South Frontenac Council - Oct 11/16

Jeff Green | Oct 13, 2016

Fermoy Hall request well received

Donna Garland appeared before the committee on behalf of a group of Fermoy Hall supporters who have been meeting this summer to talk about bringing the hall back into use.

The Fermoy Hall is located at the top of Fermoy Hill on Westport Road, just west of the point where the road hugs Wolfe Lake, one of the most picturesque, and potentially dangerous stretches of road in the entire township.

The hall was built 150 years ago in 1866, making it one of, if not the oldest public building in the township. It has been used as a council chamber, an Orange Lodge meeting place, and for dances and other purposes over the years. At one time Fermoy was a town with two stores, a post office, a hotel, a blacksmith and a sawmill but now it is a small collection of houses on four corners.

The hall has been renovated on the outside and money was set aside last year by the township to upgrade the inside.

As Garland pointed out to Council, the operating principle of the group that has been meeting is the MVP Principle, which stands for Minimum investment for Value testing a Product.

As such the group is asking that the township invest $15,000 to $20,000 of the $30,000 that has been set aside. Garland said the money would be used for “required changes to make the hall presentable and usable”. It includes some electrical work to install safe and working lights, patching holes in ceiling and walls, painting the interior, finishing the bare wood floor, installing and servicing two accessible port-a-potties, Internet and Wi-Fi, tables and chairs, and a facility sign.

The intention is to make the hall available in May of 2017 and see if it gets used as a meeting hall, for classes, musical events, etc.

Garland said that she is interested in doing some digital coaching in the hall. As well, someone else has been talking about fitness classes; lake associations would like a place to hold meetings, etc.

Mayor Vandewal said he “would like to congratulate all those who brought a realistic approach to using the hall. If you can bring it back to usable state I have no problem with it. I commend you for coming with this approach.”

Councilor Pat Barr, who represents Bedford District and has been working with the group, said, “Thank you Mayor, it's great to know we are getting along. As you say, the estimates are reasonable and hopefully this will get people coming to Fermoy.”

FIT, FIT and maybe FIT

Rob Hitchcock from Abundant Solar, David Hahn from the Wintergreen Co-op and Vincent Malik from Solar Providor Group all came to council seeking municipal support for multiple Feed-in-Tariff projects in the township.

While few questions were asked of Abundant Solar or the Wintergreen Co-op, Vincent Malik was given a bit of a rougher ride. That is partly because one of the projects he is proposing, located on Rutledge Road at Sydenham Road, was the only one of 17 that came forward for the last FIT intake a year ago that was not supported by the township. That was because some neighbouring property owners were concerned about setbacks. As Malik explained, in most cases Solar Providor is seeking to build two 250 kilowatt projects on single properties because there is only capacity for 250 kw hookups to adjacent hydro lines, but the sites are large enough for 500 kw projects, which take up about five acres each.

Council was concerned about setbacks for all the Solar Providor projects, which are located in more populated areas of the township than the other proposals. A number of suggestions were made by Council for assurances that Malik could incorporate into the proposals to help council look favorably on his requests, including limiting the Rutledge Road Project to 250 kw. He said he will make the changes.

All of the proposals will come before Council next week.

Capital budget for administration, recreation and fire department

Treasurer Louise Fragnito brought forward budget requests from the fire and admin departments and the Central Recreation Committee.

These include requests for a pickup for the building department, and a 1/2 ton and a pumper for the fire department, all of which would come from vehicle replacement reserve funds that are in place. The fire department is also asking for $35,000 for new bunker gear and a wash station for Station 8, and $60,000 for pagers and gear for 30 new recruits.

Under Recreation there are 13 requests of various sizes, from $5,000 for new swings at Tett Park to $500,000 for a major upgrade to the Storrington Hall. There is a request for $155,000 for more work at the Point Park, including an accessible pathway, washroom and building upgrades, a tennis court and more. There is also a $50,000 request to purchase land adjacent to Centennial Park in Harrowsmith.

Council did not cut or trim any projects at this point. However, if they accept all the requests the total cost would be $1,065,000 for these projects alone, which would help push the whole capital budget to $10,790,000. The target for the budget is $9,500,000.

“That's only a million and a quarter over,” said Mayor Vandewal, “a bit more than a 1% increase. However it's only a number at this point.”

Council will be receiving various pieces of the budget over the next few weeks and will be debating the entire package in November.