South Frontenac Council - Dec. 20/11

Jeff Green | Dec 22, 2011

South Frontenac now a chicken friendly zone

At their final meeting of the year, South Frontenac Council finally dispensed with an issue that they have been pecking away at for six months. The township will now permit residents on lots as small as one acre in size to keep up to 10 hens, but no roosters.

The new bylaw is a simple amendment to the existing comprehensive zoning bylaw, which limits hens to lots of 3 acres or more. Several members of the public spoke in favour of the bylaw in a public meeting that preceded its passage, as did a number of members of council.

Mayor Davison sounded a note of caution however.

“Remember a few years ago people were worried about avian flu from living too close together with poultry,” he said.

Nonetheless, the bylaw amendment passed without incident.

Private lane upgrade grants – Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth presented a report on the private lanes upgrade program for 2011. The program provides for up to 50% financial support for upgrades that lane associations take on, under certain conditions.

“This is the 4th year of the program and it has proved rather popular. The intention of the program is to improve access for emergency vehicles to properties on private lanes, and this year certain issues came up that we had not faced before. Some property owners were not in agreement with some of the work that was done. I also think that some of the lanes have been resurfaced without dealing with drainage issues. What I have ruled ineligible is gravel resurfacing, and I think we might have to make some of the rules more explicit in future years to limit confusion among applicants” said Segsworth.

“Maybe we should send this to the Public Works Committee to review the criteria,” said Councilor Del Stowe.

“We have made it clear already that this program is not about just putting down gravel. I don’t think we have to revisit that,” said Councilor Alan McPhail.

“Let’s not forget that this is a successful program,” said Councilor Mark Tinlin.

Council approved grants totalling $30,771 for work on 10 different lanes, including: Osboren Lane - $276; Wildlife Lane - $2,542; Sandpit Lane - $10,810; Tim’s Lane - $470; Sellers Lane - $3,676; Sharpley Lane - $517; MacComich Lane - $1288; Garter Lake Lane - $1,953; Henry Lane - $6,893; Sunset Shores - $2,340.

2.1% pay increase for non-unionized staff - Council confirmed a pay increase of 2.1% in 2012 for all non-unionized staff, which includes themselves. The 2.1% figure is identical to the pay increase that was negotiated for unionized staff through a collective bargaining agreement.