North Frontenac Council Report - Jul 9/26

Kelly Willis made a presentation to Council regarding the former Robertsville Mine site on Road 509. At one time the site housed a large crushing building, as well as a mine. The building was rarely used and in 2007 it was leased to a small uranium exploration company, as a base for it to study the viability of a uranium resource on some adjacent lands where the company had mining claims.

The property was the subject of an occupation by two local Indigenous communities, the Shabot Obaadjiwan and the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and Allies (AAFNA), which began in late June of 2008, and extended through the summer.

The occupation ended with two arrests, and one member of AAFNA, Bob Lovelace, served time in jail because he would not commit to a judicial order to remain off the property.

The mining claims ended up lapsing and the land has been pulled from the mining registry as it is included in the Algonquin Land Claim. The mine site, 53 acres, has become township property. Willis asked that the township keep the property instead of trying to sell it off, as a potential site for development.

She noted that it is located across from a paramedic station, is close to Ardoch Road and Central Frontenac, and could also be used as a site for a medical facility, a campground or RV park or have some other public use.

She added that the township has a minimum bid amount of $211,000, which is under $4,000 an acre, when the market value for acreage is $25,000 to $50,000 per acre.

She also noted a couple of other smaller properties she thinks the township should hold on to.

Councillor Fred Fowler said that there are complications with the Robertsville Mine site related not to uranium but to what was mined on the site, which would make it extremely expensive to mitigate, in order to develop the site.

Mayor Gerry Lichty said that the township does not own the site, but is trying to sell it off only in order to recoup lost tax revenue.

“We are not in a position to take on the liability of remediating a site like this. We only have a $7.8 million annual budget and we cannot take on something that could cost $1million or more, to fix. The situation is similar for the smaller properties that you mentioned,” he said to Kelly Willis.

Communal Services Annual Report

A delegation from Frontenac Municipal Services (FMS), a corporation partly owned by North Frontenac, made a similar presentation to ones they have brought to other Frontenac townships and the county, in recent months.

The corporation was founded as the result of an effort by Frontenac County Council and Staff to facilitate larger developments in Frontenac County than can be accomplished using the private well and septic model that is the norm in rural Ontario.

The corporation has been involved in technical work and lobbying efforts to bring developments with communal services to Frontenac County. It will be managing the water system for the Verona Housing project that South Frontenac Township is building, and is hoping to get involved in private sector developments in the future.

Councillor Wayne Good asked about the viability of communal systems on the kind of developments that are likely in North Frontenac, smaller developments in the range of 5-10 homes on a granite substrate. FMS Executive Director Justin Bromberg responded by saying that there are systems available that are suitable for such smaller, technically challenging applications, and FMS is ready should those kinds of opportunities arise.

Short Term Rentals

A staff report on the logistics and some of the implications of licensing short term rental properties in North Frontenac, outlined how there are two main reasons for licensing; health and safety concerns, and environmental concerns.

When speaking to other municipalities who have implemented licensing, the most common message was that a robust public consultation process is necessary to make sure that any system that is set up, aligns itself with “actual community needs”.

The norm in terms of cost for communities of less than 8,000 people, is for license fees to be between $500 and $1,000 annually, and the systems are mostly designed to be revenue neutral for the municipality, the fees collected cover costs to administer, monitor and police the system.

The report said that with staff workload and the specialised nature of short-term rental licensing, using consultants to look first at a business plan for a short-term rental licensing system, and secondly at implementing one, if the business case persuades Council to take the final step.

The estimated cost of a business plan is about $15,000, but the price will be determined by the response to an RFP process that Council approved at the meeting.

When the business plan is complete, Council will decide to move forward and go to the public with a proposal to set up a made in North Frontenac short term rental licensing system.

Update on Clarendon Central

Councillor Huetl prepared a written report based on a virtual meeting that he attended with Limestone District School Board officials along with members of the Clarendon Central School Board Parent Council.

The meeting came about after members of the parent council came to the township with their concerns about the future of the school in light of staffing cuts. In his written report, Huetl said that one of the two teaching positions at the school which was previously allocated as a .66 position has now been posted as a 0.55 position.

But, after his report was written, Huetl said that he has received some good news, the teaching assistant position at the school will be upgraded to a full time position for the 2026-2027 school year.

“There has been no change in the teaching position as of yet. They will look at that in August.”

The parent council had asked for a support letter from the township, but in light of the changes that were just announced, they asked the township to hold off for the moment.

Issues with Roof at Clarendon Rink

There have been issues with the roof under construction at the Clar Mil Rink. The matter was discussed at the in camera portion of the meeting, and when council returned to open session, , a motion was passed to transfer $15,000 for the deductible in regards to the Plevna rink roof incident from the operating contingency reserve, and if funds are recuperated from the insurance company, Council directs the treasury to return the funds back to the operating contingency reserve.

