South Frontenac Council - Oct 8/13

Jeff Green | Oct 10, 2013

Southern Frontenac Community Services seeking municipal support

David Townsend, the executive director of Southern Frontenac Community Services (SFCS), took the occasion of his annual report to the South Frontenac Committee of the Whole on Tuesday night, October 8, to point out some of the strides his organization has made to serve seniors and poverty-stricken families in the township, and to talk about the Grace Centre.

He also talked about a financial shortfall his agency is facing and asked that Council considering contributing some funding in 2014.

“We run 10 programs to help seniors live at home and in 2013 we have served 726 seniors, up from 661 in 2012, a 16.2% increase,” he said.

The use of family services, such as low income assistance, homelessness prevention and other services has gone up by over 300% since 2011. In the first nine months of 2013, SFCS has served 194 people who are at risk of homelessness in the township. The food bank that the agency runs has seen an increase of 75% over the last two years, serving 553 households thus far in 2013.

All of this has come at a cost to the agency, which ran a deficit of $32,000 in 2012.

“The Local Health Integration Network recognised the pressure we are under and covered our deficit last year, but they made it clear it was a one-time payment,” said Townsend.

He said that in 2013 SFCS is facing a $15,000 shortfall in its transportation budget because of the cost of bringing more and more frail seniors to adult day programs that it runs. There is another $15,000 shortfall in the operation of the Day Away Program, and there are costs associated with the Grace Centre that are proving difficult to cover.

“We have explored every avenue for funding and we will continue to look for more, but we are looking for township support in 2014,” said Townsend. “The province says we should use waiting lists but when you put a senior on a waiting list for service you risk seeing them die before you begin to provide service. And the needs of families at risk cannot be put off either.”

“There is a lot to take in,” said Mayor Davison to David Townsend, “I commend you on the great work you do. I'm sure as budget comes forward we will take what you have brought to us into account.”

Trying to keep the MoE satisfied - Township working with Quinte Conservation to keep Verona waste site up and running 

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth outlined a new wrinkle in the continuing efforts the township has made to satisfy the Ontario Ministry of the Environment that the Verona waste site, the largest in the township, is not a source of contamination to surrounding waterways.

The wetland surrounding the site has provided a natural buffer for leachate coming from the site, and water tests at the far end of the township-owned wetland have always come up clean.

A few years ago, the ministry decided that was not good enough, and have been demanding that the township come up with a plan to ensure that the surface water where the waste site slopes down to the wetland come up clean as well.

The latest plan that the public works department has come up with, in conjunction with Quinte Conservation, is to establish a five-metre buffer between the toe of the waste site and the wetland, which will hopefully prevent any of the leachate from entering the wetland in the first place.

“We do not need ministry approval to try this,” said Segsworth, “ just a permit from Quinte Conservation."

Segsworth added that while he can’t say enough about how much help he has received from Quinte Conservation, he has been frustrated at times by the way the ministry works.

“I never seem to get a ministry position to work with. I deal with a number of people and they don’t always say the same thing, but there is no clear ministry position.

Nonetheless, Councilor Ron Vandewal pointed to correspondence from Sarah Dick, the senior environmental officer at the Kingston office of the MoE, who talked about how well maintained the site now is, and how much material is being diverted. “That must count for something,” Vandewal said.

“Ultimately, we have the same goal as the MoE,” said Segsworth,

Council will formally endorse Segsworth’s latest proposal, which he will also share with the MoE, at next week’s Council meeting.