FRONTENAC COUNTY

Bill MacDonald, Liberal candidate for the provincial riding of Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, celebrated the opening of his campaign office at 88 Gore Street East in downtown Perth on May 12. Numerous members from both the provincial and...

North Frontenac also unveils new mapping services Kevin Farrel, the Global Informations Systems (GIS) specialist for Frontenac County, attended the annual Urban and Regional Information Systems Association-Ontario (URISA) meeting that was held in...

A couple of years ago, the public works managers (PWM) from all four Frontenac townships came together to discuss common issues, and they found a lot to talk about. They decided that since they faced the same issues regarding road and bridge...

One of the concrete accomplishments of the four years of controversy that has been Frontenac County Council, has been finding $3.5 million that had been sitting dormant in various reserve funds that the county set up over its 15- year history. Last...

When the City of Kingston decided to embark on an ambitious one-year plan to eliminate chronic homelessness, Frontenac County Council wanted in on the plan. Since the city delivers social services for itself and the county, and administers not-for...

The County of Frontenac will be holding a Public Meeting in order to receive public input regarding the County of Frontenac Draft Strategic Plan, at a meeting on Thursday May 15, at 6:30 pm at the Grace Centre on Stagecoach Road in Sydenham. “This...

Gerry Fast, president of the new federal Liberal riding association, was all smiles at an event at Sydenham Grace Centre on April 27. Fast said the event was “a birthday party of sorts” to welcome Liberal supporters from in and around the...

Until March 14, Kelly Pender was the Chief Administrative Officer in Huntsville. On that day, he tendered his resignation, citing family reasons. “The Pender family is seeing a lot of changes in their lives, with our oldest getting married and our...

A career in educational administration is the best way to get on the Sunshine list in Frontenac County, according to the latest version of the Ontario Public Sector Sunshine List, which was released last week. While there were eight employees of...

It was an event that Anne Prichard of the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) called “over-subscribed” at Trinity United Church in Verona. Representatives from all three levels of government outlined in broad terms a...

It’s fair to say that Frontenac Islands politicians have made their mark at Frontenac County. The previous mayor, Jim Vanden Hoek, served as warden and also on the board of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. As a member of Frontenac...

A committee, made up of current and former politicians from across Frontenac County, has been meeting for over a year to put together a county-wide celebration to mark its 150th anniversary in 2015. While there are activities being planned for the...

A number of people have come forward to seek office in the Frontenac townships over the last week or so. Valentini running for mayor of North Frontenac In North Frontenac, Claudio Valentini, a music teacher at Granite Ridge Education Centre and the...

For people on government assistance programs, in particular those receiving Ontario Disability Support Payments (ODSP), finding a dentist is becoming a problem. We received a letter at the News a couple of weeks ago from a woman who recently moved...

At a Committee of the Whole meeting last week (March 5), members of Frontenac County Council took turns expressing concern about a report about emergency communications that they received from the fire chiefs of the four Frontenac townships in...

At their February 20 meeting, Frontenac County Council approved a budget with a 2.5% increase. Two councilors, Garry Davison (South Frontenac) and David Jones (Frontenac Islands) voted against the Frontenac County budget late last month. The budget...

“Beer is the most perfect food. It’s full of vitamins and minerals; it’s made from grain and it has been around longer than just about any other agricultural product,” says Bill White, who has spent 37 years in the brewing industry. White...

Short-term disability (sick time) on the county table At the request of Council, a monthly report on absenteeism is now being provided, to supplement the quarterly reports that were requested last year. The report shows the monthly and annual costs...

Are you a cottage owner with a renovating or redecorating project that is waiting to be done but you are not sure as to what you want to do with it or how to approach it? Well here is some good news. The TV Show “Weekend Reno” is looking for...

Frontenac County will be taking more money from ratepayers in 2014 than it did in 2013 It won't be finalized until later this month, but after four sessions, Frontenac County Council is set to vote on a budget that is little changed from the one...

Building out the K&P trail between the border with Kingston to meet the Trans-Canada Trail in Sharbot Lake has been a goal of several generations of Frontenac County politicians. Thanks to some provincial grant money as well as an allocation of...

Three of the four Frontenac townships are set to take advantage of an offer by Frontenac County to provide planning services. South Frontenac is the one township that is not going to avail itself of the service, and its mayor, Gary Davison, has been...

It cost $190,000 more than had been budgeted to complete the K&P Trail section between the trail head at the south end of Harrowsmith and Craig Road, just north of Verona. Frontenac County Manager of Economic Development, Anne Marie Young, brought...

Treasurer identifies potential cuts to cover the increase In the preamble to the draft 2014 Frontenac County budget, Treasurer Marian VanBruinessen referred to a directive that Council passed in December. The directive asked her to present two...

Seniors' housing emerging as a common objective After a tumultuous 18 months that resulted in a lawsuit (which is still active), the departure of the chief administrative officer for a friendlier location, and some lingering personal and political...

