Central Frontenac Council – Oct 13/26

Terry Kennedy from Friends of Arden and Boyd Klages from the Arden Legion, appeared before Council to talk about the Arden Memorial Park Renewal Project. Kennedy said that the project is a combined effort of the Friends of Arden, the Arden Legion, and the township.

They updated Council on what has been accomplished in 2026, and talked about their plans for 2027.

A wooden fence that had deteriorated, has been removed, a new sign (which is similar in style to the new sign at the Mountain Grove Cenotaph) has been installed, and extensive staining and lichen on the three monuments at the site have been removed.

Moving forward into 2027, work is planned to clean up brush at the edges of the site, redo the walkway, deal with drainage issues, put up new flagpoles, create a location for new memorials, and plant sugar maple trees for a “mall” that will take decades to fully develop.

The entire project has a budget of over $50,000, to be covered partly by donated labour, local fundraising, applications to the “National Wall Memorial Association” and programs at Veterans Affairs, and a potential 2027 budget request to Central Frontenac Council.

For the purposes of this presentation, Kennedy and Klages were not looking for a specific commitment of funds. They were looking for Council to approve the committee's plans, and provide staff support for upcoming grant applications.

“Our group [Friends of Arden] has historically come to Council looking for a hand up, and not a hand out, but this time we are looking for a bit more, for the township to take our hand and work with us, by helping with these grant applications,” Kennedy said.

Council received the presentation and approved the plan.

Mountain Grove Rink Upgrade

With winter coming up at any time, young skaters in Mountain Grove will have an improved rink to skate on this year. Using $20,000 from the annual special project budget for Olden District, as well as $33,000 from the Olden Recreation committee’s special projects reserve fund, Council approved hiring Eastern Ontario Paving to pave the Olden rink before the snow flies. At their October 13 meeting,

Eastern Ontario Paving did not submit the lowest bid on the contract, even though their bid was $3,000 more than the other company who bid on it, but township staff supported awarding the contract to them because they are “familiar with the quality and reliability of their work, they are a local company, and will provide a one-year warranty on materials and workmanship”.

The Olden Rec. Committee has been banking their $20,000 annual allocation for three years to build up their reserves.

“This project will not only help with ice in the winter but will have a 4-season impact, for floor hockey, pickleball, and basketball,” said Dan Meeks, on behalf of the Olden Rec Committee.”

Members of council, including Mayor Fran Smith, who was attending the meeting via Zoom, after undergoing back surgery in early September.

Councillor Philip Smith said that he also supports the project, but pointed out, “there is a process that we set up for capital projects to go through the Central Rec. Committee which got bypassed by this request to Council.

In a recorded vote, the project was approved by Council, with 8 votes for it, and one abstention, from Councillor Bill Everett.

Everett later told the News that he abstained from the vote because he did want to vote against a project that will benefit families in his own ward.

However, he could not support it because of all the work that has gone into establishing a proactive role for the Central Rec Committee and a positive relationship with the district rec committees.

“I felt it would have been hypocritical to vote in favour, so I abstained,” he said.

Audit Report

Senior Manager Cory Watkins with the accounting firm MNP, presented the 2025 audit findings. There were no “control issues” noted in the findings related to treasury. The one notable element in the audit was an increase in the estimated closure costs for waste sites, but Watkins said those numbers are based on estimates for costs that extend over up to 50 years, so Council does not necessarily need to act on that information.

Half of the township's expenditures in 2025 went to roads and road maintenance, and 21% was spent on fire and policing costs.

Lighting at Clement Road public housing complex

David Motton, a resident at the seniors’ five plex at Clement Road, appeared before Council asking for support in improving lighting in the parking lot and walkway, to the building. Councillor Bill MacDonald recommended that the township contact Central Frontenac Not For Profit Housing Corporation to see if the matter can be addressed.

Tichborne Store Site

A public meeting was held to discuss a zoning application for the former store at the junction of Road 38 and Fream Street, in Tichborne. The property owner has purchased land behind the store, from Frontenac County, and intends to take the building down and turn the property into a self-storage facility, with up to 42 units.

Lloyd Lee spoke to the application from a community perspective, saying he is concerned that the new facility will encroach on public use of Fream Street.

The planner for the applicant said that setbacks from both Fream St. and Road 38 will be increased under the new use. The building on the site, which will be demolished, encroaches on the right of way, and the self-storage units will be set further back, off both roads. There is also a buffer between the self-storage units and the K&P Trail, which runs parallel to Road 38, behind the property.

The matter will be brought back before Council by Staff.

Sand Tenders

Council accepted the recommendation from Public Works to purchase screened sand from Gemmil's Sand and Gravel for the Olden garage at a cost of $95,000. Gemmil's price was less than the Robinson Excavating price of $124,750 and Crain's Construction at $128,000.

Gemmill's also won the contract for the Hinchinbrooke Site, at a price of $176,400, which was just under the Robinson price of $179,910, and well under the Crain's price of $255,000.

Public Works Manager Steve Gould reported that the sand at the Hinchibrooke site will be covered this year, as the sand dome project is proceeding on time.

Olden Waste Site Expansion

In response to a request from Councillor Nicki Gowdy, Cambium Engineering provided a report on the potential to expand the Olden Waste Site.

The report said it may be possible to expand the Site to the south, but it would require studies to determine if an expansion would find favour with the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks

In preparing their own report to accompany Cambium's report, Public Works staff spoke with neighbouring municipalities who have undertaken similar initiatives.

“The experience shared by these municipalities indicates that, in some cases, approval of an expansion did not result in additional areas being made available for disposal of garbage. Instead, the approved changes allowed for additional bins or containers to be placed in the existing site to improve waste collection and storage,” said the staff report.

Cambium recommended that, as a first step, the township commission a waste management review, for $25,000, to determine the “most appropriate long-term solution for the township’s waste management needs, “before investing more money with no guarantee that it will result in increased capacity”.

In the near future, all of the waste generated by Central Frontenac residents will be going to the Olden site, as it is the only one left with significant capacity. The Crow Lake site is slated for closure as an active site, as it will soon be operating only as a transfer station