South Frontenac Council - Apr. 20/10

Jeff Green | Apr 22, 2010

Sydenham Library ground-breaking ceremony set for next week; Tenders come in over budget but savings are found

By Jeff Green

All of the bids for the construction of the new Sydenham Library came in over the $1.775 million construction budget.

The lowest bid, from Emmons and Mitchell, was $1.817 million, $42,000 over budget.

Architect Gerry Shoalts and project manager Patrick Thompson came to council on Tuesday night, April 20, and proposed that $20,000 be cut from the landscaping budget, furniture be reduced by $10,000, hardware and testing by $5,000 and professional fees be cut by $7,500.

This brought the project into line with the budget, enabling council to accept the tender bid by Emmons and Mitchell.

Construction for the project is slated to straddle the date when the new HST will come into effect (July 1) and it is still unclear what this will do to costs. Township CAO Wayne Orr said he had received information from the Frontenac County Treasurer that this might cost $35,000 extra, but South Frontenac Treasurer Deb Bracken was not convinced.

In order to deal with the possibility that $35,000 in extra tax might be needed, tentative plans for the stone siding of the building to be replaced with brick siding, along with other measures, will be implemented if necessary.

With these measures in place, South Frontenac Council accepted the tender. Other bidders included Wemp and Smith ($1.825 million), Cupido ($1.93 million) and TA Andre ($2.13 million).

In his report to Council, CAO Orr noted that the “project has a very tight construction schedule” and since the formal proponent of the project is actually Frontenac County, because it was the County that applied for an infrastructure grant for the project, the approval of the tender was finalised at the monthly Frontenac County Council meeting on Wednesday, April 21.

A ground-breaking ceremony is scheduled for 11:00 am Monday, April 26, at the site of the new library (adjacent to the SF township office) The public is invited and light refreshments will be served after the ceremony.

2010 BUDGET APPROVED WITH 2% INCREASE

Council formally endorsed their 2010 budget after a public meeting. The final budget was unchanged from the one they approved at their Committee of the Whole meeting last week. It contains a 1.98% increase in the total levy to ratepayers.

Councilor John Fillion and the one member of the public who spoke argued that the South Frontenac budget should be cut back to a 1.7% decrease in the total levy to ratepayers, in line with a draft of the budget that was presented to Council two weeks ago.

Councilor Del Stowe said that he was satisfied with the increase because it meant that reserve funds were at a reasonable level, and it would be unfair to saddle a new council with depleted reserve funds and possibly the need to increase the budget.

“It might look good for us in an election year to bring in a decrease, but we would only be making a new Council have to raise taxes 6% next year. That wouldn’t be fair at all; 2% is the rate of inflation. It’s a reasonable increase,” Stowe said.

The budget passed, with John Fillion casting the dissenting vote 

Committee of Adjustment ignores planner’s recommendations

by Wilma Kenny

In January, the Planning Department received consent applications to create a total of nine new residential lots on Holleford Road. Although technically they were being created from three different existing parent parcels, the lots were so close to each other that they would form a virtual subdivision.

A 2007 groundwater study done in South Frontenac had labelled the area in question “very highly sensitive’, and the township had agreed to require hydro-geologic studies whenever development proposals came forward in these areas. The Ministry of the Environment and Cataraqui Conservation Authority both agreed that the sites needed further study, particularly in regard to location of wells and septic systems.

Despite these recommendations, on April 8 the Committee of Adjustment approved the applications with no requirement for further studies. Township Planner Mills expressed his concern to Council that the municipality could be held liable if lots were created which were not build-able, or which developed water problems.

In a 5/4 vote, Council decided not to appeal the committee’s decision.

Sustainability Committee on the Line

Councilor John Fillion introduced a motion to dissolve the Sustainability Committee, on the grounds that it was dysfunctional, non-professional and useless. Deputy Mayor Ron Vandewal and Councilor David Hahn both supported the committee, agreeing that it had dealt with a wide range of issues, including hazardous waste, recycling pickup, and amalgamation of waste management for the township. They pointed out that these have been contentious, difficult issues to implement. Mayor Gary Davison said Council had received some good information from the committee but Council hadn’t always made it work. There was general agreement that the present Sustainability Committee should continue for the remainder of Council’s term; whether it would continue after that would be left up to the next council.

Livestock Compensation Appeal Upheld

Kevin Bovey, livestock owner in Storrington district, had claimed compensation for two heifers killed by coyotes over Christmas. The township evaluator had turned down his claim on the grounds that this did not appear to be a coyote kill. Bovey appealed the decision, and the provincial valuer upheld the appeal and recommended compensation of $1,173. Deputy Mayor Vandewal noted that this was the first time he could remember an appeal being made, and pointed out that the farmer hadn’t followed procedure in reporting the kills: “This case wasn’t exactly black and white.”