Latest / North Shore News / February 20th, 2025

Transcript

February 20th, 2025 · North Shore News

• 0:00
  Welcome to North Shore News and Interviews on Amherst Island Radio.
• 0:12
  Each week we keep you updated on newsworthy events, happenings and conversations that
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  we've had with people in the local community and beyond.
• 0:26
  The new 2020 Board Chair for Caterockway Conservation was elected.
• 0:32
  Proderick has held the role of Vice Chair with the Conservation Authority for the previous two years.
• 0:37
  After his confirmation in the new role, Proderick spoke about the work they have ahead of them on the board.
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  There's much work ahead for the board and its members and I look forward to the challenges ahead
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  and working with staff who are the foundation of the Caterockway Conservation Authority.
• 0:53
  Proderick highlighted locations the Conservation Authority looks after within Loyalist Township.
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  From a Loyalist Township point of view, the authority has Parrots Bay, which is a beautiful trail to go at any time of the year.
• 1:08
  Nature, wildlife and for those that may be canoe or kayak, it's a great calm area to go.
• 1:15
  And the other thing that many people don't realize that the Conservation Authority also manages the Wilton Dam for the Township.
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  Proderick explained his interest in the Caterockway Conservation Authority.
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  My interest in the authority goes back to the days when I was teaching and it was a good way to incorporate environmental studies
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  and environmental awareness to kids who maybe don't get a chance to go out to such areas and enjoy it,
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  whether it be the water or the nature trails or the different programming offered by the authority.
• 1:44
  Proderick spoke about the Conservation's upcoming events programming, including Maple Madness.
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  Programming is at the heart of the authority and I look forward to try and get out and see as many different parts of the authority as possible.
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  You know, things like Maple Madness is coming up in March, which is one of the, I would say, foundational programs in the community,
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  always well attended and you can register for it online right now.
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  And that's one that no matter what your age, it's a great chance to get out and enjoy some of the programming from the authority.
• 2:15
  Outgoing Chair Gary Usterhoff was elected to be the new Vice Chair.
• 2:19
  Usterhoff is a member of Kingston City Council representing the countryside district.
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  Usterhoff has been on the Caterockway Conservation Board since 2017.
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  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans.
• 2:33
  This is North Shore News.
• 2:35
  Lennox and Addington Council voted down an enhancement that would help make up a 4.7% increase to the county's tax levy.
• 2:42
  This increase would raise property taxes for residents even more than was expected, but council wouldn't stand for it.
• 2:48
  The value of all proposed enhancements to the preliminary budget would have been just under $370,000.
• 2:55
  But council decided to make a $370,000 increase to the county's tax levy.
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  If all those items were included at those values, it would be a total increase of $369,468, or another 1.03%.
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  And the levy change would go up 4.7%.
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  And that's a good point.
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  And the levy increase would be a total increase of $369,468, or another 1.03%.
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  And the levy change would go up 4.7%.
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  Which represents an increase on the average residential property of $86.11 from what's in the budget now of $70.71.
• 3:34
  Councilor's voiced their concerns about looming tariffs from the United States.
• 3:38
  Councilor Henry Hogg spoke about the impact to local residents.
• 3:42
  I have concerns considering what's happening at the southern border of our country.
• 3:48
  About any increase right now, I just think we really take a good hard look at every cent we spend.
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  Because there are people that are going to suffer because of these actions.
• 4:01
  Councilor John Wise, however, said the impact might not be so bad.
• 4:06
  We still don't know what's going to happen there.
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  In any case, if we do have some relatively short-term, we're going to have to go back to the county.
• 4:14
  In any case, if we do have some relatively short-term economic turmoil,
• 4:20
  I think all the governments in the country, federal, provincial, territorial will treat that as the same sort of crisis we went through with COVID.
• 4:30
  There's going to be borrowing, there's going to be wage subsidies, there's going to be support for businesses.
• 4:35
  Yeah, we'll go into some long-term debt, but that's basically what the financial system is for.
• 4:40
  I don't think the weight of that is going to fall extremely heavily on residents, at least in the short to medium term.
• 4:50
  By the end of discussion, all councilors agreed to deny the roads and bridges increase.
• 4:55
  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans.
• 5:00
  This is North Shore News.
• 5:11
  Staff at Loyalist Township wrapped up over four years of planning with the approval of the Amherst View West Secondary Plan.
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  The plan acts as a framework to guide future growth and development in the area up until 2046.
• 5:23
  Work on the project dates back to December 2020 when council approved the contract with WSP Canada to prepare the plan.
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  Since the project officially launched in 2021, a number of background studies have been completed and amendments have been made.
• 5:38
  Public engagement opportunities were provided throughout the process and the final proposed plan is now available to the public.
