South Frontenac Committee of the Whole

Wilma Kenny | Jun 10, 2020

Council discusses ad bags and Kingston newspaper deliveries

Over the past few years, there have been many complaints to Council about the roadside accumulation of plastic bags containing Kingston this Week/Frontenac This Week, which includes a bundle of advertising flyers. Council recently directed staff to review the issue again, and report back with recommendations for addressing the problem.

The report, submitted by Clerk Angela Maddocks, noted that there is provision under the Waste Management By-law to impose fines for littering. However, this would be a cumbersome, expensive and potentially ineffectual process given the cost of fines, court costs and the difficulty in providing suitable evidence. Specific community mailboxes might work in hamlets, but would not solve the issue along rural roads.

The township could include a notice along with the final tax notice, asking seasonal residents and those who do not wish to receive the paper to notify Post Media. Staff at “Frontenac this Week” are receptive to addressing this concern and indicated that residents who do not wish to receive the newspaper can contact the distribution office by calling at 544-5000 Ext 547147 and providing their civic number and street address to have it cancelled, or the service suspended.

The report also reminded Council that many people welcomed the ad bag, and would not want to have it completely discontinued, so the recommended option was for staff “to work with Kingston This Week/Frontenac this Week to establish protocols that address those areas where newspapers (that include ad bags) are left alongside municipal ditches and road allowances.”

Deputy Mayor Sutherland said that the media company is not doing what they have said they were doing (already using rural mailboxes), for in many cases, he has seen the bags dumped on the opposite side of the road from the mailboxes.

CAO Carbone replied that staff’s intent is to hold the company to what they have committed to, by trying to work with them. He also agreed it was important to not prevent the paper bundle from going to those who want it. Mayor Vandewal asked for a timeline; Carbone replied, “Until the end of the year”. Vandewal said “That’s generous, but fair.” The staff recommendation was carried.

The Frontenac News is delivered exclusively to mailboxes under contract with Canada Post, and is unaffected by this conversation.

Arterial Road Winter Maintenance Contract

Mark Segsworth, Director of Public Works presented a recommendation for a further one season contract extension with K. Mulrooney Trucking for plowing of arterial roads, based on updated prices submitted by the company.

The season runs from November 15 to April 15, and there are six arterial township roads: Westport, Bedford, Perth, Sydenham, Battersea Roads, and Highway 38. Segsworth said that while the company’s hourly rate hasn’t increased appreciatively over the past 7 years, the new pricing includes a standby charge of $500/week for each of 6 tandem plows. This cost was not incurred by the Township in previous years and would represent the largest increased cost in 2020/21, but it is typical practice in all our neighbouring municipalities’ winter maintenance contracts.

Staff is confident that sufficient funds can be found in the 2020 Operating Budget to cover this unexpected increase. Segsworth added that these estimates are associated with the arterial winter plowing routes only and do not include village or other smaller non-arterial plowing contracts which will come forward to Council for consideration in the near future.

Council expressed some concerns about the additional cost of the standby fees; “If my neighbour jumps in the lake, it doesn’t mean I have to,” said Mayor Vandewal. “But all our neighbours jumped years ago,” countered Segsworth, “We need time to develop long-range plans; are we going to do this in-house, or continue to contract out? A one-year contract extension will buy us time for solid discussion of alternative service delivery options, in order to mitigate future cost increases.”

Council supported the recommendation.

Township Assumption of Sewage System Inspections

In January 2020 the Township and other Municipalities in the region were notified of KFLAPH’s intention to cease providing sewage system inspections outlined in Part 8 of the Ontario Building Code Act. Accordingly, Council asked for a staff report on the Township’s ability to provide septic system inspections in-house with consideration for associated costs including training, physical space, data from KFL&A Public Health and other implications.

The report shows that South Frontenac accounts for 67% of the total number of sewage system permits issued annually by the Health Unit, as well as an additional 200-300 hours for reviewing consents, minor variances, subdivision.condo and rezoning applications. Added to this is administrative time, courses/training, meetings and vacation time. In short, the equivalent of a full-time job, and housing development is projected to continue to climb.

The cost for the township to add a qualified full-time employee, including wages/benefits, amortization of an additional vehicle, and overhead costs is between $117,500 - $135,000 annually. The fee revenue associated with the township’s Part 8 Services in 2019 was $176,950. This could result in net proceeds estimated at between $41,950 - $59,450 annually. Other advantages of providing this service in-house would be the efficiencies related to being able to deliver one-stop service to customers within the Township. As well, it might be possible in the future for South Frontenac to provide inspection services to neighbouring Townships.

The report goes on, however, to strongly recommend seeking an experienced mid-level qualified building official capable of taking on a high level of responsibility right from the start.

Councillor Roberts asked whether this might more appropriately be a responsibility for the County: CAO Carbone said that would still involve the delays and challenges of dealing with another agency.

Mayor Vandewal added that if the County assumed the job, they “would probably hire two or three people, plus administrative staff.” Barr and Ruttan strongly agreed they preferred the in-house route.

“I want nothing to do with the County,” said Ruttan.

Council held further discussion of this report in a closed session at the end of the regular meeting,

Following this, Council came out of camera and voted to accept the report’s recommendations to support “the assumption of Part 8 Building Code Inspection services from Kingston Frontenac Lennox & Addington Public Health (KFLAPH) no later than December 1, 2020,” and “…the creation of a Deputy Chief Building Official position and associated overhead costs within the Development Services Department…”.