South Frontenac Council - Nov 26/13

Jeff Green | Nov 27, 2013

SF budget set for approval

Based on direction from Council to bring in a budget with an increase of under 3% for properties with an average increase in “programmed assessment” by MPAC (the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation), staff presented a few changes to the 2014 budget after learning that a transfer fund from the Province of Ontario has been cut by $150,000.

The main sources of extra funds come from one-time spending programs that will be covered through reserves rather than new taxation.

The only thing left is for the Public Works Department to find $77,000 in savings. Those cuts were not made last week because Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth was on vacation.

“I will have the cuts done by Thursday,” Segsworth said. "I’m inclined to reduce here and there some of our dependence on contracting services. We have a fixed number of employees; I’d like to keep them fully engaged in 2014.”

“I’m not necessarily going to be ready to vote on this until I see what the cuts from public works look like,” said Councilor Ron Vandewal.

“If we can see those changes next week, I don’t see why we can’t move this whole thing to a vote next week,” said Mayor Davison.

Assuming the pubic works cuts come through, the township will levy $700,000 more from ratepayers in 2014 than they did in 2013, an increase of 5.59%, but the impact on the average ratepayer, according to the Treasury department, will be a 2.9% increase, within the 3% limit imposed by Council.

Standardised fees for usage of township halls

South Frontenac is one of the few remaining townships whose halls have remained in the hands of local committees, which impose their own billing systems, but that is about to change.

A report by Angela Maddocks, acting Recreation Co-ordinator, calls for all three township halls - Bedford (Glendower), Storrington, and Harris Park 
(Perth Road) – to charge the same fees and use a standardized booking form.

The suggested fees are $50 for four hours for residents ($70 with the use of the kitchen/bar) and $85 for non-residents ($110 with kitchen/bar)

“Will this still allow us to have standard agreements with long term users?” asked Councilor Cam Naish.

“Do you mean waiving fees?” asked Mayor Davison

“Yes” said Naish

“Other than official committees of council, this applies to everyone,” said Chief Administrative Officer Wayne Orr.

“What about the church that donated all the cutlery and dishes for the Storrington Hall; we will have to reconcile that,” said Naish.

“This was brought to the local recreation committees; everyone should know it is coming,” said Orr.

Fire Master Plan

Fire Chief Rick Chesebrough made a comprehensive presentation of the preliminary fire hall implementation plan and proposals for a township fire master plan.

Highlights included consideration of the future of Fire Hall #9, which is located on Burnt Hills Road in the far eastern portion of the township in Storrington District. The fire hall study recommends either moving the hall or closing it.

When pressed as to what he would recommend, Chesebrough said he thought it best to leave the hall where it is for at least a year, to give the fire service an opportunity to gather comprehensive data about one year’s service calls. “This will give us a baseline to see exactly what staffing levels we need, what kind of equipment we need and what demands there are on each of our halls” said Chesebrough.

The Perth Road Hall is slated to be replaced in 2015, and upgrades, mainly to the electrical and fire separation doors, are planned at a number of the other halls.

South Frontenac is not alone in not yet having a Fire Master Plan in place, but Cheseborough said the department has a solid base in the level of training and commitment of its firefighters.

“Our staff is made up of some of the most highly trained individuals in the business. We are one of the most highly recommended departments anywhere in the Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington region. I would put them up against any other department. A lot of times we take our firefighters for granted, but we should appreciate what we have,” he said.

In summing up, he said in some respects the background consultant reports for the South Frontenac master plan call for the department to conform to certain protocols that do not fit the reality in South Frontenac, but South Frontenac is not bound to follow those recommendations in all cases.

“We are not going to be measured by the standard of any other department. We are going to be measured by a standard that we set for ourselves,” Cheseborough concluded.