South Frontenac Council - Feb 18/25

Wilma Kenny | Feb 26, 2025

Council came out of closed session with Deputy Mayor Ruttan chairing the meeting, in the absence of Mayor Vandewal. All other Council members were present.

In Memory of Bill Lake - Councillor Ron Sleeth addressed the loss of former Mayor and long-time Council member Bill Lake, who served two terms as Mayor of the newly-amalgamated Township, and many years as Councillor. “Bill cared very deeply about his community, which was not only Storrington district, but became all of Southern Frontenac, after amalgamation. We worked together for many years, without a cross word ever between us.” There followed a minute of silence.

Jim Pines’ Presentation - SF resident Jim Pines came as a delegate to Council with a refreshingly different presentation: he came to say “Thanks, and keep up the good work,” complimenting all SF staff and Council for their friendly helpful guidance and support: “I believe in the critical importance of local government as the basic building block of our democracy.” When thanked and asked if he had anything he wished to add, he said with a smile in his voice, “Think of the Holleford Road if you can!”

Public Works Update - Kyle Bolton presented a Public Services departmental update; there are several major projects currently under way: Management of landfill capacity; completion of Town Hall renovations; designing of joint Fire and OPP facility; reconstructions of Road 38, Craig Road and Westport Road and Fish Creek and Eagle Creek bridges. The Accelerated High Speed Internet Program (AH SIP), which requires review of Municipal Consent Applications, began last year with 27 applications and has already received 23 applications in January this year. All these consent applications require immediate staff attention to review and approve, as they must be processed within ten days. Last year’s introduction of Broadband will continue to be a drain on staff time of 20 to 25 staff hours a week. Bolton noted that there’s a lot of behind the scenes work that is not always obvious. While volume remains a challenge, staff has provided resources to help individuals to prepare better applications. There are three major vendors, Cogeco, Bell and Explorer, to work with. Although both Fish and Eagle creek bridges were ten dered at the same time, they cannot be closed at the same time, so Eagle Creek, which is in better condition, will be left until either the fall of ’26 or the following spring. In the interim, until it is repaired, Council agreed to pro posed new weight restrictions on Fish Creek bridge.

The Blue Box program will continue as it is for now, because the anticipated province-wide directives re recycling streams still are not available. All Township recycling pickup is contracted out. Both Portland and Loughborough Landfill sites are expected to have recycling depots, and both landfill sites still have some waste capacity. However, “A lot of questions remain”.