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#9 - SOME QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Here are my answers to some of the questions that came up at the various All Candidates Meetings that were held. All of these are also covered on my web site www.MarkSchjerning.net
Development
We need to be responsible with future development. The new council will be approving a new Official Plan and we need to get it right! The province is directing development to the settlement areas with communal services for water and waste treatment. This will need to be figured out. Single lots will still be important and our farms need to be protected.
Environment
SFT needs to create an Environmental Plan. What other municipalities have already done can be used as a template. We should look at reducing our carbon footprint and electrification of the township fleet of vehicles where possible. EV charging stations should be explored along with parking areas to support ride shares. New builds should be done to the LEED certification and existing heating equipment should be replaced with heat pump technology when they are replaced.
Short Term Rentals
These are increasing within SFT and many residents are concerned over issues like noise, fireworks, trespassing, parking and garbage. This needs to be looked at with licensing and registration being required. A comprehensive STR By-Law needs to be created along with some proactive enforcement. This should be in place for June 2023.
Speeding
This is the most common complaint you hear and it needs to be addressed. The OPP need to get out and enforce the speed limits across the township. Hearing that they do not have the staff to do this and that they have other responsibilities is not good enough. We should expect some proactive policing for the $2.9M we are paying!
#8 - UNDERSTAFFING & UNDERFUNDING
Our Frontenac County Paramedics have been bringing the issue of their understaffing and underfunding forward over the past few months and STANDING UP FOR PUBLIC SAFETY.
County Council has failed to respond to this and has not provided the additional resources needed. The South Frontenac Township representatives on County Council are both running for Mayor. They seem to be sticking to a 2019 report that outlines the time frame for adding ambulances, paramedics and new bases to the service. This is unacceptable. The call growth projected in this report have been surpassed and additional ambulances and paramedics are needed now!
Kingston is busy and the city based ambulances are often all on a call. This results in County Bases, in South Frontenac (Sydenham), Central Frontenac (Parham) and North Frontenac (Robertsville), being called into Kingston to respond to calls. This takes them out of their normal response areas, often for hours.
The solution to this problem is simple - more ambulances and paramedics are needed in the city. This will provide the ability to respond to the Kingston calls without the need to bring Sydenham, Parham or Robertsville in to help as often. It's a win-win for Kingston and for Frontenac County.
As Mayor of South Frontenac Township, I will bring this important issue forward as a first priority as a member of County Council.
We need to fix this now. It's a Public Safety and a Life Safety Issue!
# 7 - SPEEDING
Complaints about speeding are probably the most commonly received ones by the municipality. Speeding in some areas is certainly more common than others.
This boils down to drivers following the posted speed limit and police enforcement.
SFT contracts with the OPP to provide our municipal police services. This represents the third biggest part of the tax levy, after roads and capital projects.
We need to work with the OPP Detachment Commander to examine ways that they can provide more police visibility within the township. We are paying for this. Saying that they have other (provincial) responsibilities and don’t have the officers to provide speed enforcement and other proactive activities needs to be addressed.
We should consider the possibility of creating some “Community Safety Zones”, where fines and points are double. These should be looked at within the hamlets and especially around our schools.
I would look to return to the SFT Police Services Board as Mayor, draw on my previous experiences as a board member, and bring this important issue forward.
# 6- RESPONSIVENESS
SFT must be responsive to the needs of the residents.
We must also ensure that the municipality is doing all that it can to meet the various requirements that have been established by provincial legislation.
Ensuring that we are complying with regulations set by the government will help mitigate potential litigation against the township.
Building Permits and Inspection
Residents have expressed frustration in obtaining building permits and having inspections completed. This needs to be improved.
There should be levels of service for getting a permit issued and an inspection scheduled.
Improvements can be made to outline what the requirements are for a specific project and a step-by-step guide developed. People need to know what they have to have in place for a building project and what the associated fees are. They should also be made aware of any additional approvals that may be required (i.e. Conservation Authority) along with any costs. There should never be a surprise!
Building inspections not being done when scheduled can put a project on hold. This is very frustrating to the individuals involved and can delay the completion of a project by weeks.
Levels of Service
Residents need to know when they can expect a response to an enquiry or complaint that they have made to the township.
There should be established time frames to respond to a phone message or an e-mail.
You should not have to call multiple times in order to get a response!
#5 - Recreation
South Frontenac Township had their new Recreation, Parks and Leisure Master Plan completed in May. This outlines a number of recommendations that will serve to guide council in making decisions related to facilities and programs and recommends outdoor and indoor activity hubs.
The Online Household Survey that was conducted identified gym sports, court sports, arena activities, aquatics and individual fitness training as programs and activities of interest.
The townships permanent populations is expected to increase by approximately 1,000 every 5-years and is projected to reach 20,800 by 2026. Residents are looking to be able to participate in leisure and recreational activities locally. Having this ability will attract new residents and help the township grow.
The new council will need to look at improving existing facilities and developing new ones. The goal should be to keep people right here in SFT. This needs to be one of our priorities.
The plan can be viewed at: https://www.southfrontenac.net/en/things-to-do/resources/2022-06-01--Final-Rec-Parks--Leisure-MP.pdf
#4 - ROADS
Our roads are the single largest asset that the township has. The roads network, which also includes bridges and large culverts, represent hundreds of millions of dollars. These all must be maintained.
Residents and visitors rely on our roads every day. This can be to drive to work, to go to a local store, make a delivery or take the bus to school.
