South Frontenac Council - Feb 9/10

Wilma Kenny | Feb 11, 2010

Sydenham Library

Architect Ray Zaback of Shoalts and Zaback presented a report to a meeting of South Frontenac Council on Tuesday night (February 9) on behalf of the Library Development Committee. He said that the cost estimates for construction of the Sydenham Library had been brought into line by deleting the formal LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. The building will still be constructed to LEED specifications, but Zaback assured Council there was “no practical benefit to achieving the certification”.

Without the extra administration and consultation fees required to achieve LEED, the revised construction budget is $1,800,000, which includes radiant heating and a metal roof.

Following their scheduled Committee of the Whole meeting, Council convened a brief meeting toconsider the resolution that they recommend to Frontenac County Council that the library construction project should be put out to tender.

Included in the motion was the agreement that this project would be required to pay the full $18,000 (1% of total construction cost) building permit fee. Recent discussions led by Councilors Bill Robinson and Jim Hicks have led to Council agreeing that the township will pay for its own building permits from now on.

However, because last fall when the original funding was applied for, this cost had not been included, Council agreed, as part of the motion, to be prepared to cover the building permit fee from reserves, if it would otherwise run the project over budget. Councilor Robinson requested recorded vote, and voted against the resolution, which passed.

The Sydenham Library project will be 2/3 funded by a federal/provincial infrastructure grant

The tender for the library is now ready for release, having been approved by South Frontenac County. Formal approval from Frontenac County will come on February 17. The project will follow LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficient Design) guidelines but in order to cut costs it will not be subject to the expense of formal LEED certification.

South Frontenac Township will take out an $18,000 building permit for the project. If the permit costs do not fit within the project budget, the money will be taken from township reserve funds. Two-thirds of construction costs are being covered by federal/provincial grant money.

Recreation Master Plan: Michael Howe, Chair of the Recreation Committee, presented a five-year recreation plan for the township. He noted that the report came under three main headings: facilities and maintenance; swim and day camp programs, and communication and volunteerism. The plan's recommendations come from the needs identified by the community during an intensive series of meetings and consultations.

Howe said that communication and volunteer coordination were essential to developing and maintaining strong recreation programs. One key recommendation of the plan is that the township create a part-time position for a recreation coordinator, who could provide follow-through and communication between various township groups, as well as publicizing programs, collating data, and seeking out grant money. Mayor Gary Davison thanked Howe and Wes Garrod, another member of the committee, and their committee members for their work in producing such a comprehensive report.

SUBDIVISION ISSUES: A representative of FoTenn Consultants introduced two subdivision proposals that were in early stages. He asked whether one, near Inverary, could be allowed to have lots with reduced frontage, in order to accommodate a larger number of severances. The general consensus seemed to be that, unless there was a specific reason for a reduced frontage, this would not be encouraged. A second subdivision is proposed along Georgia Lane, off Rutledge Road, east of Sydenham. The development of half of an 83-acre lot is being planned, with 11 severances ranging from 2.6 to 5.7 acres.

Necessary studies are in process, and there were no questions raised at this time.

WASTE COLLECTION RFP: Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth reported that his staff was compiling the numbers of seasonal and permanent residents on private lanes. He said the task has proven much larger than anticipated, but is going well, and will provide much more accurate information to go in the solid waste collection RFP. He expects the RFP will be ready to go out by the end of March. There followed a brief flurry of bag tag talk.

BUDGET DISCUSSION: In introducing the budget discussion, CAO Wayne Orr said the preliminary 2010 budget, which is the township’s first amalgamated budget, reflects an overall increase over last year of 4.12%. Some of the smaller departments were discussed. The heavier areas such as roads, capital projects, environmental services, etc. will be reviewed next week at Council on Feb.16, beginning early, at 6pm.