South Frontenac Council - Nov. 9, 2009

Jeff Green | Nov 05, 2009

Slip lane or slippery slope – Robinson argues for rebate

Bill Robinson is one angry councilor and he doesn’t mind letting people know about it.

“It’s so close to discrimination, as far as I’m concerned, that it is discrimination,” he said in an interview on Tuesday afternoon.

What has the long-time Portland District councillor in South Frontenac so steamed is the fact that two commercial proponents on Road 38 within the village of Harrowsmith have faced different requirements from the township, with one of them facing a $25,000 fee for the construction of an extra lane on the highway to control traffic entering their proposed business. The proponent facing the $25,000 fee intends to open a greenhouse business at the south end of the village on the west side.

The other business is going to be a meat shop/bakery at the northern edge of the village on the east side. When it applied for a zoning amendment, it faced a series of requirements, including a site plan agreement, and there were significant costs, but no slip lane was required.

“The two proposals came in at the same time; they were both within the boundaries of the hamlet, and the one to the north will likely have more traffic than the one to the south, but no one said anything to them about a slip lane,” said Robinson.

The News contacted Township Planner Lindsay Mills about the two properties. In his view, it might be more a case of the property owner at the north end being lucky than the one to the south being hard done by.

Mills said that the slip lane requirement came about because five years ago an applicant came forward to put in a commercial operation very close to where the greenhouse operation is planned, and the township required a slip lane at that time but the proposal was eventually dropped. When the new application came forward this year, Mills said that he remembered the 2004 case, and in consultation with the roads department, decided that a traffic study should be done.

The study showed that a slip lane was required, and the applicant was ordered to pay for it before getting a building permit for the new construction.

For the property at the northern end of the village, no such history existed and the question of a slip lane never came up. “In retrospect,” Mills said, “we probably should have ordered a traffic study for the one at the north end of the hamlet as well.”

For the future, the township might consider making a change to its Official Plan that traffic studies will need to be done for all commercial applications on Road 38 and Perth Road, Mills added.

This still doesn’t sit well with Bill Robinson. “Fair is fair,” he said, “what one person had to pay for should be the same as another.”

Robinson brought a notice of motion to council about the matter, asking that the $25,000 cost of the slip lane be reimbursed to the applicant. That motion was dealt with at this week’s council meeting on Tuesday night.

A report by Clerk Administrator Wayne Orr that accompanied Bill Robinson’s motion pointed out that the applicant at the south end of the village did receive an indirect benefit because the township was already doing work on that part of Road 38 this fall, and were able to add the slip lane to the project. “It is estimated that this joint project saved the property owner 50% of the cost of the work,” Orr said in his report.

Orr also pointed out that refunding the $25,000 could put the township at odds with the Ontario Municipal Act, which says that a township may not assist a commercial enterprise “through the granting of bonuses” or by “giving a total or partial exemption from any levy, charge or fee.” Orr also pointed out that the $25,000 would have to be found elsewhere should the refund be granted because the work has already been done. 

South Frontenac says yes and no to township integration proposals

At a meeting of their Committee of the Whole on October 27, South Frontenac Council discussed the seven recommendations that came from a joint meeting of township councils from all of Frontenac County, which took place on October 1 in Sharbot Lake.

South Frontenac Council’s response to the recommendations was mixed. While they agreed that they would participate in future meetings and that it is worthwhile to consider joint emergency management co-ordination, and establishing a regional roads network, council was less enthusiastic about other proposals.

They rejected out of hand the idea of a common economic development committee, preferring to see economic development handled internally by the townships though consultation with the Frontenac County Manager for Economic Development.

They also rejected the idea of a common waste management system, and were lukewarm at best on the idea of joint purchasing by the townships.

In terms of county council composition, South Frontenac Council has decided to re-state the position they took back in May, when they called for a nine-member county council, with three of the members coming from South Frontenac Council.

Frontenac County Council is expected to decide on the future makeup of the council on November 18.

By Wilma Kenny

Fire Chief Chesborough Honoured

Mayor Davison opened the November meeting by presenting Fire Chief Rick Chesborough with the Governor General's medal for exemplary service,recognizing more than 20 years of exemplary service to the community.

Sydenham Library Project Update

Wayne Orr, CAO, presented a progress report on the new library, noting that it was beginning to move at a quicker pace. At the October 22 meeting of the library committee, architect Gerry Shoalts submitted a revised drawing of the new library, reflecting feedback from the recent public meeting. The angle of the building had been shifted to provide a better view of the lake, and the meeting room and washrooms were placed so that they could more easily be used by the public when the library is closed, without concern about unsupervised access to the main body of the library itself. The building will be constructed to LEED silver standards. The committee identified several more possible revisions: the revised drawings and preliminary costing review will be completed by Nov 19: the goal is to have the tender call ready to come before Council in December for endorsement.

The committee requests direction from Council re extending the coverage of the drainage ditch to Wheatley Street: it is not in the library budget, but something of a cosmetic issue. Council agreed to consider the question.

Council opted to have a full presentation of the final library design by the architect prior to endorsing the tender call, rather than accept the committee's recommendation.

Frontenac ISCP - Warden Gutowski, in introducing the final bound copies of Frontenac County's Integrated Community Sustainability Project, noted that duringthe process of developing the project, it had become much more than merely an exercise to spend gas tax money.   "These are projects we can be proud of," she said, "and you'd better hold our feet to the fire: I hope this will become a well-used document over the next few years."

Rideau Corridor - The Rideau Corridor Landscape Strategy steering committee is asking for a representative from South Frontenac: Mayor Davison has already been to several meetings. David Hahn nominated Alan McPhail, and Ron Vandewal nominated John Fillion.

The secret ballot vote went to Fillion.

Fermoy Hall - Mark Segsworth, Public Works Manager, reporting on renovations to Fermoy Hall, said only one bid, from Shelley Home Improvements, had been received. Since the bid tendered, another window at the back of thebuilding needs replacement. This was added to the contract.