Central Frontenac Referenda Plans Nixed in 8-0 vote
After an hour-long barrage of comments from residents at a public meeting, Central Frontenac Council decided unanimously not to hold any referenda this fall, as part of the municipal election process.
Councillor Duncan McGregor, with support from Councillor Nicki Gowdy, had proposed holding two referenda this fall, to deal with issues that they felt should be decided by direct democratic means, instead of a vote on council.
The one that attracted the most attention was a proposal for curbside waste pick up in the township.
Based on a request from McGregor, public works staff completed a preliminary report on the cost of setting up a system, that was presented to Council and the public, in early February.
The report, by Amanda Fellows, including estimated costing of several million dollars in up front costs for either an in-house or contracted out system, based on information gathered from municipalities across the region that provide the service for their residents.
The second proposed referendum was whether to continue operating a septic reinspection program in Central Frontenac.
In both cases, the proposed ballot questions did not include any costing, they just asked voters to say yes or no to operating each program using Central Frontenac tax dollars.
The questions needed to be submitted to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs by Sunday, March 1st, to get on the ballot.
Information about costing for both programs, was to be prepared by Staff and Council in time to be brought forward to the public in the run up to the October election.
At the meeting on Friday (February 28), Chief Administrative Officer Cathy MacMunn and Mayor Frances Smith took turns reading out email submissions from residents, before another half dozen or so residents addressed Council directly. The comments focused mainly on the curbside pickup proposal, and aside from one or two of the written submissions, they pointed out a number of logistical and financial concerns about curbside pickup, in a township like Central Frontenac, and about holding a referendum on the matter.
When it came time for council members to comment on it, the opinions of some council members who had been opposed to the plan from the start appeared to be shared by council members who had not chosen to speak on the matter on one side, or the other.
Nicki said that she had advocated for Council to look at both issues because she has been hearing from residents during and in between elections, about wanting the township to look at them.
Duncan McGregor said that during the all-candidates meeting, before the election in 2022, he heard from people in the Oso Hall about curbside pickup.
“I asked people, by a show of hands, how many wanted it, and just about everyone raised their hand. When I then asked who was willing to pay more taxes for it, less hands went up. I don't really care one way or another whether we have this or not, but I thought it should be up to the public to decide about something like this, that will cost a lot of tax dollars, not Council. That is why I proposed holding a referendum,” he said.
When it came time to vote, every one on council, including Councillors Gowdy and McGregor, voted ‘no’ to holding any referendum.
The only council member who did not vote ‘no’, was Deputy Mayor Cindy Kelsey, who was not at the meeting.
Briefs from Central Frontenac
Council met for their regular meeting on Tuesday, February 24.
The agenda was light at the meeting, which only ran 16 minutes. Fire department reports were the main topic at the meeting.
Fire Chief Chris McDonough, reporting virtually because of an illness, reported that the department has received three grants in recent weeks. The first is for $86,000 towards a Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) fill station at Fire Station 2 (Mountain Grove).
A little later in the meeting, Council approved an expenditure of $109,000 from M&L Supply for the installation of the fill station, within 120 days. The Request For Proposals for the purchase was initiated in late January, in anticipation of the grant being forthcoming, and the price is within the amount budgeted for the purchase in the 2026 township budget.
The department also received a $7,500 grant from the Ministry of Natural Resources to support a Community Wildlife Protection Plan and a $500 grant from FireSmart Canada to hold a Wildlife Community Preparedness Day event on May 2nd.
In the bi-monthly activity report, there were 7 vehicle extraction calls, 6 fire calls, and 5 vehicle collision calls in the period.
Remuneration Report
The annual council remuneration report for 2025 was tabled at the meeting. The base pay for council members was $17,125 for the year, the Deputy Mayor for the year (Bill Everett) received $19,600, and Mayor Frances Smith received $27,650. Every member of council also received a $1,200 stipend for expenses. There were smaller mileage and per diem payments for some members of council.
Mayor Smith and Councillor Nicki Gowdy are Central Frontenac appointees to Frontenac County Council, where they receive remuneration. Those amounts were not included in this report
