South Frontenac Council

Wilma Kenny | Jun 26, 2014

Fire Services Save Life

South Frontenac resident Randy King spoke to Council of his heartfelt thanks to Fire Chief Chesebrough and the volunteers of South Frontenac Fire Department. He described how their prompt and appropriate intervention saved his life during a sudden health crisis in early June.

Speakers Series Proposed

Geoff Sandiford of the Frontenac County Sustainability Advisory Committee introduced the committee’s new chair, Tracy John. He then spoke of their proposal to set up a series of speakers this fall to address ‘subjects that matter’ to residents of each of the Townships. He said they wanted to know what topics Council felt would be relevant to their local communities. Councillor McDougall said that at the annual meetings the Township had held with local Lake Associations, there seemed ongoing confusion about the roles of the Stewardship Committee, the Conservation Authorities, and the Ministry of Natural Resources; perhaps an evening that included representatives from each of these agencies would be useful for the lake associations.

The rest of Council agreed: no one offered any other suggestions, although Sandiford had listed a number of potential topics including: car share programs, volunteering, solar hot water heaters, septic alternatives, seed banks, environmentally conscious movie nights, and community revitalization. Mayor Davison thanked them for coming, and said they ‘had planted the seeds’ of a number of ideas for engaging the residents in our communities.

New CAO

County Warden Bud Clayton introduced Kelly Pender, new CAO for Frontenac County. Pender spoke of the importance of the County and the Townships working together in partnership.

Request to Lease Township Property

A resident of Harrowsmith has asked Council to consider leasing, with an option to purchase, a small parcel of Township land in the village of Harrowsmith. He says he is renting a neighbouring apartment, and would like to park his RV on the property. After a brief discussion, Council agreed unanimously that they intended to retain the land in question, would not consider leasing it, and if they should at some time decide to sell it, they would contact adjoining landowners to see if they had any interest in the parcel as a lot addition, for it is too small to be considered a separate property.

Chip Wagons

Further to recently expressed concerns about the chip wagon bylaw, the Corporate Services Committee has recommended three changes to clarify the bylaw: 1) specify that licenses are issued by the Building Inspector, not Council; 2) state that chip wagons should not be located within 500 meters of a business where similar products are sold unless there is written consent from the permanent business, and 3) eliminate the suggestion that any vendor can simply make application to Council for an exemption from any provision of the bylaw. These recommendations will be brought to Council as part of a consolidated bylaw, and once passed, a copy will be issued to all current license holders.