Frontenac News - Nicol

Jeff Green | Mar 29, 2007

Feature Article - March 29, 2007

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Feature Article - March 29, 2007

Nicol resigns againby Jeff Green

Interim Central Frontenac Chief Administrative Officer John DuChene formally informed Central Frontenac Council that Public Works Manager Bill Nicol has submitted his resignation, effective the end of this week.

A search is already underway for Nicol’s replacement.

Bill Nicol submitted his resignation once before, in early December, but at that time he was persuaded to stay on just as an advertisement for his replacement was about to be circulated. In mid-January, he went on leave for unspecified reasons. He returned in mid-March, only to submit his two-week notice. During his final two weeks on the job he assisted staff in preparing information for budget deliberations.

“We are going to be doing an administrative review this year, which may change some aspects of the Public Works Manager’s job, but we need to hire someone in the interim,” said Mayor Janet Gutowski.

Sydenham_regatta_2007Mountain Grove Fire hall to go to tender after all John DuChene reported to council that he received a letter last week from Cornerstone Construction. “The letter effectively said that Cornerstone cannot meet the square metre cost for the Mountain Grove fire hall that they provided for the Sharbot Lake Hall.” In January, Council narrowly gave approval to a plan whereby Cornerstone would be given the contract for the Mountain Grove Hall without tendering, provided they could meet the same price per square metre they provided for the just completed Sharbot Lake hall.

The contract will now be tendered. Council gave staff the authority to initiate the process towards getting design plans in place and tendering the project.

Garrison Shores back to the drawing board – Just when it seemed the Garrison Shores bureaucratic nightmare was about to end, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs weighed in this week. The ill-fated development on Garrison Lake near Arden, which was initiated in 1980 by developers that are long gone, leaving dozens of property owners with no deed to their properties, has been the subject of much township work over the past 10 years or more. A proposed Official Plan amendment that would make the existing properties legal and protect the lake from further development was developed by township planning consultant Glenn Tunnock.

However, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, in a draft decision by one of its planners, Laurie Miller, rejected proposed language by Tunnock which set out a 20 metre setback from the high water mark for the development, seeking to replace it with a 30 metre setback, which is in the township’s Official Plan and has become the norm in Eastern Ontario.

Miller appeared before Council, and she said she would be happy to meet with Glenn Tunnock and the lawyer for the Garrison Shores Owners Association to work out a solution.

They are hoping to have something in place within 60 days.

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