Latest / North Shore News / May 14th, 2025

Transcript

May 14th, 2025 · North Shore News

0:07
Welcome to North Shore News and Interviews on
0:10
Amherst Island Radio. Each week we keep you updated
0:14
on newsworthy events, happenings and conversations
0:17
that we've had with people in the local community
0:20
and beyond. A new water pollution control plant
0:28
upgrade and replacement project in Napanee is
0:30
underway. Greater Napanee Council approved a
0:32
contract with Peak Construction for nearly $75
0:35
.5 million. The overall project cost is nearly
0:38
$88 million, with $34 .8 million in funding coming
0:42
from the province and another $14 million from
0:45
the federal government. Between that funding
0:47
and the town's reserves, it leaves $25 million
0:50
to be funded through loans. Staff noted a total
0:52
of $5 .5 million in contingencies, with $4 million
0:56
of it built into tender pricing as an allowance
0:58
for tariffs. Mayor Terry Richardson spoke about
1:01
the scale of the project. I know folks out there
1:03
are going to say, I was $25 million affordable,
1:06
but an affordable way of getting this municipality
1:08
into the future. I've said it many times that
1:11
this is the largest purchase, largest investment
1:13
we've made in this municipality in 170 years.
1:16
And there are a lot of other municipalities,
1:18
I think, would be. wishing they were in the position
1:22
that we are right now. Yes, $25 million is a
1:28
lot of money to take a loan out on, but it is
1:31
our future. We couldn't do it without the help
1:34
of our partners, of our federal partners and
1:37
maybe more importantly, our provincial partners
1:39
who I couldn't imagine having this conversation
1:42
if we didn't have the funding that we received
1:44
to get us where we need to because if $25 million
1:48
scares you. 60 million should scare the pajamas
1:51
idea. General manager of growth and infrastructure
1:53
and chief building official Michael Noebs explained
1:56
why the project is needed. We need this for the
1:59
anticipated growth of the community. So we are
2:01
anticipating a significant amount of both residential,
2:04
commercial and industrial growth within the urban
2:06
settlement area, as well as modest growth within
2:08
the rural area. So we are anticipating additional.
2:12
uh, rural growth that would have the need for
2:15
sewage disposal through septic tank disposal.
2:18
So that is being planned for in the design and
2:21
throughout the construction of the project. Richardson
2:24
noted how important the future of the town is
2:26
referencing all the work done in the past. There
2:29
can't be a Band -Aid left in this country because
2:31
they put them all on this wastewater treatment
2:32
plant to get us to where we are today. And there
2:35
just isn't any left. It's worn out. It needs
2:38
to be replaced. And again, it is our future.
2:41
This is the future of our municipality right
2:43
here. And I know it sounds really kind of strange
2:46
and weird that we should be excited about a wastewater
2:49
treatment plant, but we really should because
2:51
it's going to give us the future that we deserve
2:54
in this municipality. Noebs detailed the timeline
2:56
for completion. Through 2027, we would see the
3:01
project continue and midway through 2027, or
3:05
towards the end of 2027 is when the commissioning
3:07
of the plant would be undertaken and through
3:10
2027, 2028 and onward. Bringing that bringing
3:15
the new facility up to full operation is the
3:17
anticipated timeline. NOBE spoke about the overall
3:20
goals of the project and the expected location.
3:23
Replace aging infrastructure with new enhanced
3:26
treatment to dramatically reduce partially treated
3:29
wastewater during bypass events as a result of
3:32
heavy flows entering the plant and to provide
3:35
further growth opportunities for the community
3:37
through new development. The new plant would
3:39
be located immediately west of the existing site
3:42
and consists of new headworks, new activated
3:45
granular sludge tanks, tertiary treatment UV
3:48
disinfection, and an operations and control building.
3:51
Ultimately, we're looking to increase the hydraulic
3:53
capacity of the plant, eliminate bypassing during
3:56
peak wet weather events, and to comply with the
4:00
Bay O 'Quinney Remedial Action Plan to provide
4:03
for a better effluent leaving the plant. Staff
4:05
will also be working on modernizing processes
4:08
to simplify operations, improve energy efficiency
4:11
and decrease life cycle costs. The report noted
4:14
the existing plant location will become available
4:16
for future expansion projects when required.