One of the peculiarities of municipal amalgamation in Ontario is the role that the City of Kingston plays in the delivery of social services in Frontenac County. The Kingston and Frontenac Housing Corporation (KFHC) is a not-for profit corporation...

  As part of a strategy to combat homelessness in Kingston and Frontenac County the Social Services Department of the City of Kingston undertook what they call a point in time inventory of the homeless populations in Kingston and a different kind...

  County review points to political stagnation, missing Christmas party An organizational and service delivery review prepared by the KPMG consulting group for Frontenac County provides a varied shopping list of 27 “recommended opportunities”...

Editorial by Jeff Green Normally I thank our staff, readers, and advertisers on this, our last issue of 2013, and I would like to do so this year as well. As I look back on the stories we covered this past year, a few stories, it seems to me, have...

Frontenac County Council - December 18/13 Bud Clayton has assumed the mantle of Frontenac County Warden for 2014. The election, held at the December meeting of Frontenac County Council, was a non-event. The only other potential candidate, Frontenac...

Humans relate to living things at a very fundamental level. We value living beings. Most households have something living in them. Cats, dogs, birds or houseplants; sometimes snakes or turtles. We relate to the biodiversity of our watershed in...

Loons Lost and Loons Found by Ross Sutherland We thought the new Mitchell Creek Bridge would be a disaster for the loons: and it was. But like all dark clouds the silver lining finally showed through. Within a week of the bridge’s completion,...

At the Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference titled “Innovation Driving Local Food”, which was held in Kingston on December 2 and 3 at the Ambassador Hotel, one of the three presenters was a local producer from our readership area. Olivia...

The National Farmers Union (NFU) Local 316's continuing efforts to promote the local food movement in the area have garnered them much-deserved attention and respect over the last decade and a half, when the local food movement in and around KLF&A...

Gallivan says province likely to overhaul County OP Lindsay Mills, the lead planner in South Frontenac Township, brought his concerns about the second draft of the Frontenac County Official Plan to a Committee of the Whole meeting of Frontenac...

Kingston-Frontenac Renovates is a provincially funded program that provides grants and forgivable loans to low-income homeowners who require upgrades to ensure the long term viability of their homes. The program replaced the long-running Rural...

Never one to ignore a political opportunity, Lanark, Frontenac Lennox and Addington MPP Randy Hillier wrote to Premier Wynne last week. In his letter, he told the premier that he would be happy to amend the private member's bill on voter recalls...

We don't know who it will be, but we do know how much they will be paid and when they will be hired. We also know where the consultant, who could be paid as much as $30,000, will be looking. The search for a replacement for Frontenac County CAO Liz...

Let me see if I have this right. Frontenac County Council has decided to pay a consulting firm $7,000 to help them hire another consulting firm for $25,000 to $30,000 plus expenses. The second firm will have the task of recruiting someone whose...

The Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington (KFL&A) United Way has a strong public profile in the City of Kingston. Its local board is chock full of business and institutional leaders in the city, with representatives from the top echelons of...

Planning plan irks Davison It seems everyone at Frontenac County Council is happy to have the County planning department provide planning services to the lower tier townships at a discount rate. Everyone, that is, except for the representatives from...

Residents of Addington Highlands and North and Central Frontenac will finally have the benefit of a Class “A” Nursing Home, no thanks to Frontenac County. A class “A” home is something that residents of Kingston and the southern portion of...

It took a little longer than planned, but the new federal electoral boundaries for Ontario have been finalized. Last-minute proposals by MPs Scott Reid (Lanark Frontenac Lennox & Addington) and Ted Hsu (Kingston and the Islands) were discounted by...

It will be more than a sea change for Frontenac County when its Chief Administrative Officer, Liz Savill, leaves next month; it will be a leap into uncharted waters. When interviewed over the phone this week about her decision to leave Frontenac...

Jared Salmond , a student at North Addington Education Centre, is the strong, silent type of leader that often flies under the radar, but his contributions to North Addington are significant. He has resurrected the elementary intramural program,...

Members of OPSEU local 462 braved some windy, cool weather on Saturday morning, gathering on the busy corner of Princess Street and Gardiners Road for an information picket about an ambulance service cut that is slated to take effect in the City of...

The Vital Signs report contains much useful information, and represents a sincere effort to get at the social issues that concern people. It can be used as a tool for developing policies that are directed at some of the struggles that resident face....

The Community Foundation of Kingston and Area (CFKA), in conjunction with community foundations from across the country, has prepared reports on the well being of Kingston and Frontenac County residents each year for the past five years. This year,...

Frontenac County levy increase at 1.2%, and falling About an hour into a budget meeting last week (February 20), it was looking like Frontenac County Council would never finalise their 2013 budget. In an attempt to go line by line through the budget...

We will see over the next few months if members of county council co-operate with Warden Janet Gutowski or if they seek to undermine her at every opportunity. It appears that at least some of them are going to be willing to look past their anger...