Letters_09-41

Jeff Green | Oct 15, 2009

Patriot Missiles in North Frontenac, Dave Winney

Hydro debt? Ina Hunt-Turner

Patriot Missiles in North Frontenac

Dear Mr. Maguire

I need to express a small beef that I have with respect to the new garbage recycling/bagging requirements in North Frontenac. Just before I do, though, I also have an interesting proposal for council.

Now that North Frontenac has officially become the largest employer North of 7, it’s a matter of time before taxpayers are asked to fund a new municipal building to accommodate all these permanent and temporary employees and consultants. As respectful taxpayers, we will do so, proudly and maybe even willingly. I only ask that you set aside a small office for myself and my neighbour, Roger. My proposal follows and our CVs will be sent under separate cover!

First though, I am a retired military engineer with years of experience in mine warfare in some rather exotic parts of the world. Roger is also a retired military man and was an air traffic controller, and arguably, may even have some skills in air weapons systems. Our proposal deals with the protection of our Kashwakamak landfill site. The more prestigious landfill site at 506 recently had an electric fence installed to keep the bears away. We need a similar setup at the Kash site but unfortunately the fence theory does nothing to rid the area of bears (something to do with the eau de dump fragrance) so the bears just continue to patrol the perimeter and every now and then they still breech the fence - not to mention the raccoons that continue to infiltrate as do the turkey vultures. This is where Roger and I come in!!

We propose a secondary line of defense consisting of anti-personnel mines (seeded randomly just inside the fence) and a patriot missile system for those damn turkey vultures. Now, Roger won’t get all the vultures with the Patriot missiles, but he’ll certainly scare them enough to make them patrol the perimeter with the bears. A small problem here: some of the year-round residents (taxpayers) have taken to picking up bags of garbage, left on the side of the road by a handful of inconsiderate transient cottagers, and these taxpayers, myself included, with good intentions, walk the garbage into the dump to prevent raccoons from doing what they do best which is make a mess. Well, unfortunately, some of these folks are going to be lost to my AP mines; however, I consider this to be acceptable collateral damage. Saves them from a $5000 fine anyway.

Roger doesn’t need to be a full time employee; he’ll be temporary (particularly if he walks to work through my minefield) but I’ll be either full-time or a consultant. Your choice! We’re retired and don’t need much money; you can even pay us by giving us complementary clear plastic garbage bags which brings me to my main topic.

Who was the rocket scientist that came up with the plan to (initially, without notice) switch to clear plastic bags for garbage and recycle? Council has, in effect, made a decision that carries with it financial and logistical consequences for every taxpayer with virtually no plan to offset these consequences. During these recessionary times homeowners and more so business owners (such as myself) do what we can to reduce costs. We all shop at big box stores to purchase materials in bulk at reduced prices. I personally, have boxes of green plastic bags in various quantities of 100 to 500 depending on sizes. What do I do with them? Council initially wanted to implement the clear plastic fiasco immediately, but after ducking the resulting rotten tomato onslaught, they postponed for about three months. O.K! You saved me the cost of 12 bags. Businesses, such as Marble Lake Lodge, had invested in a completely new containerized system to better handle their waste and now you tell them they can’t use it! For Pete’s sake, assess consequences before you make decisions and, if necessary, develop plans to offset those consequences.

Don’t think I’m going to leave the door open here for some bright star amongst your horde of employees to respond that the environmental impact of ignoring recycling is the biggest consequence of all. We taxpayers are intensely engaged in doing what we can to protect and preserve our environment. We, not council, organize and fund activities such as regular neighbourhood road cleanups to pick up waste left by seasonal tourists who have decided that it is too onerous to comply with the tedious protocols for delivering waste to the landfills. Many of us take it upon ourselves to lecture people who simply throw their rubbish beside the roads with no consideration for the environment or those of us who live here. Just this week, I personally offered up a physical exchange of divergent opinions with three young cretans who felt justified in throwing trash in my parking lot and urinating against the LCBO wall, in the centre of Northbrook, in broad daylight. Do not try to lecture me on protecting the environment and my community. I’m good to go!

What do I propose as a plan to offset all the above? Naturally, I have a few suggestions! 1) Phase your plan in over a longer period of time. 2) Make better use of consultations with businesses, such as Marble Lake Lodge, to develop solutions acceptable to both parties. 3) Establish an exchange system with the simple taxpayer to trade normal green garbage bags for clear plastic bags for a one year period.

Once again, here comes that bright star at the municipal office who asks “what will we do with all the green plastic bags?” Most taxpayers will tell you they don’t care what you do with them although I suspect some will have some specific ideas of their own. Once again, I naturally have a suggestion. Apparently if these bags are cut into pieces, one can use them to apply a painting technique on walls to produce a very rich, faux leather look. If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to see that look applied to the walls of the office that Roger and I will occupy in our new municipal building!!!

Remember! We’re all in this together.

Respectfully,

See North Frontenac Councils' response

Am I the only one who feels this way? It happens every time that I get my hydro bill; I am told how much I am paying for a debt that is not of my making. I have always paid my hydro bill and I try to live within my means so it really is not my debt. However, aside from that, when are we ever going to get an account of how much of the debt is actually getting paid? Any normal and legal business would have a barometer showing how close we are to achieving our goal but the hydro does not seem to feel that they have to give an account of themselves.

Ina Hunt-Turner