South Frontenac Council

Wilma Kenny | May 15, 2014

Museum Proposal

Councillor John McDougall brought a recommendation from the Portland and South Frontenac Recreation Committees, that: “The Township of South Frontenac proceed with the necessary steps to turn the old stone school at Hartington into a museum, under the management of the Portland District and Area Heritage Society and the supervision of the facilities manager and the CAO of the Township.” The report went on to list eight ‘next steps,’ beginning with confirmation of the structural integrity of the building. Deputy Mayor Vandewal said he would support the proposal only if the museum were to represent the whole township. McDougal noted that one of the ‘next steps’ stipulated that there be discussions with other SF heritage organizations to ensure that the new Township of South Frontenac Museum reflects all four districts in its displays. There was general agreement that it would not be desirable or practical to have four separate museums in the Township. Councillor Barr spoke for the Bedford Historical Society, saying that some were in agreement with a museum at Hartington, while others were not. Stowe asked whether the stone schoolhouse was big enough for a museum, or whether an addition might be necessary.

At this point the meeting was briefly opened to the public: speaking for the members of the Portland Heritage Society, many of whom were present, the Chair said they fully intend to include the whole Township in the project. Fran Willis spoke of a group meeting several years ago to discuss a Sydenham museum, but nothing came of it. (Neither Loughborough nor Storrington has an active historical society, though the Womens’ Institute has maintained some written history in their Tweedsmuir Histories.)

Library Board representative W Kenny noted that if the Township were able to build a library similar to Sydenham’s in Verona, that would free up extra space in the neighbouring Princess Anne building for museum storage, cataloguing, etc.

Hydro One Requests Garlon Approval

Further to their presentation to Council on January 28, which was favourably received, Hydro One has asked for formal approval to use Garlon RTU as part of its vegetation management program. In their letter, Hydro One states: “Our technicians plan their work to accommodate timing, restrictions and buffers associated with sensitive species and habitat, organic farming operations, apiaries, and the concerns of local citizens.” Public Works Manager Segsworth said that Hydro One has seemed to take their vegetation control work seriously, and follow the precautions associated with the use of herbicides. Councillor Naish asked whether the Township should consider using Garlon on the roadsides. Segsworth said the Township had stopped using herbicides several years ago, with the exception of controlling two dangerous plants: wild parsnip and poison ivy. Otherwise, brush cutting and mowing has kept roadsides clear.

Frontenac Roads Corridor

“The problem is, Frontenac County is unique: because it does not recognize roads as a County responsibility, the four amalgamated Townships have been cut off from a primary source of funding from the Province.” Segsworth presented the recently completed needs study on the Frontenac Corridor (downloaded former provincial highways 506, 509, 38, 95 and 96), done by D.M. Wills Associates, to assess condition and prioritize needs along the north-south corridor. This study, done with the cooperation of the four Townships’ roads departments, will be used to support applications for roads grants, as the corridor is a regional transportation system for the geographic area of Frontenac County. The next step is to present the report to the area CAO’s and to County Council.

Sale of Municipal Land

Inverary resident Doug Amy has requested to buy a 100-acre parcel of township land (west half of lot 14, concession 9, Bedford), in order to have access to his abutting property. After a brief discussion, Council agreed they would be willing to dispose of this property: staff will provide more information on the process necessary to accomplish this.