Accidental fire razes Britton barn now community support effort builds

A sewer use bylaw for South Dundas is in the works.

“This could be a very significant document,” said Todd Grant of AECOM who is working on drafting the document that aims to protect the sewer collection system from extraneous inflow by providing legal grounds for the elimination of improper connections.

An example of an improper connection would be a sump pump connection into the sanitary sewer system. 

These types of connections are believed to exist within the villages of South Dundas, and may be partially to blame for the extreme amounts of water that have overtaxed the waste water treatment plants during large rainfall events in the past.

Many municipalities already have sewer use bylaws in place. 

Grant explained to South Dundas council at the October 15 meeting that this document members of council are presently reviewing is not re-inventing the wheel. 

The current draft of the bylaw is similar to that of six municipalities much like South Dundas. 

Protecting the sewer collection system from corrosion, damage and obstruction, and protecting the wastewater treatment process from upset are the primary objectives of the bylaw. 

According to Grant, having this bylaw in place has the potential to improve the operational efficiency of the wastewater treatment plants by improving the influent quality and reducing influent inflows.

The draft document has been circulated to council for comment. 

It too will undergo a legal review before being presented to the public for input. After the public consultation process the document will require council acceptance before it becomes law. 

While the implementation of this bylaw has no financial implications for the municipality, this bylaw could be costly for some homeowners, where illegal connections do exist. They would be on the hook for costs associated with eliminating those illegal connections.

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Working behind the scenes at Winchester District Memorial Hospital (WDMH) is a group of people who really makes things tick. 

Officially, they are known as administrative and health information professionals, but we call them the backbone of the hospital. Both teams are celebrating their annual recognition weeks.

Our health records team brings more than 60 years of combined experience to the job and is responsible for everything related to the patient health record. 

They are graduates of college or university-level health information programs and must maintain professional certification. A key part of their job is the statistical and clinical information analysis that is so important to ensuring the very best care.

Our administrative team of about 35 professionals includes executive assistants, business unit clerks, payroll clerk, scheduling clerk, ward clerks and finance clerks. 

They handle everything from board minutes to financial transactions to scheduling staff to care for our patients. Technology has become an integral tool for this group as their job responsibilities expand. And they are definitely up for the challenge.

“Our health records and administration teams remain the steady pulse of our organization,” noted Cholly Boland, CEO. “Their competent work behind the scenes does not go unnoticed and we want to thank them for their hard work.”

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When Pastor Norine Gullons of the South Dundas Lutheran Community Church got a call from St. John’s Lutheran Church in Arnprior, she says it was a tough decision, but the timing seemed right for a change.

South Dundas Lutheran Community Church here has just undergone an amalgamation of the congregations of St. Paul’s in Morrisburg and St. Peter’s in Williamsburg, and Pastor Gullons says, “things are good and it’s a good time to go. We’ve gotten through the amalgamation, and we are now one congregation.”

“There is more to be done to move forward, and I’ve guided the congregation this far. It’s now time for someone else to step in and guide them the rest of the way.”

Rev. Gullons says it is hard to believe she has been here for nine years. “It feels like I haven’t been here at all, but when I look back, I’ve actually been here a long time.”

“It is hard to leave the people. I’ve made some really good friends. This congregation has a lot of good people and people in South Dundas are great people.”

The ministry is Rev. Gullons’ second career, and the two-point parish of St. Peter’s Williamsburg and St. Paul’s in Morrisburg was her first call. She came to South Dundas from Kingston following her graduation from the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary and her ordination in June 2005.

Her arrival coincided with the realignment of the Lutheran Churches in South Dundas, and she took over the newly-formed parish of St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s. Prior to her arrival St. Peter’s was aligned with St. Luke’s in Dunbar and St. Paul’s with St. John’s in Riverside Heights.

“For your second call, you are thinking about your parish, and also about yourself. This is my second call, so I may very well be there [Arnprior] until I retire. We have no idea what is going to happen in life, and I don’t move easily,” she said from the manse in Williamsburg where, surrounded by boxes and cleaning supplies, she was very much in the midst of packing and down-sizing from the four-bedroom manse to a two-bedroom condo. “I’ve been tapped (an invite from another church) seven different times in my nine years here, but I’ve never budged until now.”

The move to Arnprior takes Pastor Gullons, who was born in Renfrew, back to her hometown area. 

Rev. Gullons says the biggest change since she came to South Dundas is the amalgamation of the Williamsburg and Morrisburg parishes into the South Dundas Lutheran Community Church. “We really had to have patience with the process, and we had to keep pushing forward. I sat on the partnership committee, but it was the congregation’s doing.”

During her nine years, Rev. Gullons performed 50 baptisms and had three sets of confirmation classes.

She was very involved with the Dundas County Food Bank and in particular the New Born Necessities Program. She served on the Spiritual Advisory Board for Winchester Hospital. 

She and Rev. Craig Bowers of the Anglican Church in Morrisburg were co-organizers of the Ash Wednesday Faith Days for local youth, and she has been a strong supporter of the Williamsburg scouts and guides programs, the South Dundas Dog Park and the ecumenical Love South Dundas event.

She is clearly proud of the Junior Youth Club at the church and the Sunday School program. “One of the mandates I am leaving the congregation with is to keep these two programs strong. I am really concerned that we instill a faith life in children and youth. It is not so much to keep them in church but to instill in them the values and faith that were instilled in us.”

Pastor Gullons is delighted in the growth of the active congregation that has occurred over the last nine years, with 70 worshippers now in attendance on a regular basis.

She gave her final sermon on Sunday, June 29, to just under 150 worshippers. “It was unbelieveable,” shes says of the memories of that day that she will carry with her. “I did five baptisms and two confirmations. I blessed the delegates going to Synod, and the congregation had a farewell for me following the service. My kids (youth group) helped give communion, and all the Sunday School children came forward for homily.”

 “I think I am leaving them in good shape. I think I’ve brought them to a good place. The amalgamation has brought them into the future…and now they just have to move forward. This new congregation can grow even larger than it is now, but they have to allow it to happen. They have to take the chance and keep inviting the people.”

Rev. Gullons left for her new call on Monday, July 7. She leaves behind a host of friends and a strong church but points out with her warm laugh, “Arnprior isn’t that far away”. 

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