4:19
Nobz detailed the type of growth the new plant
4:21
could support. This new plant would provide for
4:24
the capacity up to an anticipated an approximate
4:27
4 ,000 new homes in addition to a mix of commercial
4:32
and industrial growth. And as we see this new
4:34
development proceed, the assessment growth of
4:38
the municipality will ultimately grow, which
4:40
helps to provide additional operating and capital
4:43
revenues for the municipality for future planning.
4:45
We have nearly 1 ,600 dwelling units approved
4:47
that are either in the construction stage or
4:51
are considered shovel ready, so draft plan approved,
4:55
site plan approved, final plan of subdivision
4:57
approved, and these units were highlighted in
5:00
our funding application to the province which
5:03
helped get us the amount of funding that we ultimately
5:06
did from the province. Of the 1600 units that
5:09
are approved per se, we would be looking at 16
5:13
years of build out for those. Only pre -qualified
5:16
general contractors were able to view the tender
5:18
and submit a bid. For a compliant submission,
5:20
the report stated all pre -qualified general
5:22
contractors had to partner with pre -qualified
5:24
electrical and mechanical contractors. Director
5:27
of Environmental Services Christy Kelly explained
5:30
the bids they received and noted who Peak Construction
5:33
will be working with. Four out of five of the
5:36
GCs submitted bids and all four were compliant.
5:40
In addition to the general contractor work, Peak
5:43
will utilize internal resources for the mechanical
5:45
work and will be working with Sheridan Electric
5:48
as their electrical contractor. Kelly spoke about
5:51
contingencies built in and noted U .S. tariffs
5:53
as a main cause. There's $4 million here that
5:56
is set aside for tariffs. We all know there's
6:00
some uncertainties with the way things are right
6:02
now. And a lot of that preselected equipment
6:04
is being purchased from the United States. So
6:08
we've allowed that contingency allowance in there
6:10
for such a thing. Nobz explained staff's intentions
6:13
with the contingencies. The intent is not to
6:16
use these contingencies at all. But we did want
6:19
to set out a plan for council's awareness and
6:24
for the community that really was as conservative
6:28
as possible to take into account potential unknowns
6:31
at this point. Kelly explains why they couldn't
6:33
choose Canadian options or options from other
6:36
countries besides the United States. The pre
6:38
-selected equipment including the AGS tanks specifically
6:42
and or the activated granular sludge process
6:46
is a United States based process. So that was
6:52
purchased again before the talks of these tariffs,
6:54
we had to pre select these pieces of equipment.
6:58
We've certainly are working to do our best to
7:01
ensure that. as I'm sure much of much of our
7:05
country is to purchase locally as much as possible.
7:08
But a lot of these items were unfortunately only
7:10
available from the United States. Nob speaks
7:12
about the expected lifetime for the new plant,
7:15
touching on upgrades in the distant future and
7:17
mentioning the history of the current plant as
7:19
well. The existing plant, it was built in 1953.
7:22
It's still in operation today. The actual use
7:25
of it. 50 plus years is anticipated. Routine
7:28
maintenance will always be required, but we would
7:31
be talking a 50 plus year design of the building.
7:35
When the capacity of the plant is reached per
7:40
se, ultimately would depend on the rate at which
7:43
the municipality builds out over time. So it
7:47
would ultimately depend on how quickly the building
7:52
permits are being pulled and homes are ultimately
7:54
being built. If it's I'd say it's worth looking
7:58
back over the last few years, we're looking at
8:01
in the range of 100 ish units per per year ballpark.
8:06
Nobz talks about the potential of future upgrades.
8:09
It is very straightforward to add additional
8:11
cells. Adding additional cells onto the site
8:14
is not going to be a challenge. It would be a
8:17
matter of doing additions to the existing footprint.
