South Frontenac Council - Sep 17/13

Jeff Green and Wilma Kenny | Sep 18, 2013

Council Slams County Official Plan

In a five-page report that was received by South Frontenac Council on Tuesday night, Sept. 17, Mills praised the general layout of the County OP, which was authored by Joe Gallivan, the Manager of Sustainability Planning with Frontenac County. “The draft plan is well laid out … each section and subsection includes an introduction that explains the intent of each policy that flows from it … Also the document explains at the start that its policies are structured on the basis of six sustainability themes, namely: economic sustainability, growth management, community building, housing and social services, heritage and culture, and environmental sustainability. These six themes appear to be logical as a general basis on which to accommodate future growth and needs of residents … Joe Gallivan should be commended for his work on the Plan." Once he had finished praising Joe Gallivan, Mills set out a series of concerns he had with the plan. Mills said that while the County OP explains that it is intended to be a “high-level” regional plan, “in reality, under the present wording, the document is exactly the opposite.” He said that the policies in the OP are much too “intrusive into the decision-making authority of the municipalities.” He uses the example of the definition of agricultural land in the document. Regarding agricultural land, it lists every possible use that may be permitted on the lands. Secondary uses such as carpentry, welding, machine and small engine repair shops are listed. Mills says this level of detail has no place in the document. “The Plan should provide the introduction that explains the intent of the section and then simply state that ‘municipalities shall ensure that agriculture and the farming community are supported and protected’ or wording with a similar intent,” Mills wrote. Mills also expressed concerns over language used in the Daft OP, words such as "shall", "will", "permitted", etc., words that cause Mills to be concerned “that the County will be involved in every aspect of any planning approval”. While he says that he is not sure that is the intent of the document, Mill says that to make sure the County does not get involved in local matters, the “wording needs to be tightened up”. He also expressed concerns about the sections in the plan about forestry, regional roads, and regional community improvement plans. Lindsay Mills concluded his report by saying the draft County Official Plan “attempts to involve the County in all development. This too much intrusion into the affairs of local municipalities.” Although he says that the problem may be more one of wording than intent in many cases, he is concerned that the OP “has huge negative implications for the local townships and the Plan should be substantially revised accordingly” Mills recommended that South Frontenac Council endorse his report and forward it to the County as a township position regarding the OP. Before members of South Frontenac Council had their chance to comment on Lindsay Mills' report at their meeting on Tuesday night (September 17th) Mills told them that he has already had a discussion with Joe Gallivan about his concerns, and Gallivan has assured him “that he plans to reduce the second draft of the County OP by one half." This did not stop members of South Frontenac Council from attacking the County OP, and the County itself as well. “I don’t agree with where they seem to be going with it,” said Councilor Del Stowe, “they should stay out of it and let us do our own job. This degree of involvement in planning adds another tier, increases waiting time and costs: there is no benefit to it that I can see.” Councilor Ron Vandewal said he is concerned that the approach the County is taking “could choke off development”, and Councilor Larry York said “the County is too removed from the reality of the individual townships.” Even Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth had something to say about Frontenac County's role. “When it comes to roads we have shown that we don’t need an upper tier - we are demonstrating there is another way: collaboration between the townships. In my opinion, our future is in collaboration,” he said. Mayor Gary Davison said “The octopus gets bigger; they’ll have to pay extra staff to administer this. It’s all part of the issue at County council: there’s a hostile, divided environment.” Council unanimously passed a motion opposing the County’s first draft, and sent the full text of L. Mills’ notes back to County, and to all the other townships. Lindsay Mills assured Council that the County will make no decision about the Official Plan until they have circulated a second draft to the townships.

Guiderail Installation Tender

Public Works Manager Segsworth reported on the tender results for installation of roadside protection (formerly guardrails, now guiderails,) on Harrowsmith, Clarke, Perth and Latimer Roads, as well as extensive repairs to a recently-damaged section of Moreland Dixon Road. Council approved the $77,862 bid provided by McIvor Enterprises. Inclusion of the unanticipated repairs which resulted from an auto accident raised costs above the budgeted $50,000. The overage will be funded from contingency, and the township will seek remuneration from insurance claims.

Road 38 Corridor in Verona

Five proposals were submitted for a Multi-modal Transportation Study and Improvement Plan for the Road 38 Corridor through Verona. This was awarded to Stantec Engineering, for $22,487. Multi-modal refers to the need to accommodate several very different uses of the relatively narrow corridor: private and commercial vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, and atvs.