Cty_council_09-35

Jeff Green | Sep 03, 2009

For several years members of Frontenac County Council have lamented the lack of profile the county has on a provincial, even regional basis.

The county actually disappeared as an entity in 1998 and was replaced by a management board, but was resurrected several years later and has been trying to emerge from the shadow of its larger neighbours such as Leeds and Grenville, Lanark and the City of Kingston ever since.

And the efforts have now paid off, at least in terms of Frontenac County’s relationship with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the umbrella organisation for large and small municipalities in the province.

Aside from its role as a lobbying organisation, AMO has been contracted by the federal and provincial governments to oversee granting programs for municipalities, including the Federal Gas Tax Transfer and economic stimulus funding.

Two weeks ago, on August 18, federal Minister of State, Gordon O’Connor and Peter Hume, President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), presented Frontenac County with an AMO Federal Gas Tax Award for the Integrated Community Sustainability Plan, citing the county’s extensive public consultation process.

“The beauty of this plan is that it brought all five of Frontenac’s municipal governments together for the very first time to collaborate on sustainability needs,” said Peter Hume, AMO President. “It considered everything from the health of local trails and waterways, to the long-term viability of local business and attracting new investment.”

Last week, senior county council member Jim Vanden Hoek (Mayor of Frontenac Islands Township) was named to the AMO Board as a member of the county caucus and to the executive committee of the organisation.

This is the culmination of efforts that Vanden Hoek has made over the past couple of years, with the express intent of raising Frontenac County’s profile within the province and in Eastern Ontario.

“AMO’s Board of Directors benefits from membership from across the province, reflecting the diversity of Ontario’s municipal governments,” said AMO President Peter Hume in announcing Vanden Hoek’s appointment. ■