Road maintenance and capital roads projects make up the largest portion of our annual budget. It is important that maintenance and preservation strategies are continually assessed and that the township is making the best choices possible.
Roads Plan
The township does maintain a plan for when roads are scheduled for repairs and upgrades. These can involve crack sealing, micro-surfacing, new tar & chip, all the way up to a complete rebuild.
The plan needs to be continually assessed and updated and it should be easily accessible for residents to see.
Road 38 is our busiest road and provides a critical north-south connection. Work required on #38 should be looked at and a joint Kingston/South Frontenac/Central Frontenac project (with provincial government involvement) explored.
Road Assessment
Roads are assessed for their condition and when they will require maintenance and repairs.
There are technologies that can be used to assess the condition of paved and hard topped roads. This involves driving the roads and taking a series of high resolution images that are then used to determine the state of the road. It also provides historical data that can be used to compare road conditions year to year.
The use of this technology should be explored.
Road Classification
The classification of roads is outlined in the Minimum Maintenance Standards of the Municipal Act.
This lists 5 classes of roads that are based on the average daily vehicle counts. The more vehicles using a road the higher the classification. Class 1 is the highest.
One thing that the classification determines is how winter maintenance is to be done. This uses the depth of snow and how long it should take to plow under normal conditions.
Roads classifications should be continually updated and the list easily available for all to see on the township web site.
#3 - TAXES
People always want to know your position on taxes. So here are mine...
We are still coming out of and recovering from the pandemic. Prices for goods and services have all increased. Economists are starting to use the "R-word" for a possible recession. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is up 8.1% over the past 12-months as of June 2022. Prices for services are up 5.2%. The CPI increase is the largest since January 1983.
What we are having to pay for food and fuel keep going up. We all need a break!
2023 will be a difficult year and SFT still has to ensure that the services we need to provide are being delivered in a timely fashion.
I will propose that we reduce our municipal tax increase in 2023 and have a phased in increase back to the historic 2% over the next 4-years. This would mean the following:
- 2023 1.25% increase over 2022
- 2024 1.50% increase over 2023
- 2025 1.75% increase over 2024
- 2026 2.00% increase over 2025
This would mean that the taxes on the average assessment of $273,061 would increase by $20.91 next year.
I will also suggest that as a show of leadership that the honorariums paid to members of township council not increase in 2023.
We should hopefully be able to make up this reduction in tax revenue through finding organization efficiencies and from increased assessments due to growth.
#2 - ACCESS TO HIGH SPEED INTERNET
Access needs to improve to this basic service across SFT!
The federal and provincial governments have both acknowledged the need for high speed broadband for residents and businesses. Learning and working from home during the pandemic has highlighted this basic need.
The Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus (EOWC - www.eowc.org) has worked to create the Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN - www.eorn.ca). EORN has worked to improved cell service and is working towards improving access to internet services across Eastern Ontario.
One issue that has come to light is that internet service providers (ISPs) can't use hydro poles, owned by Ontario Hydro, to run high speed cables without replacing the poles. Apparently it costs between $5,000 and $10,000 to replace a pole!
If there is an ISP who is willing to run high speed fibre cable to service rural areas, they should be allowed to do this on existing poles.
This must be looked and and the EOWC needs to bring this issue forward to our local MPPs. Eastern Ontario ridings are primarily represented by members of the PC Party. They need to bring this forward to the government and get it changed!
They say that the last mile is the hardest. We need to get high speed cable to those rural locations that the ISPs are willing to service.
Access to high speed internet is a basic service that we all need. It's no different now that having Hydro. They should be able to use the same poles!
#1 - AMBULANCE & PARAMEDIC FUNDING
This is a life safety issue that must be fixed as soon as possible! The County needs to hire more paramedics and staff more ambulances.
When you call 911 in your time of need, you should expect that an ambulance will show up as quickly as possible.
In South Frontenac this is not always the case! The Sydenham based ambulance is often in Kingston and not available to respond to calls in their area. The system will always ensure that the closest available ambulance is dispatched, it just may not be coming from where you think!
It is very busy in Kingston. KGH is a regional hospital and there are pressures that this creates. There are often a number of paramedic crews stuck in the emergency department having to wait to unload their patient to a hospital bed. These "Off Load Delays" mean that the crews are not able to respond to calls in the community. This results in other crews having to be called in so they can respond to emergencies in Kingston.
In addition to having to respond to calls in the city, the Sydenham ambulance will be sent to provide standby coverage when the Kingston has only one ambulance available. Often, they will get assigned to a call in the city because the Kingston based ambulances are not available. Many times they end up doing back-to-back calls. This delays their return to Sydenham to provide coverage. Sometimes the Parham based ambulance gets pulled south as well. This affects the coverage and response times in Central Frontenac.
The solution is to properly fund the paramedic service and to hire more staff. More ambulances in Kingston helps the city and will keep the northern based ambulances in the north where they belong.
Under the provincially imposed download agreement, the County is responsible for the delivery of land ambulance service for the City of Kingston and in Frontenac County. This also provides for a municipal cost share based on call volumes. The city pays about 80% of these municipal costs. Ambulance funding is approximately 50% provincial, 40% City and 10% County.
Our current County Councillors have not provided the leadership on this critical issue! As Mayor of SFT, I will bring this issue forward as my first priority as a member of Frontenac County Council. As a former paramedic service Chief, I understand the ambulance system and know what needs to be done. This can't wait!