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  The plan focuses on the urban settlement area of Amherst View bounded by Taylor Kid Boulevard to the north, County Road 6 to the west, and Bath Road to the south.
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  According to staff consultation, also took place with the following indigenous communities.
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  Alderville First Nations, Curve Island First Nations, Hiawatha First Nations, Métis Nation of Ontario, Mississauga of Skugog Island First Nations, and Mohawks of the Bay of Quinty.
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  Mayor Jim Hagedorn noted just how long this project has been going on.
• 6:16
  Jim Hagedorn I remember when this started, and then suddenly everything was virtual. Everything changed, but this still continued.
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  And then we were able to come back and complete it in person, which is great.
• 6:32
  Project manager with WSP Nadya DeSanti explains the engagement program with the community and notes what it entailed.
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  Over the last 4 years, we've had online in person and hybrid meetings with the community and we've had a very robust engagement program with the community at large, as well as indigenous.
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  The indigenous communities in terms of what that involved, we had the draft secondary plan presented to the community twice.
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  The first one was at a public open house last summer and then at the statutory meeting in December. And then we also had a community workshop. We've had a couple of meetings with the indigenous communities that have been engaged and kept informed throughout the entire project.
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  Hagedorn thanked all that were involved and shared his opinion of the plan.
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  WSP did a lot of work on this. It was great. They worked well with staff.
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  I also want to thank the public that gave input through the whole process. We had developers, we have property owners.
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  We have just people that are very interested in this development and they all stayed engaged. They stayed in. They provided
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  information, suggestions and it really made it so that at this point it's the best possible document, I believe, and plan to go forward for the township.
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  DeSanti outlines the next steps.
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  Following council adoption of the secondary plan, official plan amendment, zoning bylaw amendment and urban design guidelines,
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  there will be a notice of decision that's issued. Then there's a 20 day appeal period from the date of that notice of decision.
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  Following council adoption as well, the municipal class environmental assessment and notice of completion will be issued. So the environmental study report, the ESR will be finalized.
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  And it with the notice of completion will be available for a 30 day public review.
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  And once that 20 day and 30 day public review process have ended, we're all done.
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  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News.
• 8:47
  Staff at Lenox and Addington County are bringing concerns to their local MPP regarding the distribution of funds for electric vehicle charging stations in the area.
• 9:03
  In a letter to Hastings, Lenox and Addington MPP, Rick Brazee, staff also addressed their unsuccessful application to the province's EV Charge O-N program.
• 9:12
  In November 2024, staff were notified that their application to the program was not successful. Since then, staff have now become aware of 41 new electric vehicle charging stations that were approved for funding in Hastings County and Lenox and Addington County.
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  Director of Infrastructure Services, Chris Wager, noted the distribution of the stations.
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  Of the 41 stations that were awarded in the Hastings and Lenox and Addington riding, 39 were located in the city of Hastings.
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  39 were located in Hastings, while only two were located in the county of Lenox and Addington.
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  Both stations are at commercial establishments, including a car dealership and a brewery. Wager explained why their application to the EV Charge O-N program was not successful.
• 9:57
  Staff did contact the EV Charge O-N program team to inquire about the results and how we can improve our application for future submissions, and were basically told that there was a lot of applicants, good applicants, and it was basically broken down regionally to spread the EV charging money throughout the province.
• 10:22
  In the letter, staff noted the unequal distribution of funds in the riding might support the idea that there's unbalanced awarding of funds within the entire program.
• 10:30
  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News.
• 10:38
  Lenox and Addington Council approved the purchase of two gas dryers for the John M. Parrot Center. The center currently operates three large gas dryers to manage daily laundry operations.
• 10:58
  The replacement of all three dryers is scheduled for this year as part of the county's 10-year capital plan. Counselor John Wise spoke about the end of burning fossil fuels.
• 11:08
  This is typical of millions of decisions that are going to have to be made in institutions and businesses and homes all around the world. Our goal at this point in this country and anyone who signed that Paris Agreement is in 25 years we're supposed to not be burning any fossil fuels.
• 11:25
  Counsel approved the purchase of a 135-pound gas dryer as part of the 2025 pre-capital budget. That dryer has been purchased and now the other two are accounted for.
• 11:35
  Staff's report outlined options for purchasing electric dryers, but director of long-term care services Angela Malcolm noted an issue.
• 11:43
  Two electric dryers would actually affect our generator significantly by putting it at 99% capacity. There are some options available as to whether we have two gas dryers and one electric versus the three natural gas dryers.
• 12:00
  I would be very concerned about the capacity of our generator system because we are so reliant on so many of our life safety systems with that generator.
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  Analysis on the emissions, installation costs and operational costs of electric dryers compared to the center's existing gas dryers was also included, but Wise said there was really no choice.
• 12:23
  Clearly the added cost and the potential strain on the system should there be a power outage make this decision fairly clear-cut in the moment.
