North Frontenac Council - Jan 23/12

Jeff Green | Jan 26, 2012

Mazinaw-Lanark Forestry to make presentation

In response to a request from North Frontenac Council, Tom Richardson of Mazinaw-Lanark Forest Inc., the agency that manages logging activity on Crown land parcels in the region, offered to come to a council meeting within the next month or so. Although the township was only seeking a short presentation to “explain the process of clear cutting and the reforestation that follows”, Richardson offered to make a 45 to 60-minute presentation on Mazinaw – Lanark’s management and harvest on Crown lands.

The township is also interested in the ownership of timber rights on municipally owned concession road allowances that are located with the Mazinaw-Lanark management zone. Richardson will likely be attending a meeting in March.

MVCA to come to Council - Matt Craig, from the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority, has offered to come to council to talk about the plan of condominium application on Ardoch Lake. A developer has made an application to Frontenac County for what is called a “vacant land condominium” which is similar to a plan of subdivision, for 33 waterfront and 12 land-locked building lots on a 93.6 hectare (230 acre) parcel abutting Ardoch (Green) Lake. Frontenac County is responsible for Plan of Condominium approvals, and the county has announced that it has received a complete application for the project, but the proposal will now be subject to review by a number of parties, including MVCA and the township. As the project proceeds further through the planning process, it will be the subject of a public meeting as well.

Training officer - Denis Bedard has been appointed as the training officer for the North Frontenac Fire Department (excluding Ward 1) at an annual pay rate of $3,000.

Fuel purchases to stay local – Township staff researched the option of joining in a purchasing block with other municipalities through the Local Authority Services Limited (LAS) corporation, which was set up by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. While joining LAS would lead to minor savings in the annual cost of unleaded fuel ($279) and dyed diesel ($51), the cost of clear diesel would be $4,415 higher, and so the township will continue to be supplied by Don Wood’s Fuels Limited.

Mileage rates for staff/council to stay the same – The Township of North Frontenac reimburses for personal use of vehicles for township business. The reimbursement has to be approved in advance by council, the CAO or the appropriate manager, with a mileage per diem. That mileage, or more accurately, kilometrage has been paid at a rate of 47 cents per kilometer. In a staff report, it was recommended that the rate be raised 4 cents, to 51 cents per kilometer, but a motion to that effect was defeated and the rate will remain at 47 cents.

Website visits up – the township website, which has been continually upgraded by IT coordinator Evan Sepa, was visited 33,235 times in 2011, up from 24,487 in 2010.