North Frontenac Council
North Frontenac signed on to an agreement to help fund Dr. Masu’d Adewusi, who will be accepting patients at the Lakelands Family Health Team in Northbrook and Denbigh as of September. The agreement, which is identical to agreements signed by the township in the past for other Lakelands physicians, includes a provision for the township to pay Dr. Adewusi $15,000 per year for five years, until 2030.
With the agreement in place, Mayor Lichty said that Lakelands is now offering service to all residents within its catchment area, which includes the bulk of the residents in North Frontenac, with the exception of residents in the eastern portion of the township who are served by the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team.
Conservation Authorities Board Representation
Sally Mcintyre, the General Manager of the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA), sent out an email late in July regarding the makeup of the Board that will oversee the St. Lawrence Region Conservation Authority, which will subsume MVC early next year. Frontenac County will have one representative on the board of the new entity, which includes MVC as well as the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) and two other Conservation Authorities. The board makeup is based on population and the City of Ottawa will have four members.
The transitional manager of the new entity is Sommer Casgrain-Roberston, the current manager of RVCA.
North Frontenac Deputy Mayor Royh Huetl, who is also the board chair of MVCA, proposed a motion in response to Sally McIntyre’s email, encouraging a second Frontenac County member, because the source water for MVCA and a large number of dams and other structures are located in the township, giving the township a unique interest in the new entity.
Mayor Lichty said that Frontenac County Council has not discussed this matter, and it will be incumbent on himself and Councilor Fowler, the two North Frontenac representatives to Frontenac County Council, to make sure that body is engaged in this matter.
The motion, which was approved by Council, will be forwarded to political bodies as well as the Environmental Registry.
Road Safety at Clarendon Central
Public Works Manager Darwyn Sproule presented a report outlining options to deal with safety concerns on Road 506, in the vicinity of Clarendon Central Public School. The speed limit in that section is 40km/hr, as it is on 506, right through the hamlet of Plevna. The school is located at an awkward location on the road for visibility, because of a curve and the grade of the road in that area.
A number of options presented by Sproule include new electronic signs for better visibility, at substantial costs. After a ten-minute discussion on the merits of a number of aspects of Sproule’s multi-stage plan, Council decided to take some smaller steps at first, approving the widening of the shoulder of Road 506, near the school, to provide a better walkway, at a cost of $2,000. and a crosswalk, at a cost of $6,000.
Short Term Rental Licensing Business Case
Council approved a Staff proposal to hire a consultant to complete a business plan for the licensing of short-term rentals in the township. Staff have obtained three quotes, $7,000, $14,000 and $15,000 and are working through them before awarding the contract.
Frontenac County, in its efforts to determine if a Municipal Accommodation Tax in Frontenac County is a viable initiative, said the township may want to defer this consultation until the Spring of 2027, to eliminate the possibility of duplicating efforts, but Council wanted to move ahead since addressing short-term rentals has been a concern for lake associations, for a number of years.
Staff will proceed with contracting out the work.
Integrity Commissioner Report
Integrity Commissioner Tony Fleming was available through Zoom to discuss any matters related to his report about a complaint that was levied against statements made by Mayor Lichty on Facebook and in emails.
As reported in last week’s Frontenac News, Lichty was exonerated, and the complaint was dismissed. Council did not discuss the complaint but were concerned about the costs incurred by the township in the process.
As was also reported last week, the commissioners fee amounted to about $5,500, and Mayor Lichty said there’s a portion of HST that the municipality cannot recover, the total is closer to $6,000.
Council members asked if the complainant will be paying any of the cost, and Staff said that the legislation is clear that all costs for these kinds of complaints are borne exclusively by the township.
And the township cannot limit the amount of complaints that are submitted, whether by one or more members of the public.
Tony Fleming said that he has a preliminary look at all complaints, and ones that he considers to have already been addressed, are without any apparent merit, or appear frivolous or vexatious in nature, are dismissed before being thoroughly investigated, at a lower cost.
Fleming also said that it is his practice to not identify the complainant in these cases, which is why he did not do so in this case.
