South Frontenac Council - April 28

Wilma Kenny | Apr 29, 2015

Strategic Plan

Consultant Rob Woods presented a draft strategic plan distilled from his meetings with council and staff, and information received from recent public meetings. Woods said the most complex issue was that of growth and development, which requires a clear plan of the types of development that are desirable and where they should be located.

Development needs to acknowledge the importance of agriculture, be sensitive to environmental concerns, and be consistent with “quality rural/small-urban lifestyles,” he said.

Some comments from Council: SF’s “unique identity’ is not fully explained and references to the environment are weak, but acknowledgement of the importance of agriculture is good, and overall the process of creating the plan was positive and well-organized. A full text of the draft is available on the Township website.

Annual Waste Site Reports

Guy LaPorte of Aecon submitted a brief illustrated annual report on the township’s waste disposal sites: his charts showed no increase in recycling over the past three years.

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth said, “I beg to differ about Mr Laport’s comments in relation to diversion: the recycling numbers are hard numbers, (for they are weighed when they arrive in Kingston), and cannot be directly compared to the landfill numbers which are based on estimates.” Segsworth will bring his report on the present state of waste diversion to the next Council meeting. LaPorte had no comment. Later in the evening, Councillor Sleeth drew on his agricultural experience to comment that he felt parts of the waste site report had been “full of heifer dust.”

Waste Collection Contracts

Contractor Percy Snider was present to answer questions from Council, but none were asked. Segsworth said he had met with both Snider and Larmon, and felt he had a good working relationship with them, and they are providing a good level of service. He said he would be recommending extending their contract for one more year: “We are working toward developing a more consistent program. At present it appears that tendering by weight may not be as fair as tendering by numbers of households after all, as the nature of waste materials is beginning to change: newspaper and glass are being replaced by lighter materials.”

Additional Solar Proposal

Utilia Amaral of SunEdison briefly informed Council of a 205 acre site her company was proposing for a second solar project. It’s located on the Rodney Wallace property at the corner of Alton Road and Road 38, just north of Harrowsmith.

Dog Tags

CAO Orr asked whether Council wished to enforce the sale of dog tags by door to door followup with known dog owners. Given the amount of discussion this question had engendered in previous years, the present Council showed a remarkable lack of interest in further pursuing the sale of dog tags.

Onward with Oregon Orange

In spite of additional cost and difficulties getting tender submissions for specially coloured trucks for the Township fleet, Council agreed to keep the distinctive orange colour.

Sandhill Cemetery

Councillor Sleeth reported a number of concerns about the caretaking of Sandhill Cemetery near Battersea. He said stones had fallen, brush was not removed, and mowing was carelessly done. CAO Orr agreed to follow up with the contractor.