South Frontenac Council

May 06, 2015

Council chose not to report back on the nature of the closed session held prior to the regular meeting.

Waste Disposal Issues

New Tipping Fees at Portland Council approved the schedule of tipping fees associated with the new weigh scale at the Portland waste site. Segsworth said the goal was to set fees that are in line with neighbouring waste sites, to avoid past problems with Township sites having been used for non-SF waste, because of our lower rates.

Beginning July 1st, rates for garbage will now be prorated from a charge of $110 per metric tonne. All waste entering the site will still have to be sorted to divert as much as possible from the landfill. Tires, grass, ashes, brush (residential), metal and flattened cardboard are all free. The base rate for any
amount of garbage up to 200 kg is $20. Councillor Robinson said he doesn’t think it is fair to charge $20, even for just one tagged bag. Councillor Roberts asked why tires are free.

Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth replied “Because tires generate revenue now.”

Commercial businesses who haul brush to Portland will be charged based on truck size, beginning with $50 for a one-ton. Public works does not anticipate revenues to decrease due to charging by weight instead of load.

Garbage and Recycling Collection Contracts Extended

Segsworth recommended that the township’s present contracts with Larmon and Snider be extended for two years, to Aug 2017, in order to allow time to collect hard statistics about the weight of waste being collected in Portland and Loughborough.

He said that he thinks the Township is being well served by the two contractors and the one township employee who do the current collection. Only Deputy Mayor McDougall spoke in favour of a one-year extension, instead of two. Several agreed that even with more accurate figures, the Township’s rate of recycling still will need to improve.

Perth Road fire hall

Councillor Revill said he wants to see the firehall project move forward, but he feels there needs to be more discussion before any particular design is chosen. There was brief discussion of the interrelation of site (not yet chosen) and design, as well as the question of ‘design build” vs beginning with an architect/consultant. CAO Wayne Orr said the matter would soon be coming back to Council.

Strategic Plan

Council approved their new strategic plan with one main addition: they replaced the phrase “being mindful of the need to achieve greater energy efficiencies” with the more specific “helping address climate change by improving energy efficiency and supporting renewable power generation.”

Shoreline Restoration and Enhancement (?) at the Point

Council approved the shoreline restoration project as presented, with the addition of a contained upland sand area and less  pebble beach area, using pebbles that are as small and smooth as possible.

Deputy Mayor McDougall said, “I’m ok with the shoreline restoration, but I can’t call it enhancement: it doesn’t do much to make the Point park more attractive.”

In informal discussion after the meeting, McDougall said, “We need an overall, longrange plan for making the point a place that the community can be proud of.” He, Councillor Schjerning and Public Works Manager Segsworth agreed that, while shoreline stabilization is urgent, the present piecemeal
approach to upgrading separate bits of the park is not the best way to move forward.