September 12, 2019 Vol. 19, No. 36
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Citizen has questions but no answers yet from CF Council on Fire Chief’s status
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entral Frontenac Council rearranged its agenda for its regular meeting Tuesday (September 10) in Sharbot Lake to accommodate its lawyer, who was present for an in-camera session in the middle of the meeting to discuss two matters subject to solicitor-client privilege. But Council also moved a delegation by Janice Morrow up in the agenda because, Mayor Frances Smith said it may have some bearing on what they were about to discuss in closed session. Morrow introduced herself as the spouse of a District 4 fire captain and acknowledged that she had initiated an online petition for the removal of Fire Chief Greg Robinson. “I started that petition to raise awareness of the Fire Chief’s lack of capability, skill and professionalism,” she said. “We also have several questions we’d like answers to by the next meeting (which will be in Piccadilly Hall).” The questions were: • Is there an Acting Fire Chief at the moment? • Is the vehicle that’s part of the Chief’s contract parked at a Township facility since he’s on leave? • How many firefighters have taken leaves of absence or resigned since Robinson took over as chief? • Can we get a review of the fire department budget? and • Can a panel of firefighters be on a panel that does such a review?
“I can answer one of those right now,” said Mayor Frances Smith. “Jamie’s (Riddell) Deputy Chief and he’s definitely acting right now.” When asked after the meeting, ClerkAdministrator Cathy MacMunn and Smith clarified that it’s the duty of the Deputy Chief to act in the Chief’s stead whenever the Chief is unavailable. Riddell isn’t Acting Chief in the way that Steve Keeley was Acting Public Works Manager during a period of time when there was no manager in place. Riddell, it seems, is only replacing Robinson because, in the words of MacMunn, Robinson is “off sick.” When Council went into closed session, a firefighter at the meeting, speaking under a condition of anonymity because, he said Robinson had expressly forbidden firefighters to go to Council meetings, said that Robinson had told firefighters he was suffering from Lyme disease. Questions about the Fire Chief have been swirling ever since his pickup truck was reported stolen late on August 10 or early on August 11, from a resort in Prince Edward County. The truck turned up at the township office within hours of being reported stolen, and was then vandalised with an ae, leading to an intense police response in Sharbot Lake on the afternoon of August 11. While an arrest has been made for the vandalism, the OPP have not commented on their on-going investigation into the theft for over a month.
More from CF Council on page 2
Plowing Match and Open Farms Frontenac The Frontenac Plowing Match featured all generations as well as heritage plowing with mules and horses. It was held this year in conjunction with Open Farms Frontenac. See story on page 12 Photo/Craig Bakay
Seasonal North Frontenac resident robbed by police impersonators by Jeff Green
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ohn Mepham, who has a cottage in the vicinity of Ardoch, will remember the email he was sending on August 30th for quite a while. He was in his car on the road near his cottage driving to a spot where he knows he can get enough cellphone reception to send an email from his phone, when a ve-
hicle pulled up behind him and flashed the blue/red/white lights of a police vehicle so he pulled over. After he stopped, “a bright while light came on near the bottom of the car, it completely blinded my mirrors” he said in a Facebook post on Monday (Sep-
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EarlyOn marks one year anniversary by Jeff Green t the beginning of the summer last year (2018) Rural Frontenac Community Services (RFCS), which is based in Sharbot Lake, began operating the EarlyOn program at locations throughout Frontenac County, but it wasn’t until September that the full breadth of the program took its final form. “That’s one of the reasons why we are celebrating our one-year anniversary now,” said EarlyOn Frontenac program manager Melissa Elliott, “It has been quite a busy year.” The EarlyOn program is a playgroup-based early childhood education program, delivered by registered early childhood educators at locations in South, Central and North Frontenac, for free. Under an earlier delivery model, funded directly by the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth, RFCS was an Ontario Early Years Centre and operated a similar program. The Ministry decided to download management of the new EarlyOn program to the City of Kingston, which put out a Request for Proposal in late 2017 for a provider. RFCS submitted the successful proposal, and as the EarlyOn provider, the agency has greatly expanded the scope of the program. There are two EarlyOn centres in Frontenac County. One is at the Child Centre in Sharbot Lake, which also operates a
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daycare. The other, a new location for RFCS, is in the heart of Sydenham at 4365 Mill Street just down the road from Sydenham High School and Loughborough Public School. The Sydenham EarlyOn Centre offers playgroups six days a week, and the Sharbot Lake Centre offers playgroups four days a week. Satellite centres, which are open from one to two days a week, are located in Plevna (Clarendon Central PS), Arden (Kennebec Hall), Mountain Grove (Olden Hall), Verona (Trinity United Church), Harrowsmith (Free Methodist Church) and Sunbury, (Storrington Fire Hall). “We have 18 different playgroups available now. That’s pretty exciting. It is also exciting that every month we have seen an increase in the number of children and parents coming out to them. We had over 1,000 in August of this year, and last August we saw 600,” said Elliott. One of the playgroups is held at the Depot Lakes campground within the Depot Lakes Conservation Area northwest of Verona. “It is our only outdoor playgroup, and it runs all year long. Of course, we have special programming at that location,” she said. Playgroups are supported by public dollars because they have proven to be an effective way to provide information
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