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Back to HomeLetters - May 25, 2011Letters: May 25

Wetlands are being drained, Heather Hugh

Re: Ompah Library Closure, Jim Holton

Re: New Sharbot Lake School, Leo Ladoucer

Re: Ompah Library Closure, Leo Ladoucer

Wetlands are being drained

What is going on with our heritage ponds & wetlands? I am dismayed to see them being drained - as I am sure many others are as well! I am well aware that this is an illegal act, but unfortunately getting the M.N.R, Ducks Unlimited, and Ocean & Fisheries, etc. on board seems to take a while (time that is crucial to the creatures’ welfare). It is disturbing that hunters & trappers, and waterfront property owners have strict rules and laws to follow – i.e. you are not allowed to put into the lake one shovel of sand for a child's beach lest you disturb animal habitat - while other persons run at large and blow things up, like beaver dams, with dynamite! (I hope these are licensed individuals who follow the rules to proper procedure and clean up!?)

These acts have devastated the animal habitats, jeopardized species at risk, made our local area an eyesore thus negatively affecting tourism, business and investment growth, as well as lowering people's property values. In case some people aren't aware, these acts are often being done without consent or even the property owner's knowledge. I hope we can join together to fix this problem.

Heather Hugh

Re: Ompah Library Closure

Dear Ms Richardson

I am writing this letter on behalf of the Canonto Lake Property Owners’ Association to express dismay and disappointment over the Frontenac Library Board’s recent decision to close the Ompah Branch in North Frontenac Township. If this is carried out, it will be a regressive step in a world where promotion of literacy and the availability of technology (internet) is so important. Libraries are an important resource for many in our communities, especially those who do not have internet access. A library is a cornerstone for any community and the loss of the Ompah Branch would be a severe blow to the efforts to promote a sense of community in Ompah. We were not happy last year when the hours were reduced from six to four hours (two hours on Thursday over the supper hour and two hours on Saturday) and were looking forward to getting those hours back this year. In fact, the committee looking into future uses of the old fire hall was looking into providing more room for the Ompah Branch. Instead the library board hastily decided to close the branch altogether. This is totally unacceptable and I do not understand why this move was made so quickly. Libraries are public facilities that are available to all.

The closing of the Ompah Branch would mean that community members would have to drive all the way to Plevna for service, something that is impractical and inconvenient. With many of the Canonto lake residents being from Ottawa, it was easy to drop off books on their way home Sunday evening thus avoiding unnecessary trips in the car. That will no longer be an option. With this decision, you are denying effective library service to those residents of North Frontenac Township living in the Ompah area. We sincerely hope that you will reconsider your decision.

Jim Holton, President CLPOA

Re: New Sharbot lake School

The really sad thing about the design hysteria surrounding the new school in Sharbot Lake is that it is just another cheap bait & switch routine, just like the PARC before it, which carefully skirted the actual need for the whole process. (We’re going to cut your legs off - would you like a red hat or a blue one?) A consultant is paid to declare that some schools are “prohibitive to repair” and off the lemmings run. The school board pretends to involve the community in the design of the new school and off the lemmings run again.

What’s on the design table right now is a big glass box that will be a huge energy pig to heat and cool. Wasn’t that one of the supposed “prohibitive costs” of the existing school? The architects for this shining new edifice hadn’t even visited the site until very recently and were unaware that the existing high school was situated where it is because the parking lot where they propose to build the new school is a wetland.

You just know that after all the pseudo consultations, they are going to build a boring box because it’s “cost effective” and after they spend a ton of money dealing with the serious engineering problems that are inherent in building anything in a swamp, the boring box will have a decided lack of bells and whistles. The two well functioning shops will be downsized. The greenhouse will disappear. Appropriate music & art rooms? Are you kidding? We gotta have a double gym. Heck, everybody knows that. Sports and leaf & stem graphs, that’s what grows well-rounded citizens. Theater? ‘Scuse me for laughing.

They could be setting an example in sustainability and environmental awareness; instead they’re going to ignore every bit of wisdom that has been painfully learned in the last 25 years and pay someone to turn a perfectly good building into a pile of waste and replace it with a poor facsimile.

If the $1.5 million slated to cover demolition was invested into necessary retrofits, or, god forbid, was increased by a few million dollars, the four existing schools involved could be repaired, the communities losing their schools left whole, some students lives enriched by spending less time sitting in fuel-guzzling air-polluting school buses, the grade school kids protected from the bad influence of the high schoolers, C. F. Township would have some money to invest in their own community theatre, and the taxpayer of Ontario would still save $12 - $14 million. What a crazy idea.  And how about taking another one of those millions and hiring a few more teachers to add some new programs? Imagine that - actually improving the educational experience by adding teachers and programs instead of steel and glass. Of course, Sharbot Lake wouldn’t have a bright shiny new trophy to brag about.

That’s some lesson we’re teaching our students, the one’s that are inheriting our mess; and this from the people we entrust with their education.

Patrick Maloney

Re: Ompah Library Closure

Let’s analyze what is happening by closing the Ompah Branch and giving more hours to the Plevna Branch. Just use this analogy:

“The little kid goes to his mom and says “You use to give me 60 cents a week allowance but now you only give me 40 cents a week. Could I get the 60 cents you used to give me?”

Mom says “I am tired of hearing you whining and complaining – from now on I’m giving your 40 cents to your brother and you will not be getting any allowance. Now go to your room and just be quiet.”

On the day after it was revealed that the Library Board was closing the Ompah Branch I wrote to Chair Person Claudette Richardson and suggested if she could not manage the members of her Board better, she should resign. Now Ms. Richardson, I ask you to please be a good mom and give us our Library back. That’s please without any complaining and whining.

Leo Ladouceur