8:21
So it's not like we would be looking at All a
8:24
brand brand new 80Million dollar project again
8:26
in the future. It would be a much more modest
8:29
amount to add additional capacity. More or less
8:32
additions onto those portions of the structure
8:34
as. a lot of the headworks, and other buildings
8:39
on th to function with these ad Nobs speaks about
8:44
the $ they received from the p and explains the
8:49
$14 mi 2020 from the federal go through the Canada
8:53
infras Ontario's allocation to northern communities
8:59
infrast were successful with work getting our
9:06
name pulled up the list to get that funding.
9:09
And last year, we were successful in receiving
9:12
provincial funding just under $35 million. And
9:17
with that, it is certainly making the project
9:21
feasible. Without these contributions, we would
9:23
not be in a financial state to be able to undertake
9:26
this significant infrastructure project fully
9:29
on our own. Knobs highlighted staff's appearances
9:32
at Roma conferences as a reason they received
9:34
the funding. I recall being with council at Roma
9:37
delegations and discussions with ministers prior
9:41
to submitting those applications and I think
9:43
those really helped to bring our application
9:45
up in the queue in the eyes of the province and
9:49
I think it really helped get us to this point
9:52
and have a good outcome with those funding applications.
9:55
For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
9:58
Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
10:01
News. The Sunday Market in Bath is looking to
10:12
kick off another season in Centennial Park with
10:15
a new look this year. Market manager Tara Williamson
10:17
has undertaken a market revitalization and says
10:20
it's well underway. Williamson noted the focus
10:23
of supporting and engaging with local farmers.
10:26
I think something that's like different. for
10:28
this market this year than from previous years
10:31
is we have a big focus on farmers. So we have
10:35
a lot more farm vendors so people can come and
10:38
get their local produce, their local maple syrup,
10:43
flowers. So lots of farmers at this market now.
10:48
Williamson explains her background and experience
10:50
running the Frontenac Farmers Market. My background
10:53
is actually in business development. I scale
10:55
up businesses, usually in the tech space, but
10:58
just sort of anywhere I can fit in. And then,
11:00
so when Frontenac was struggling, I volunteered
11:03
my expertise to that market and spearheaded a
11:08
revitalization of that market in 2022. And that
11:14
market's rocking now. So a lot of time that was
11:16
spent on that market previously, I don't. need
11:20
to spend on it, because it sort of does its own
11:22
thing now. So I jumped on board with Bath and
11:24
I'm going to repeat the same process there that
11:27
we did in Frontenac. Williamson highlighted different
11:30
weekly events that will take place at the market.
11:32
There'll be lots of weekly events. So like live
11:35
music will happen at least once a month, but
11:38
maybe more frequently. We have kids craft days,
11:42
which are really fun. some workshops that the
11:46
various vendors are putting on. We're going to
11:49
have the local fire department come out one of
11:53
the weeks and maybe do the touch the truck event
11:57
there. So we're working within the community
12:00
to have special events as well as have our vendors
12:03
host different things themselves. There will
12:06
be over 35 different vendors with on -site food
12:09
and drink every week. The Bath Sunday Market
12:11
runs every Sunday from 10 a .m. to 2 p .m. in
12:14
Centennial Park from May 11th to October 26th.
12:17
For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
12:20
Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
12:23
News. As one of the 169 Ontario municipalities
12:36
to be receiving strong mayor powers, Greater
12:38
Napanee Council discussed what that will mean
12:40
for the town. The province announced April 9th
12:43
that it intends to introduce legislation to expand
12:45
strong mayor powers to 169 municipalities. The
12:49
province originally introduced strong mayor powers
12:51
in 2022 for the cities of Ottawa and Toronto.
12:54
Through 2023, 44 additional municipalities received
12:58
these powers. Effective May 1st, 216 of Ontario's
13:02
414 single and lower tier municipalities would
13:05
have this legislation apply to them. Manager
13:07
of Legislative Services and Municipal Clerk Jessica
13:10
Walters explains the intended goal of the legislation.
