South Frontenac Council - Oct 22

Wilma Kenny | Oct 24, 2013

South Frontenac starts talking budget

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth presented the 2014 capital budget for public works, which includes roads and transportation, water, waste management/environmental services, township buildings and recreational facilities, to a Committeee of thje Whole meeting on Tuesday Night (October 22)

The proposed capital budget runs to almost $10 million.

The most debated item was a relatively small one, the $100,000 earmarked in the budget Sydenham’s Point Park football field upgrades.

Township CAO Wayne Orr noted that this was not tax money, but money being held in parkland reserves. Several councillors expressed frustration that in spite of negotiations, there still has been no commitment from the Limestone School Board to share the cost of this upgrading.

Council seemed to agree that until they had reached an understanding about sharing costs with the school board, the township should not move forward on the field upgrades.

Turning to the budget as a whole, Councillor Ron Vandewal said he didn’t like seeing so many projects carried forward from previous years.

“Either do them, or take them out of the budget,” he said.

Many of the carry-forwards related to recreation. Mayor Davison told Council that recreation still was not fully amalgamated. He also pointed out that the recently hired services manager has been needed for issues related to waste management and sanitation. Next year, Davison said, he will be able to allot more time to coordinating recreation issues.

Council meeting

Following the COW, Council reconvened for a brief Council meeting, to endorse a proposal from Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth about the submission of an expression of interest for a provincial funding program. (As usual, the time between announcement of the program and deadline for submission is short.)

If successful, the Township would receive $1million toward next year’s planned upgrading of Rutledge Road through the village of Sydenham: of particular concern are health and safety issues in the area near the schools, and between Sydenham High School and the Hillcrest plaza where there is an additional school-related program.

In the area of the schools, there are safety concerns regarding the configuration of the intersection, pedestrian traffic, poor sight lines, collisions, cycling safety, accessibility and parking.

Budget Continued Next Week

Committee of the Whole will meet next week to continue discussion of the capital budget, including a review of the Sydenham water and Township reserves. Open to the public: it’s your money they’re talking about.

Development Near Water

Township planner Lindsay Mills proposed a text change in the Official Plan which would address frequent minor variance applications to reduce the 30 metre setback from the highwater mark, usually on existing undersized lots with limited potential for development. The unstated expectation has been that if development is closer to the water, it should also be smaller. Mills suggested adding the sentence: “Furthermore, the closer the development would be to the highwater mark within the thirty metre setback area, the smaller the development would be expected to be and the smaller the habitable area should be.” There was some discussion as to whether a basement or a second story should be permitted, in such a situation. Mayor Davison asked why there was no mention of similar restrictions applying to commercial development. The change in wording will come to next week’s council meeting to be formalized.