North Frontenac Council - Apr. 13/10

Jeff Green | Apr 15, 2010

North Frontenac to bring in budget with 2.5% increase in levy

North Frontenac Council has completed their budget deliberations and will be approving their 2010 budget after a public meeting next Thursday morning.

The budget will include an increase of just over $90,000, or 2.5% in the total amount that taxpayers will be paying.

Included in the budget is an $88,800 contribution to reserves to be put towards the building of a satellite medical clinic in Plevna. Construction could start on the clinic later this year, pending approval by the Ontario Ministry of Health.

The impact of the budget on ratepayers will vary according to their individual property assessments.

The township building department has been working with the bylaw officer towards identifying existing buildings that have never been assessed by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation either through oversight or because permits were never taken out when additions or new outbuildings were constructed.

The resulting new assessment will help to diminish the burden of the 2.5% increase on the majority of taxpayers.

Further details about the budget will be released next week. The public meeting is scheduled for 9:30 am on April 22.

North Frontenac to stay with Health Unit for septic permits

North Frontenac Council has decided to maintain the status quo on septic inspections. Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington (KFL&A) Public Health will handle inspections related to new construction, while Mississippi/Rideau Valley Conservation will continue to operate a septic re-inspection program in the township this summer.

KFL&A Public Health had indicated they would stop offering the service, leading the Mississippi/Rideau to make an offer to cover all septic inspection requirements for the township.

However, at their February meeting, the Board of KFL&A Public Health decided to continue to offer the service, under a new pricing system that was revealed at the end of March.

Although the Public Health price for the inspection of new systems will go up only marginally, from $450 to $475, the cost for other services will go up substantially. For example, inspections for renovations such as sheds, garages and swimming pools will go from $110 to $450 in 2010.

The cost structure proposed by Mississippi/Rideau was different than that proposed by Public Health. It would be more costly ($650) for some of the inspections that Public Health will be charging $450 for, but cheaper ($225) for others. Mississippi/Rideau provides for all the septic inspection needs of Tay Valley Township and rural portions of the City of Ottawa.

Nonetheless, North Frontenac Chief Building Officer Eric Kohlsmith recommended staying with Public Health even with the price increase. His report to council summed up his thinking: “The CBO is recommending that the township continue our agreement with the Public Health as they provide prompt, excellent service; have extensive experience; background and documents are readily available; knowledgeable; local office; no complaints with present service; and when they were establishing the new fees for service, they totally understood the realistic requirements and actual cost of providing this service to the large geographic area in our municipality.”

More from NF Council -

Councilor Wayne good expressed concern about water levels on some township lakes that are near the headwaters of the Mississippi River watershed, and wondered whether the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) had been too slow to put in logs in place to dam up the lakes this year.

Deputy Mayor Jim Beam, the township rep to the MVCA, said that Gord Mountenay of MVCA has been managing water levels for the authority for the past 25 years and has a thorough knowledge about the requirements and dangers at both ends of the system.

“The logs were put in on March 10 this year, a month earlier than normal,” Beam said, “but the best thing would be for Gord Mountenay to make a presentation to Council.”

Mountenay will be invited to the next North Frontenac Council meeting, scheduled for April 22.

Private dump on Buckshot Lake Road – There have been reports that a privately operated waste site has been established at a property on Buckshot Lake road, either in North Frontenac or Addington Highlands. The matter will be referred to the Ministry of the Environment to investigate.