13:14
They have indicated this expansion is being made
13:16
to single and lower tier municipalities with
13:18
councils with seven or more members and that
13:22
this is being done with a goal to expand housing
13:24
in Ontario. This is a big thing for us and for
13:28
a lot of other municipalities. We assume to be
13:30
introduced next week in order to go into effect
13:33
on May 1st so there are still a few unknowns
13:35
and if anything changes once we see the text
13:37
of that bill we will let council know as soon
13:39
as possible. The discussions that I think we've
13:46
only had this for a couple weeks so it's a little
13:47
preliminary in our discussions but I believe
13:50
the intent of the mayor and of staff is to as
13:54
quickly as possible after this May 1 deadline,
13:58
establish what our normal is going to look like,
14:01
create that predictability that we've been trying
14:03
to have as an organization to create routines
14:07
and establish processes of this is how we as
14:10
a municipality define how these powers are going
14:13
to be used. So our goal is to define as much
14:15
of that Quickly with this term of council establish
14:19
what normal looks like, bake as much of it into
14:22
bylaws and policies as we can. Could a new mayor
14:26
overturn all of that day one, November 16th,
14:30
2026? Maybe. We don't know. Nobody's been in
14:34
that situation yet to know. Walters noted what
14:36
they saw as the largest change. The mayor has
14:39
to introduce the budget by February 1 after which
14:41
council has 30 days to vote on amendments to
14:44
the budget. We do anticipate this to be our largest
14:46
operational change and we'll be working to update
14:49
our public consultation practices to account
14:51
for this new time frame. The mayor can give direction
14:56
to members of staff so this will require an amendment
14:58
to our council staff relations policy which currently
15:01
states that council direction is given by way
15:03
of resolution policy and bylaw. The Mayor has
15:07
the sole authority to appoint and dismiss the
15:09
CAO unless the Mayor chooses to delegate this
15:11
power back to Council. The mayor has the sole
15:14
authority to appoint and dismiss department heads
15:16
that are non -statutory positions i .e. not your
15:19
clerk, treasurer, fire chief, chief building
15:21
official as the legislation says those must be
15:23
appointed by council unless the mayor chooses
15:26
to delegate this back to council or to the CAO.
15:29
Currently our by -law states that council has
15:31
hiring and firing authority for general managers
15:34
and statutory positions and the CAO has authority
15:37
to manage staffing below that level. Walters
15:40
noted how it could change procedure with bylaws
15:42
and at council meetings. The mayor can propose
15:45
a bylaw to support a provincial priority. Currently,
15:47
this is defined as building new homes and infrastructure
15:50
to support those homes. If the mayor introduces
15:52
the bylaw, it only needs three out of seven instead
15:55
of four out of seven votes to pass and the mayor
15:57
council is one of those votes. The mayor can
16:00
veto a bylaw if he believes it interferes with
16:02
the provincial priority. This can either be announced
16:04
in advance or up to two business days after the
16:07
bylaw is passed, so we will need to amend our
16:09
procedure bylaw to account for how that's going
16:12
to work in practice. The mayor can introduce
16:14
an item of business at a council meeting and
16:16
require council to vote on the matter at that
16:18
meeting, i .e. can't be deferred or request an
16:20
additional staff report if it advances a provincial
16:23
priority, so we'll need to amend our procedure
16:26
bylaw to define how that's going to work. Walters
16:28
spoke about the limitations in power as well.
16:31
These powers are not absolute. There are additional
16:33
requirements and limitations on how they're used.
16:36
So as noted some of these can be delegated back
16:38
to council or the CAO. If a power can't be delegated,
16:42
council can still override it with a two -third
16:44
majority within certain set time limits. Any
16:47
use of these powers must be made in writing and
16:51
typically a justification for how this relates
16:53
to a provincial priority needs to be attached.
16:56
The mayor can't use any of these powers if they
16:58
have a conflict of interest as defined in the
17:00
Municipal Conflict of Interest Act for the matter
17:03
under consideration and these powers can't be
17:06
used to waive any public notice and public consultation
17:09
requirements so for example your planning applications
17:11
you would still have to have your published notice
17:14
your public hearing your public meeting you would
17:17
you still have to go through all of those steps
17:18
this couldn't be used to skip any of those steps.
17:21
Mayor Terry Richardson weighed in on the situation
17:23
and noted the changes they'll have to make across
17:25
the different departments. This isn't a very
17:28
easy topic to talk about especially when you
17:31
have a group of people sitting around a horseshoe.