• 12:33
  Wise spoke about possible steps for the future.
• 12:36
  It would be good to revisit our climate change policy, put in some more specific analytical requirements and long-term capital planning in regard to fully electrifying all our facilities.
• 12:53
  At some point, I guess ideally, JNPC would then have four electrical dryers and a bigger capacity generator to back them up.
• 13:03
  Let's start thinking long term and in the context of full electrification over time in all our facilities.
• 13:11
  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News.
• 13:18
  Rubberized flooring in the Best and Bash Arena in Napañí was a highly contested matter as council approved their 2025 operating and capital budgets.
• 13:35
  Discussion at the meeting saw council amend the budget to reassess how they fund the $70,000 replacement of flooring surrounding one of the rinks within the arena.
• 13:44
  Originally, the budget set out to use $70,000 from the town's levy, but Councillor Dave Pennell suggested it be taken from the town's reserve funds.
• 13:53
  To have wear and tear on the rubberized floor in the hallways and in the change rooms, I think should be coming from the user pay system, much like what the ice resurfacer is.
• 14:08
  And also the humidifier that we're purchasing partially through the building maintenance reserve.
• 14:15
  I think that if anybody is causing wear and tear on that floor, has some sort of close connection with the user pay, whether it be you've rented the ice surface, you are there for public skating or somebody has sponsored the public skating.
• 14:33
  And therefore it should be different than somebody with skates on causing wear and tear than what the general public is.
• 14:43
  Councillor Bob Norrie agreed with Pennell adding his own points.
• 14:47
  I don't even own a pair of skates. I don't mind paying for the scrubber because I do attend banquets and buy supper there once in a while. But we're watching a game.
• 14:55
  But I mean, us in the urban area pay for the water treatment plant through service fees or whatever you want to call it. Bag tags are similar things. So we've opened that door. So I agree.
• 15:06
  It should just come out of the user pay area of the, because that's where the damage happens. My running shoes don't scratch it up.
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  Mayor Terry Richardson argued it was regular wear and tear.
• 15:16
  We're putting money into a facility that everyone benefits from. We can allow it to get wore down. There's a lot of other user groups that use it.
• 15:26
  It sounds like we're sort of blaming the hockey players and the figure skaters and the public skaters for the wear and tear on a flooring that a lot of other people use as well.
• 15:35
  Councillor Angela Hicks described why she didn't agree with the amendment.
• 15:38
  I am not in favor of taking anything else out of the reserves. In my mind, this is a consumable item.
• 15:44
  The roof is the building is still going to be there. And in 20 years, we're going to have to replace the floor again because the floor is designed.
• 15:54
  It's a design. It's the way it's designed. It's going to, it's going to eventually fail. It's a consumable item.
• 15:59
  It is not something that is part of the building reserve fund, which is intended to eventually replace the existing arena.
• 16:08
  And so the more we dip into that reserve for this type of item, the longer it's going to take to build up the reserve again in order to do the arena.
• 16:19
  Councillor Michael Shank noted the importance of reserve funds.
• 16:23
  That's why we're in the predicament we are today is because everybody keeps on sucking from the reserves.
• 16:28
  When I left here, we had a lot of money in reserves and those four years had all went away.
• 16:34
  So we have to start building the reserves so we can afford our fleet.
• 16:39
  God forbid if we happen to have a fire truck go down, you want this municipality to grow, we better have our books in order.
• 16:45
  General Manager of Financial and Information Technology Services and Treasurer, Ellen Hamill,
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  spoke about the looming possibility of tariffs and how it affected their creation of the 2025 budget.
• 16:56
  There's a lot of moving pieces of this conversation right now up to and including, you know, the tariffs not happening.
• 17:02
  However, we also need to be prepared that this could impact the municipal budget.
• 17:07
  Hamill noted which areas might be most impacted.
• 17:10
  When we looked at our capital items that we think will be impacted by this, there are a few that kind of rise to the top.
• 17:16
  Primarily as it relates to fleet.
• 17:20
  And as we said, those will come back to council and we will have contingency plans in place and options for council at that point in time to be able to fund any increase that may come as a role.
• 17:31
  And that's the result of pending tariffs.
• 17:33
  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans.
• 17:38
  This is North Shore News.
• 17:40
  A new five-year agreement with Lenox and Addington County will see the start-up of a farmers market at Greater Napa-Nies Historic Town Hall and Market Square this year.
• 17:56
  The county is expected to engage with businesses in the area focusing on traffic calming measures for market day.
• 18:01
  The town of Greater Napa-Nies was approached by Lenox and Addington's Chamber of Commerce regarding their interest in operating a farmers market in the area.
• 18:09
  At their December 10th meeting last year, council directed staff to work with the chamber on a draft operating agreement.
• 18:15
  The agreement was presented this week but must undergo revisions before completion.
