“Undemocratic”, says Says South Frontenac Deputy Mayor

Wilma Kenny | May 06, 2020

At their March 17 Council meeting, citing the need for greater flexibility to respond to the unknown effects of the looming Covid 19 crisis and the probability that public gatherings would soon be restricted or forbidden, South Frontenac Council passed a bylaw delegating authority to the Chief Administrative Officer, Director of Corporate Services and Treasurer.

The bylaw gave financial authority to the three officers to spend more than $50,000. the normal limit, without prior approval from council, and to execute contracts that would normally got o council first. It also granted the Mayor and he clerk the authority with respect to the cancelling and calling to order of Council meetings and Committee of the Whole as they deem necessary.”

It was intended that these changes would make it easier to respond quickly and appropriately to community and individual needs during an unusual time of local and national emergency.

The changes were to remain in effect “until such time as council is reconvened.”

However, this wording in the original by-law could be interpreted to mean that the delegated authority was revoked upon council convening its very next meeting, which was not the intent.

Therefore at the May 05 meeting, the following amendment was proposed: “That this by-law shall … remain in effect until such time as the State of Emergency by both South Frontenac and the Province of Ontario is lifted or Council votes to revoke the by-law.”

Deputy Mayor Sutherland objected strongly to this change. In a lengthy speech, he accused the Township of becoming “a leader in undemocratic processes” and “a weak link”, saying South Frontenac is going to give the mayor and clerk extraordinary powers to cancel and change meeting schedules. It is the only Council in the area to take this power away from its Council. This power, and other emergency powers passed by South Frontenac, is not time limited.”

Repeating several times that ‘there is no need for this”, Sutherland said that South Frontenac had also seriously departed from their regular meeting schedule. In April, the regular meetings slated for the 7th and 21st were cancelled, having been combined into one meeting on April 14.

None of the other Councillors seemed to feel their power had been compromised: in a recorded vote, they all supported the amendment to the March 17 bylaw (with the possible exception of Councillor Morey: due to distancing in the room his response was not clearly audible to the reporter).

Support of Resuming Residential Construction

Currently, Provincial regulations prohibit residential construction where a building permit had not been issued prior to April 4, 2020.

Council considered a motion that urges the province to make a change.

The motion says that “residential construction represents a significant number of jobs in rural Ontario and forms an integral part of the rural Ontario economy through considerable direct, indirect and induced impacts.

“Also, residential construction in rural areas is characterized by single-family dwelling types situated on large lots, attended by a very limited number of tradespersons and contractors at any given time, and are being constructed for specific clientele with planned occupancy dates.

South Frontenac Township Council agreed unanimously to send a recommendation to the Provincial government requesting they consider lifting the prohibition on residential construction, where such construction can take place in accordance with the principles outlined in the government’s Framework for Reopening our Province.

SF Enters Procurement Partnership with the City of Kingston

Over the past several months the Public Services Department has been meeting with the City of Kingston Engineering Services Group to investigate the viability of joint procurement for some road construction services given their many shared arterial roads and other common interests. Both parties concluded that there is mutual benefit for the procurement of some services annually. As a result, the township has entered into an agreement with the City that allows the parties to partner on procurement of those construction and related services that can be combined to increase the volumes to be tendered. The agreement provides for local discretion for which procurements are conducted jointly and which party will serve as the lead on each procurement. The agreement does not bind the Township to any capital expenditures and Council retains approval for capital items within the annual budget.

The agreement is for an initial year with the option for up to two additional one-year extensions.

CAO Neil Carbone said he anticipates that this relationship will foster increased Township-City collaboration, benefitting our mutual interests and resulting in cost savings.

Mark Segsworth, Director of Public Works, commended Dave Holliday, the staff member who was key person in the negotiations leading up to the partnership, saying Holliday deserved full recognition for an exceptional, well done job.

Emergency Control Update

CAO Carbone reported that currently, Public Health is looking to the Province for regional consideration for this area, which has remained ‘relatively unscathed’ during the pandemic. “As recovery approaches, we are anticipating a gradual transitioning to the ‘new normal’, and are looking toward what this may be, beginning with bringing more staff back into the office. Throughout, we will be following all Public health updates’ and will continue to release new information as we get it.”