17:33
that get along as well as we do. But yes, we
17:36
do disagree with things. Sometimes we get mad
17:38
at each other, but by the end of the night, you
17:40
know what, we're all able to go for something
17:42
to eat and life is grand. It's going to be some
17:45
interesting times. There's going to be some work
17:50
from Madam Clerk because we now have to adjust
17:53
procedures, adjust policies, adjust bylaws, add
17:57
documents onto agendas that have to be signed
18:01
within two or three days. Bear with us. We'll
18:04
wait and see what comes out in the next week
18:07
or so and we'll move forward from that. Councillor
18:11
Mike Shank voiced his concerns with the strong
18:13
mayor powers. We're elected free democracy. We
18:18
can agree to disagree but I have grave concerns
18:22
not with this council but when we're gone that
18:26
if you have a mayor that comes in and he you
18:29
know and he doesn't believe in free speech of
18:33
every, listen to every member of councils over
18:36
the time. And the pressure he does on the staff
18:40
and the turmoil that he's done with the staff,
18:44
it can wreck the whole municipality. Because
18:47
any of the good staffs is gonna say, see you
18:49
later, we're out of here. I don't wanna see all
18:50
the work that we've done and the staff that we
18:53
have lose it. You get a real wrong council and
18:57
it can destroy a municipality really quick. Walters
19:00
noted staff's uncertainty of whether or not they
19:02
could opt out of receiving the strong mayor powers.
19:05
The first round when it was just Ottawa and Toronto
19:08
was not optional. The second round was optional
19:11
because you had to sign a housing pledge to opt
19:14
in to receive the powers and some municipalities
19:16
chose not to. We have not heard anything about
19:20
a housing pledge or any opting in or out this
19:25
time around so we don't know. Some municipalities
19:30
have pass motions saying we don't want these
19:33
powers. We don't know if that is going to have
19:36
any impact on the bill that gets introduced next
19:39
week. For Amherst Island Radio and the Local
19:41
Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is
19:45
North Shore News. Loyalist Township Council granted
19:56
Hot -to -Trot Stables a noise exemption for a
19:59
total of 57 days between the months of April
20:02
and September. The company will be using some
20:04
of those days to run shows and events. Owner
20:07
of Hot -to -Trot Stables, Megan Desjardins, noted
20:10
their focus this year towards accommodating neighbors'
20:13
concerns. We kind of changed it this year to
20:16
accommodate our neighbors by going to a Wednesday
20:18
night jackpot, which would be two to three hours
20:21
and only having two weekends this year to accommodate
20:25
the Friday, Saturday or the Friday, Saturday
20:27
and Sunday for the barrel bash. So this is a
20:30
little bit more accommodating our neighbors for
20:33
the sound and allowing them to have our weekends.
20:36
Desjardin explained the need for including 57
20:38
days on their application for exemption. We did
20:41
put in a lot of dates and then we. we narrowed
20:43
it down to the dates that we would like to go
20:46
forward with as a possibility. The dates are
20:49
rain dates. They're not every date was going
20:51
to be a show. A neighbor who shares a fence with
20:54
the property, Mary Jo Muir, shared her support
20:56
for the event. Last year we had quite the argument
21:00
about whether this should happen or not. I can
21:03
tell you that Ms. Desjardins kept her promise.
21:06
The noise was kept to a reasonable level. It
21:08
went from intolerable to a little bit annoying.
21:12
So a little bit annoying is life in the country.
21:15
And I'm very impressed with the work she's done.
21:18
So I looked at all of the dates that she has
21:21
in mind. Almost all of them are Wednesday evenings
21:24
from 5 till 9 p .m., which is well within reason.
21:28
So I can't say that I speak for all of the neighbours,
21:33
but I can say for myself, I share a fence line
21:36
with Megan. She's been a great neighbour this
21:39
year and I'm very much in support of what she's
21:43
doing. Desjardins spoke about the progress they've
21:45
made towards hosting the event this year. I didn't
21:48
receive any complaints and everything... handout
21:52
for our decimal readings and I think that we
21:55
showed that we were capable of accommodating
21:59
the show and neighbours at hand. Councillor Mike
22:02
Buderich noted the changes since last year and
22:05
showed his support for the event. It was a little
22:07
contentious last year and there was no pushback
22:10
and the fact that a neighbour came in and spoke
22:12
this evening to say things had improved is a
22:16
good... Good moving forward and the fact that
22:19
the applicant respected their neighbours and
22:21
it sounds great so I'm happy to see progress.
