents 20.5% of the amount paid by taxpayers and is up 1.5% this year, and the levy for education taxes, which is 18.9% of the levy and stayed the same this year, the overall tax rate in Central Frontenac is 1.2% higher than it was in 2006.

For a house and property valued at $100,000, the ratepayer will pay $1,393 in 2007, an $18 increase over 2006. Taxes will rise at the same rate for almost all ratepayers in Central Frontenac this year, because property assessments have been frozen, as improvements to the much maligned assessment system are undertaken.

PUBLIC WORKS HIRING COMMITTEE FORMED Mayor Gutowski, Deputy Mayor Bill Snyder, and Councilor Jeff Matson will join acting clerk John DuChene and a technical expert on a hiring committee for the new Public Works Manager. Eighteen people have applied for the job thus far, and the deadline for applications is tomorrow.

REZONING FOR FIRE HALL The proposed site for the Mountain Grove fire hall is zoned as mineral aggregate resource and will need to be re-zoned for fire hall purposes. Township planner Cathy MacMunn said the process should take about a month and should not affect the timing of fire hall construction. Fire Chief Mark MacDonald is on record as saying construction will be around deer hunting season.

Shop Local Week The township has designated April 29 to May 5 as “Shop Local Week”.