Addington Highlands Council - Nov 4/25
Before getting on to the business of the day, members of council and Staff took the opportunity to say a few words about Reeve Henry Hogg, at the first meeting of council since he died in mid October. The second scheduled meeting of October was cancelled.
In a demonstration of how tight knit the local community is, more than one member of staff said their first memory of Henry Hogg was as their school bus driver. His dedication to the townships and the needs and perspectives of all its residents were a common theme, as was his sneaky sense of humour that caught people off guard. An open house gathering was held on Saturday, November 8 at Milestone Funeral Home, and township waste sites were closed for the day to allow all staff to attend.
Moving on to township business, it was a busy meeting, as it had been almost a month since the last meeting.
Skootamatta District Ratepayers Association (SDRA) – Asian Milfoil Strategy.
Marianne Plumb and Jeff Miller from the SDRA brought a report about their efforts to combat an Asian milfoil invasion that has impacted Skootmatta Lake. The association came to Council a year ago with a request for township to endorse and partner in a grant application that the association submitted, which was not successful, leading the SDRA to pivot to what Marianne Plumb described as their “self funded model”.
Asian milfoil was first identified in the lake in 2023, and as of the beginning of the 2025 summer season there were 8 large colonies of the plant on the lake, including some that have grown to over 4000 square metres. There are also hundreds of small patches. Areas of the lake that are targeted by the milfoil are mainly those with a water depth of between 8' and 14'.
Jeff Miller talked about some of the strategies employed by SDRA members to gain some measure of control over the plant, including removal through diving or by using a tool fashioned by the SDRA. Since the only effective way to eliminate milfoil is to pull it by the root, the deeper the water, the more difficult the removal is.
Both of the presenters said that the washing station provided by Quinte Conservation over the July 5th weekend, which was orchestrated with the township, was an eye opener for boaters coming to the lake about what measures are necessary to prevent boats from spreading milfoil, and other invasive species from lake to lake.
They asked if the township would take further steps to help them as they attempt to keep Asian milfoil from continuing to spread through Skootamatta and other township lakes.
One of those steps is for the township to form a working group, with township and public participation to address the problem, and another was for the township to advocate for the plant to be designated provincially as a “prohibited species”, which would free up funding to combat it. It currently has a lesser designation as a “restricted species.”
Councillor Hook proposed a resolution identifying the threat from Asian milfoil. The resolution requests that the designation be changed, and will be forwarded to other municipalities for endorsement.and to the province, The resolution also called for the establishment of the working group.
Council passed the motion.
Quinte Conservation Preliminary Budget – The preliminary Quinte Conservation Budget is up 6.5% from last year, in terms of the bill to Addington Highlands. The levy to AH will be $44,144 in 2026.
Councillor Hook said that while a 6.5% increase is never welcome, Quinte has been very helpful to the township's efforts to combat invasive species, among other things.
Christmas is Coming – the township is supporting the Northbrook Christmas Parade and the stationary parade in Denigh, as well as the Denbigh festival of lights.
Construction Recovery
Chief Building Official David Tweedy reported that after a relatively slow spring and summer, building activity “has been very busy these last two months, 25 permits have been issued. That's very good news, and is a positive indication for next year's activity, and quite a few of those were new homes, so I'm delighted to tell you that.”
He added that he will be reaching out by letter to people who have taken out building permits over the last two years and appear not to have moved forward on their projects, because those permits do lapse if no follow through activity takes place.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Council went into closed session for 40 minutes to discuss, among other things, an update regarding a municipal employee and then receive an update regarding pending litigation affecting the township.
Second In-Camera Meeting
Council met again, on Monday, November 10, over Zoom, for a second in-camera meeting, to receive a report on litigation affecting the municipality, which lasted about 15 minutes. After the in-camera meeting, staff were directed to follow Council’s instructions from the in-camera meeting. No more details about the matter were released.
By holding the special meeting, a procedural process was triggered. The Municipal Act stipulates that on the death of a sitting head of council, the position must be declared vacant by the second meeting after the death. Further actions to determine how Council will replace the position of reeve, which is also covered by the Municipal Act, will take place at the regularly scheduled council meeting on November 18.