22:24
Councillor Carol Park showed her support for
22:26
accommodating neighbours. I think it's great
22:28
that The owners have taken the initiative to
22:31
make sure that the neighbors are taken care of
22:33
and their concerns that they had. Hot to Trot
22:35
Stables hosts horse shows and events at 1003
22:38
Lucas Road in Odessa. They've specified that
22:41
during these events, riders' names and orders
22:43
will be announced over the speakers, along with
22:46
playing music throughout the event. Staff noted
22:48
the events attract people from all over Eastern
22:50
Ontario and Quebec, who also access businesses
22:53
within the township while attending. I'm Ted
22:59
Evans. This is North Shore News. Napanee's Arts
23:11
Advisory Committee is taking over Music by the
23:14
River, a live music series in Napanee. The committee
23:16
noted they'll be scaling back to just two performances
23:19
throughout 2025. Councilor and member of the
23:22
Arts Advisory Committee, Bob Norrie, explained
23:24
the role the committee is taking in running the
23:26
event. He noted that through other venues that
23:28
wouldn't affect their budget, there would be
23:30
more than two performances. We scaled it right
23:32
back, or the thinking of it, to just twice, once
23:35
in July, once in August, two entertainers each
23:38
time. I've spoken to the sound person, he's charging
23:40
the same as last year, he's been very fair, and
23:42
we're looking for local talent. So we've scaled
23:45
it back to just what we think is good and we're
23:47
working closely with Michelle Hauser for other
23:49
venues. So there will be music done there more
23:51
than just twice, but that's what the group has
23:53
come to. The committee has partnered with a company
23:55
called Harmony to look after sponsorship for
23:57
the event. Norrie noted the company is responsible
24:00
for lining up the sponsorships while the committee
24:02
pays the artists. Norrie mentioned the committee's
24:04
small budget and a study they did last year to
24:07
monitor attendance. We just have a small budget
24:09
with a limited budget for advertising as well.
24:12
We did a study of how many people came last year.
24:15
Appreciate those that come and the amount of
24:17
people it takes to set up and you need some of
24:20
us there. So we just decided we're going to try
24:22
it twice this year and then piggyback with what
24:24
happens with Harmony. CAO Matthew Grant explained
24:27
how the committee's budget works. As part of
24:29
this effort, they're looking to expend a portion
24:32
of their budget as yet undisclosed towards that
24:35
effort. They do have $5 ,000 that has been budgeted
24:38
through the town's municipal budget process.
24:41
Should there be a desire for any further support
24:45
from the town that would come in the form of
24:47
a recommendation from the community to council
24:49
for approval such as staff time or other resources.
24:59
and sit and listen to the music. I just think
25:01
that anytime that we can promote anything around
25:05
our river, that natural beauty we have in this
25:07
town, we have to utilize that much more than
25:10
what we are and I think we're on the right way.
25:12
Come on in by boat, tie up and listen to it and
25:14
it's just great. So anytime that I can help promote
25:17
that, I'm all for it. Councillor Mike Schenck
25:20
was hopeful the event would be able to expand
25:21
again in the future, noting public input. I fully
25:24
support what Bob and the Arts Committee, our
25:27
advisory committee, is doing. I live so close,
25:30
right on the water along Highway 33 in Loyalist.
25:33
They have a bath every weekend. They have, and
25:37
it's very well attended there. So if it's very
25:40
well attended here and it's a takeoff here, we
25:42
can increase those dates. You know what I mean?
25:44
Because I've had some phone calls where the same
25:46
jumps, you know. Why is there only two? Why can't
25:48
there be five? Well, the committee is the one.
25:51
I'm not part of that committee. I let the committee
25:53
go through its process and go from there. For
25:55
Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
25:58
Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
26:01
News. This has been North Shore News and Interviews.
26:06
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