Heroes and zeroes at Frontenac County

Jeff Green | May 25, 2016

It was all smiles at the outset of the monthly meeting of Frontenac County Council on Wednesday, May 18 as members of council celebrated with paramedics Joe Ferguson and Dale Hodgins, who were two of 21 winners of Ontario's first-ever Awards for Paramedic Bravery.

The awards were handed out at Queen's Park in Toronto on May 12. The incident that led to the award took place almost 2 ½ years ago.

On December 4, 2013 Ferguson and Hodgins attended a call in which a car went off the road and drove into a house at Centennial Drive and Wheathill Street in Kingston, breaking a major gas line in the process. With the driver still behind the wheel, and gas pouring out of the line, Ferguson and Hodgins rushed in to grab the patient and drag him away from danger. Ferguson and Hodgins administered CPR and the Advanced Life Support cardiac arrest protocol, and the patient was transported to Kingston General Hospital.

To call Ferguson and Hodgins veteran members of Frontenac Paramedic Services is an understatement, since each of them has over 35 years' experience as paramedics.

Recalling the events of the day with the benefit of hindsight, Joe Ferguson said the driver had to be removed from the car using the passenger door because the driver's door was pinned up against a fence.

“We really didn’t give it a second thought,” he said. “We knew this man was unconscious and in distress and we had to get him out of there. It wasn't until the call was over that I realized maybe it was a little dangerous,” he said.

Dale Hodgins described receiving the award as “enormous, a fantastic feeling.”

“What Joe and Dale did that day could have cost them their lives, but they did it regardless. I am humbled to be the chief of a service with such exemplary paramedics as Joe and Dale, and honoured that they received the Ontario Award for Paramedic Bravery," said Paul Charbonneau, Director of Emergency and Transportation Services and Chief of FPS.

“If I ever have a need, I hope one of you comes to help me,” said Frontenac County Warden Frances Smith in presenting certificates to the two paramedics.

Zeroes

After the celebrations came the more dismal task of trying to sort out how land use planning will be administered in Frontenac County going forward. In a proposal that was submitted by Joe Gallivan, the parameters of a planning advisory committee were outlined for Council to consider.

Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Pender pointed out that the establishment of the committee will be mandatory once Bill 73 (The Smart Growth For Our Communities Act) is enacted by the Province of Ontario.

“How we satisfy that requirement is up to us,” Pender said, “we could establish a skeleton committee that meets only once a year, or we could bring in a committee that is responsible for all planning matters, down to minor variations. In this report, Joe has sought a middle ground.

“The purpose of the committee is to be the venue to deal with some of the major long-term planning decisions, providing advice and recommendations to county council. It is not our intention to duplicate the work of township planning departments and committees of adjustments,” he said.

Provision 5 of the terms of reference for the committee includes the following: “When applicable, review and consider reports on the following matters that fall within the mandate of the committee: 1. Subdivision and condominium applications; 2. Extensions of draft plan approvals; 3. County and Township Official Plan amendments; and 4. County and Township Official Plan updates.”

Gallivan explained later that in order to accomplish item 1. on the above list, the advisory committee would conduct public meetings within the member townships as part of the approval process for plans of subdivision and plans of condominium.

Currently those public meetings are being held in front of municipal councils, who then make recommendations to the county, which is the approval authority for them.

These public meetings have been common in South Frontenac Township in recent times, as proposals for larger scale developments have become more common.

“The province is promoting transparency in planning, and this way the public will be in front of the people with the approval authority for plans of subdivision and condominium,” said Gallivan.

The importance of the committee is underpinned by its proposed makeup: the four mayors of the Frontenac townships along with three appointees from the public.

The provincial requirement is only that at least one member of the public be appointed to the planning advisory committee; the rest of the makeup is left to the county to determine.

North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins read a prepared statement as soon as the proposed terms of reference for the committee were tabled.

He said that he spent several hours reading all the documentation surrounding the proposal, only to find the proposal had been changed just one day before the council meeting.

Higgins moved that the matter be deferred, and presented a list of further issues to be clarified by county staff before it is brought back to the table. In particular he questioned why the mayors of the townships will be required to sit on the committee.

“My plate is full already, so adding more meetings is an issue, and I don't have expertise in planning either,” said Higgins. “I would like to see a set of options presented for us to consider, as is the case with most of the proposals that come to us. Here we see only one way forward for us to take or leave.”

Warden Frances Smith said she would support a deferral, but that Higgins had included too many conditions that needed clarification.

Deputy Warden (and mayor of South Frontenac) Ron Vandewal took issue with other parts of the terms of reference for the proposed committee, particularly those that pertain to housing and economic development.

In the end, Higgins' motion to defer was altered for clarity and council supported it.

It is unclear if this matter will return in June or July, but CAO Pender indicated it needs to be resolved sooner than later because once Bill 73 is enacted “the province may or may not provide for a grace period before a planning advisory committee needs to be in place.

Deal reached for K&P north of Tichborne.

The first hurdle in securing passage for the K&P Trail between the hamlet of Tichborne and the junction with the Trans-Canada trail in Sharbot Lake has been cleared with a 10-year, renewable agreement between Frontenac County and Suncorps, which owns a piece of the trail just north of the CP rail tracks at the north end of the hamlet.

County staff and community volunteers are working on securing agreements from a series of private landowners along Road 38. Once this leg of the trail can be secured and completed, it will link the Trans-Canada Trail with the Cataraqui Trail at the Harrowsmith junction, ensuring Frontenac County is included in the Trans-Canada trail network.