Kelly Willis made a presentation to Council regarding the former Robertsville Mine site on Road 509. At one time the site housed a large crushing building, as well as a mine. The building was rarely used and in 2007 it was leased to a small uranium exploration company, as a base for it to study the viability of a uranium resource on some adjacent lands where the company had mining claims.

The property was the subject of an occupation by two local Indigenous communities, the Shabot Obaadjiwan and the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and Allies (AAFNA), which began in late June of 2008, and extended through the summer.

The occupation ended with two arrests, and one member of AAFNA, Bob Lovelace, served time in jail because he would not commit to a judicial order to remain off the property.

The mining claims ended up lapsing and the land has been pulled from the mining registry as it is included in the Algonquin Land Claim. The mine site, 53 acres, has become township property. Willis asked that the township keep the property instead of trying to sell it off, as a potential site for development.

She noted that it is located across from a paramedic station, is close to Ardoch Road and Central Frontenac, and could also be used as a site for a medical facility, a campground or RV park or have some other public use.

She added that the township has a minimum bid amount of $211,000, which is under $4,000 an acre, when the market value for acreage is $25,000 to $50,000 per acre.

She also noted a couple of other smaller properties she thinks the township should hold on to.

Councillor Fred Fowler said that there are complications with the Robertsville Mine site related not to uranium but to what was mined on the site, which would make it extremely expensive to mitigate, in order to develop the site.

Mayor Gerry Lichty said that the township does not own the site, but is trying to sell it off only in order to recoup lost tax revenue.

“We are not in a position to take on the liability of remediating a site like this. We only have a $7.8 million annual budget and we cannot take on something that could cost $1million or more, to fix. The situation is similar for the smaller properties that you mentioned,” he said to Kelly Willis.

Communal Services Annual Report

A delegation from Frontenac Municipal Services (FMS), a corporation partly owned by North Frontenac, made a similar presentation to ones they have brought to other Frontenac townships and the county, in recent months.

The corporation was founded as the result of an effort by Frontenac County Council and Staff to facilitate larger developments in Frontenac County than can be accomplished using the private well and septic model that is the norm in rural Ontario.

The corporation has been involved in technical work and lobbying efforts to bring developments with communal services to Frontenac County. It will be managing the water system for the Verona Housing project that South Frontenac Township is building, and is hoping to get involved in private sector developments in the future.

Councillor Wayne Good asked about the viability of communal systems on the kind of developments that are likely in North Frontenac, smaller developments in the range of 5-10 homes on a granite substrate. FMS Executive Director Justin Bromberg responded by saying that there are systems available that are suitable for such smaller, technically challenging applications, and FMS is ready should those kinds of opportunities arise.

Short Term Rentals

A staff report on the logistics and some of the implications of licensing short term rental properties in North Frontenac, outlined how there are two main reasons for licensing; health and safety concerns, and environmental concerns.

When speaking to other municipalities who have implemented licensing, the most common message was that a robust public consultation process is necessary to make sure that any system that is set up, aligns itself with “actual community needs”.

The norm in terms of cost for communities of less than 8,000 people, is for license fees to be between $500 and $1,000 annually, and the systems are mostly designed to be revenue neutral for the municipality, the fees collected cover costs to administer, monitor and police the system.

The report said that with staff workload and the specialised nature of short-term rental licensing, using consultants to look first at a business plan for a short-term rental licensing system, and secondly at implementing one, if the business case persuades Council to take the final step.

The estimated cost of a business plan is about $15,000, but the price will be determined by the response to an RFP process that Council approved at the meeting.

When the business plan is complete, Council will decide to move forward and go to the public with a proposal to set up a made in North Frontenac short term rental licensing system.

Update on Clarendon Central

Councillor Huetl prepared a written report based on a virtual meeting that he attended with Limestone District School Board officials along with members of the Clarendon Central School Board Parent Council.

The meeting came about after members of the parent council came to the township with their concerns about the future of the school in light of staffing cuts. In his written report, Huetl said that one of the two teaching positions at the school which was previously allocated as a .66 position has now been posted as a 0.55 position.

But, after his report was written, Huetl said that he has received some good news, the teaching assistant position at the school will be upgraded to a full time position for the 2026-2027 school year.

“There has been no change in the teaching position as of yet. They will look at that in August.”

The parent council had asked for a support letter from the township, but in light of the changes that were just announced, they asked the township to hold off for the moment.

Issues with Roof at Clarendon Rink

There have been issues with the roof under construction at the Clar Mil Rink. The matter was discussed at the in camera portion of the meeting, and when council returned to open session, , a motion was passed to transfer $15,000 for the deductible in regards to the Plevna rink roof incident from the operating contingency reserve, and if funds are recuperated from the insurance company, Council directs the treasury to return the funds back to the operating contingency reserve.