South Frontenac Council - May 24/16

Wilma Kenny | May 25, 2016

Township’s Organizational Review: Still a Long Way to Go…

A meeting was held on May 4 to discuss an organizational review that was presented to South Frontenac Council in April. On Tuesday night, May 24, CAO Wayne Orr presented his take on where the review stands after that May 4 meeting.

He began by saying: “From the May 04 meeting it is clear that there is no clear direction from Council on how to proceed.” Orr went on to distill a summary of some of the challenges and recommendations reflecting Council’s discussions on May 4.. He is now recommended that instead of the seven new positions envisioned by the review, just three people should be hired: a clerk, a fire prevention officer and a director of planning and building services.

In commenting on Orr's summary, was a discussion of the fire chief’s need for a prevention officer, culminating in questions about the exact nature of the chief’s job description. There was also general agreement with the proposal to hire a clerk

Planning, however, was the main topic of discussion, as it has been at the Frontenac County table recently. Mayor Vandewal said that Frontenac County staff seem to be taking the position that “South Frontenac doesn’t know what they’re doing, so why should we try to fix it for them?” Councilor Ross Sutherland said that if the township showed a clear direction in planning, in time the County might be prepared to delegate more to the township. Councilor Alan Revill said he saw no need to hire more staff unless they have some reassurance that it is realistic for the township to work toward taking over a stronger planning role. Councilor John McDougall said that the planning process “was a mess’ and that it was “time to stop cutting bait and start fishing.”

Mayor Vandewal finally spoke.

“We’re spending a lot of time babysitting downstairs [the location of the planning and building departments]. I get very few complaints about Public Works or any of the other departments; the problems are all downstairs. It’s a total mess, it just creates work for council. The whole problem of planning is not as big as people think it is. We know where the problem is,” he said.

Council sat silent after this, and there were no decision taken on Wayne Orr's recommendation that a planning director be hired to oversee the planning and building departments

CAO Orr then informed Council that he, Mayor Vandewal and Councilor McDougall were meeting together with the county warden and county CAO on Friday to work toward improving communications and working relationships between Township and County.

Re-opening of the Point

In response to Deputy Mayor Sutherland’s query, Public Works Manager Segsworth said the Recreation Committee is planning a ‘grand re-opening’ for June 6. Meanwhile, people are being asked to respect the fenced-off areas, for the dry season has preventing the recently-seeded areas from sprouting. Segsworth says he is following up with the contractor, who has obligations to water the seed until grass has been established.