South Frontenac Council - Jan 16/23

Wilma Kenny | Jan 24, 2024

Kingston Frontenac Public Library Plan

Laura Carter, CAO and Alan Revill, Board Chair, came to Council with a presentation on the Library’s Facilities Plan, which was updated in 2022.

Amalgamated in 1998, the KFPL has 5 large city branches, and 11 rural branches throughout Frontenac County. While all the city branch buildings are owned and maintained by the Library, the rural branches are owned and maintained by the local Townships, while the library supplies furnishings, books and staff. Three of the rural branches: Storrington, Sydenham and Hartington, are in South Frontenac. 

The most recent facilities plan was completed in the fall of 2022: of the city and the townships, South Frontenac (SF) had by far the smallest facilities, as measured by square feet per capita population: (.37, compared to Kingston’s .87, Central Frontenac’s .75 and North Frontenac’s .61. The ‘generally accepted standard’ is a range of 1.6-1.0.

Storrington’s branch is small, relatively isolated, and has low visibility from the road; it’s recommended for improved accessibility and eventual new furniture. Hartington branch is in an aging building system, and has lower than average in-person visits. The current Sydenham branch was opened in late 2011, and “has strong visitation/circulation rates and is experiencing pressures due to inadequate library space in other SF settlement areas.” 

Ms Carter’s recommendation for the Hartington/Verona area is clear and strong: “Replace the existing Hartington Branch with a new, larger branch situated in the Verona settlement area.”

“We’d be hard pressed to think of doing anything at Storrington,” said Mayor Vandewal, “just after we’ve done so much work there. I don’t want to predict about Hartington: there may be changes in the next five years, but we’ve nothing budgeted for that. We’ll see how it works out.” 

Bedford Councillor’s Position to be Filled

Following Councillor Godfrey’s recent resignation due to personal matters, Council discussed how they wished to fill the vacancy: the presented options were: 1) appoint the Bedford candidate who had the third highest number of votes, 2) put out a general call for interested individuals to be interviewed, or 3) hold a by-election.

Councillor Ruttan spoke strongly in favour of option 2: “ Who knows how many votes the next in line received, and if they’re interested, they can apply for an interview: have they ever actually come to a Council meeting?” Pegrum recommended the first option: “That’s been the process in the past, and Council appointments are a democratic process. There’s three-quarters of the term left, unlike Pat Barr’s appointment, when there were only a few months left in the term, and there had been no third candidate in Bedford.” Roberts noted that Option 1 had been used in 2011 and 2016. Sleeth said “Neither of the other candidates have ever been to Council, and we don’t know either of them, so perhaps we should interview both of them.” Morey and Leonard agreed with Option 1. Mayor Vandewal spoke; “Option 1 says ‘the third highest’. I've seen many Councillors on this Council that I never saw attending a Council meeting beforehand, and weren't on any committees, and they seemed to cope. Option 1 was how we replaced Tinlin and Robinson.” 

Pegrum and Morey made the motion for Option 1: all voted in favour. 

Opinion Culvert Replacement

Council approved replacement of the Opinion Road (Raymonds Corners) culvert by Marathon Underground Constructors Corp. in the amount of $805.757. A number of factors (eg, an open cut installation would require an extended road closure with 62 km of detour, and result in large quantities of earth removal and fill) led to the choice of a new process for the Township. A 4’ diameter steel casing will be pneumatically rammed through the embankment; this installation will carry a 75 year design life. The $105,000 cost shortfall from the ’23 carry forward budget for this project will be covered by recent savings from the Wilmer Road culvert construction.

Electric Vehicle Charger Grant Applications

A report from Kyle Bolton, Dir. of Public Services, requested Council’s authorization to apply for Provincial and Federal grants toward  installing  electric vehicle chargers in the township. It asked for authorization of a $110,000 budget to be funded from the Climate Action reserve, as the township’s portion of the total cost of the chargers. If successful, the eventual result would be a draw of $1,100,000 in grants for chargers in Centennial Park Harrowsmith, Township Hall lot Sydenham, and Storrington Centre. Council had many questions, but needed to be reminded that this application for grants is only the first step in a very long process.

Backyard Chickens

Council passed a zoning amendment on a 2.5 acre waterfront residential property located on a private lane in the Battersea settlement area, to permit the addition of a chicken coop and maximum of five chickens. The coop and attached run will be 230 feet from the shoreline and 50 feet from the nearest property sideline. The manure is being composted with leaves near the coop. A number of neighbours have been warmly supportive, with only one dissenting comment citing fears of predators and avian flu.

Thanks to Roads Crews

Deputy Mayor Leonard thanked the township road crews for their excellent work of clearance during the recent storms and freeze/thaw conditions.

Warning: Interim tax bills will soon be arriving!