• 18:19
  Terms for the market's operations were agreed upon but an included lease agreement for the use of two offices in the building caused some concerns.
• 18:27
  Mayor Terry Richardson noted the amount of discussion they had on the matter and addressed the volunteers, saying the town will go ahead with the market once issues are dealt with.
• 18:35
  I'm hoping that we're not scaring the folks that are sitting in the bottom of the council chambers away because we've spent an exorbitant amount of time talking about how we can't do this as opposed to how we can.
• 18:47
  I think it's marvelous. I think it's absolutely wonderful that the folks have volunteered to get this thing up and running.
• 18:53
  It's going to be a benefit to our downtown. It's going to be a benefit to our market square. We will find a way to make it work.
• 18:59
  The proposed lease agreement included the use of a boardroom on the third floor. The proposed fee was $170 a month.
• 19:06
  These costs and the use of the third floor boardroom were concerns for council.
• 19:10
  CAO Matthew Grant described their reasoning for the proposed $170 monthly fee.
• 19:16
  We took a look at heating utilities maintenance cost. We did not include staffing costs for the entire facility.
• 19:25
  And then we basically created what is 2.7% and the square footage of the of the building and added a bit extra because the lease agreement also identifies.
• 19:40
  Intermittent use of the third floor boardroom, which would be booked through the municipality's booking system and use of the washroom facilities.
• 19:51
  Grant said he felt good about the agreement they had originally proposed.
• 19:54
  I think that the agreement that is presented to council, I'm fairly supportive of.
• 20:02
  And I think it fits in with the direction of the market square advisor committee and the larger body of work that's happening.
• 20:13
  Councilor and member of the town's market square advisory committee, Dave Pinnell, described his concerns with the use of the third floor boardroom.
• 20:20
  It concerns me that on the market square committee, we were talking about not having anybody on the third floor.
• 20:27
  Third floor would be offline. And here now we're opening it up.
• 20:31
  Deputy Mayor Brian Calver noted his concerns with the monthly fee.
• 20:35
  It seems reasonable and I'm not doubting the work that the chamber does.
• 20:39
  As a chamber member myself, a very valuable asset to our community.
• 20:43
  I just want to make sure we are covering our core costs here.
• 20:48
  Director of Parks, Recreation and Culture, Chris Brown, explained how they decided on the amount for the fee.
• 20:54
  We did it off the last three years average. There was an anomaly last year that we started coding a different expense to a line that kind of threw off the average.
• 21:03
  So we did a three year average utility costs and then looked at the percentage of space that they would be using and then use that number to calculate a fair rental fee.
• 21:15
  Richardson made note of the work that must be done in the building first.
• 21:19
  I don't mind the floor plan that we're looking at. The office space and for anybody that has seen that office space,
• 21:25
  I wouldn't say that it's expansive by any stretch of imagination. It's actually quite small.
• 21:33
  I think we're all of the opinion that it's going to be some time before we get the downstairs functioning the way we want to get it functioning.
• 21:40
  I mean, we've got to get it first and get rid of all the asbestos and then we'll rebuild it the way I think we need to rebuild it.
• 21:47
  Councillor Michael Shank was the one who suggested removing access to the third floor boardroom within the agreement.
• 21:53
  After listening to everybody's comments and everybody's concerned or anything else, it's a five year agreement.
• 21:58
  It's been how many years that you haven't had an active farmers market. Every other municipality has a farmers market.
• 22:04
  As far as I'm concerned, it's going to be a five year plan refurbishing the town hall.
• 22:10
  They agree and concur with what the mayor said about the third floor that it's out and what the deputy mayor said and what everybody else is.
• 22:16
  So just change the thing that you can't use the third floor boardroom.
• 22:21
  Another concern raised by council was the chamber having a monopoly on the town's market based events.
• 22:27
  Mayor Richardson put that concern to rest.
• 22:29
  These folks are willing to try and do a market one or two days a week.
• 22:33
  They don't hold the monopoly on the market in the market square.
• 22:36
  That leaves at least another five days a week, maybe six days a week, depending on how well the chamber of commerce gets up and running with respect to their market.
• 22:45
  It enables anybody else in this community to hold a market in the market square.
• 22:50
  And it doesn't have to be a farmers market or it could be just about any kind of market anybody wants to do.
• 22:56
  Manager of Legislative Services and Municipal Clerk Jessica Walters read the new revised motion.
• 23:02
  The motion is that council receive for information the farmers market operating agreement report further that council directs staff to revise the draft agreement to remove any
• 23:14
  use of the third floor boardroom and include rental of the main floor flex space the same as any other community group for boardroom space and that that be brought to the February 25th meeting.
• 23:28
  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans.
• 23:33
  This is North Shore News.
• 23:35
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• 23:39
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• 23:48
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