Addington Highlands Steps Forward For Pine Meadow

Mary Kelly appeared before Addington Highlands Council at their August meeting on behalf of Land O'Lakes Community Services (LOLCS), of which she is the board chair.

Kelly explained that Pine Meadow Nursing Home, which is owned by LOLCS, recently needed a new roof installed. Kelly said that the roof replacement was not planned, but the roof was leaking into patient rooms in one part of the building, so it had to be done immediately, at a cost of $225,000.

She said that this cost has depleted the Nursing Home capital reserve fund for this year, and there are other capital needs that cannot wait.

“If it is possible for the township to waive the fees associated with the roof replacement, I think it was $4,600, that would be a big help” she said.

“We can't waive building permit fees,” said Reeve Fritsch, “but perhaps there is some other way that we can do this.”

“Reeve Fritsch is correct,”said Chief Administrative Office Christine Reed, “our building department is revenue neutral and our fees are in place to cover its costs, but if Council wishes we can take funds from our general reserve for capital, even though this is not in the budget for this year, and replenish those funds in the next budget cycle in 2027.”

“I can make that motion,” said Councillor Kirby Thompson. This is an essential part of our community and I think we should help out.”

The motion was approved.

Asset Management

Andrew Mirabella from Hemson Consulting, appeared before Council to deliver the asset management plan and provide recommendations for Council to address levels of service, in light of replacement costs for all its physical assets. This is required by the Province, and the future ability of the township to access provincial grants, is both the carrot and the stick in this process.

Mirabella said that Hemson has determined that the township has about $254million in assets, of which the build ($192million) is the road and bridge network.

Of these assets, about 44% are in “Good to Very Good”condition, 13% are in “Fair” condition and 43% are in “Poor or Very Poor” condition.

Most of the poor assets are within the road network, vehicles and equipment. The vehicles and equipment analysis is an age based analysis, so even if vehicles and equipment are still working, they are beyond their designed working life.

Hemson said that the plan is based on maintaining the level of service that the township currently has in place, not raising it or lowering it.

The paved road network in the township is currently rated at a “good” level, 73 on the scale that Hemson uses, and the proposal is to maintain those assets at a minimum of 70. The unpaved road network is currently at 57.9, a “poor rating”, and it is recommended that roads be maintained at not less than a 50 level. Bridge conditions in the municipality are currently at a “Fair” level, 64, and it is recommended they be maintained at a minimum of 60. Structural culverts are currently at a 59 “poor” level and it is recommended that level be raised to 60, a “Fair” level.

The buildings that the township owns are in top condition, 100 and the proposal is to maintain them at a 90. Equipment is rated as poor and the recommendation is to bring the average to a fair rating through more aggressive replacement. Currently 25% of the township's vehicles are beyond their supposed useful lives, which results in higher maintenance costs, and the recommendation is to maintain that level and have it become a higher portion of the fleet.

In terms of a funding gap to maintain the current levels of service, Mirabella pegged that at a $3.2 million gap over 10 years, which can be covered with an annual increase in taxation of 1.7%, or $70,000, per year over that period of time. Because it is an annual increase, the first $70,000 brings in $700,000 over ten years, the second $630,000, and so on.

Councillor Thompson wondered why the township's gravel roads are rated as poor.

“We maintain our gravel roads, we ditch them, so how are those standards determined?”

Mirabella said this analysis was done based on engineering standards, and might not catch improvements made to the road network after the analysis was done.

Deputy Reeve Hook put a question to Brett Reavie, the Roads Superintendent.

“Would you consider that 45% of our vehicles and 65% of our equipment are in poor condition?

“We have made some purchases since this report was done. Once we do our update again, it changes the flow of things,” said Reavie.

Christine Reed pointed out that the township has been increasing capital spending in recent years to keep all the roads and bridges, vehicles and equipment in reasonable shape, and the proposal by Hemson is to continue to increase spending in about the same way.

“I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I think we included an increase of $70,300, so essentially we are already there.”

Mirabella pointed out, in closing, that the plan is “exactly that, a plan, but you make the decisions each year at budget time based on what is in front of you.”

Alto Project Update Proposal

Joel Wiebe from Alto wrote to Reeve Fritsch, offering to bring an overview of the first stage of consultation for the project, but because of the changes being proposed to the route, Council did not feel it necessary to invite Wiebe to appear before Council.

Denbigh Culvert

The preliminary engineering drawings for the Bridge Street Culvert came before Council. The new culvert will be as deep or slightly deeper than the one that has failed, making it deep enough for kayaks or canoes to pass through. The tender documents will be prepared and will come back to Council. Since there is only one council meeting scheduled this month, CAO Reed said she may call a special meeting if the tender documents are ready more quickly, to keep the project moving as fast as possible.

Denbigh Garage Roof Replacement

Council awarded the contract for a new roof at the Denbigh garage for a cost of $228,450, which is $8,450 over the $220,000 in the budget for the contract, to Bel-Con Design Builders.

Backhoe issues

The backhoe at the Northbrook garage has been repaired often recently, but keeps breaking down and Roads Superintendent Reavie wants to move on from it. Because a backhoe replacement is not in the 2026 budget, Reavie recommends leasing a new backhoe with an option to purchase next year, at a total cost of about $225,000.

The new council will be able to decide to continue with the purchase after the election.

Truck Naming Contest

A number of suggestions came in to name a new truck the township has purchased. Among the recommended names were Duke of Addington Highlands, Blizzard Bear, Snoop Dogg, but the one name that all of council liked best was “Boss Hogg” a tribute to the late Reeve Hogg, and a reference to the Dukes of Hazzard tv show.

Special Meeting To Consider New Planning Services

Council agreed to meet, virtually, on July 14 to go over proposals for the provision of planning services to the township. An RFP yielded 5 proposals, which staff need to go through in order to make a recommendation.

Voluntary Septic Inspection Program – At the Annual General Meeting of the Mazinaw Property Owners Association, Reeve Frishe received a request that the township look into setting up a voluntary septic inspection program, similar to the one that is in place in North Frontenac. The township has looked at this before, and opted not to, but Fritsch asked Council to request a staff report on the feasibility of a program, which they did