Tichborne Rink Good To Go For This Season On ‘Temporary’ Basis

Craig Bakay | Feb 01, 2023

Central Frontenac Council gave Mayor Frances Smith and CAO/Clerk Cathy MacMunn the authority to sign an agreement with the owners of the property the Tichborne Rink stands on in order get it up and running for the rest of this winter at its regular meeting Jan. 24 in Sharbot Lake.

This agreement represents a ‘temporary’ use situation and dates and hours of operation should be determined soon.

In 1988, the Township entered into a 100-year lease for the use of the flooded/wetland area with the Goodfellow family to allow the continued use of the skating rink. The lease payment was a nominal $1 per year. However, the lease was not registered on title and therefore expired upon the sale/transfer of the property to the current owners, Rhonda Petty and Douglas Starling.

The rink has been used for more than 50 years in this location and the Recreation Committee would like to continue the rink there. The facility is in need of significant repair (according to a staff report).

“Prior to the Township allocating funding and using fundraised money to improve the site, it needs to decide whether it would be best to purchase the rink property and keep it in its current location or move the rink to a different location,” MacMunn said in her report.

Given that the rink is located within a wetland, Rideau Valley Conservation Authority was consulted and has indicated a permit would be required and a hydrogeology study or soil sample/test hoses may be required for any work to upgrade and/or improve the facility.

“In the meantime, the conservation authority indicated it would not have any objection to continuing with the current structure for this year.

“We have some numbers in the budget,” said Smith.

“This lease agreement will give them the authority to use the rink for this season,” said MacMunn.

Pickleball

The pickleball court in Sharbot Lake may remain in its current location until such time as a development proposal determines it either can be permanently incorporated into the design proposal (for seniors housing) for the school site, or needs to be relocated to accommodate the preferred development for said site.

“This commitment does not include a specific five-year horizon due to the uncertainty of the timing for redevelopment of the school site,” said Mayor Frances Smith.

Further, any grant application requests from either the pickleball ad hoc committee or the pickleball sub committee of the Oso Rec Committee will be made through a recommendation from that committee to Council as per the Township’s standard procedure for such things.

Staff has yet to hear back on a lawyer’s opinion of making a five-year commitment to allowing the pickleball court in its current location.

Doctor Recruitment

Frontenac County has four medical clinics covering a large geographical area (Sharbot Lake, Sydenham, Verona and under development in Inverary), Jeanette Dietrich, Lead Physician of the rural Kingston Family Health Organization and Deborah Krause, Executive Director of the Sharbot Lake Family Health Team told Council.

“If we lose even one physician, the others can’t absorb the patients,” Dietrich said. “The situation is dire regarding physician recruitment and we run the risk of having no rural family physician offices.”

To that end, they said, while we have many of the professional and lifestyle attributes that new physicians are looking for, to be competitive, they need help with:

• incentives to level the playing field with adjacent jurisdictions
• professional recruiters
• advertising, networking, job fairs
• assistance with partner employment, settling physicians’ families
• assistance with physical infrastructure.

Vehicle purchase put over to budget

Council held off giving final approval of a 2020 ¾ ton diesel pickup truck for the fire department in the amount of $72,900 plus $20,000 for emergency equipment until budget numbers are complete.

“We’ve only had half a day on the budget,” said Coun. Nicki Gowdy.

The Township has put a deposit on the vehicle but that is refundable,” said Mayor Frances Smith.

Heritage Festival

Council declared the Feb.17 Heritage Festival Talent Show Feb.17 as being of municipal importance in order to obtain a liquor licence.

This will allow The Local Brewery Inc. (Jen and Steve Trussell) to apply for a special occasion permit for said event.