News

The Dundas County Food Bank’s Every Plate Full campaign wrapped-up with a final food drive at Riley’s Valu-mart in Morrisburg. Food donations totalled 351 pounds and $493.70 was collected.

Also contributing to the campaign were students at North Dundas District High School who collected 360 pounds of food from a food drive organized by the Futures class.

Empathy was the virtue of the month for students at Winchester Public School. Students collected 628 items totalling 571 pounds to show their empathy with people in need in the community. They easily surpassed their target of 455 items — the number of staff and students at the school.

The final totals for the Every Plate Full campaign was 2,806 pounds of food and $2,131.15 in cash donations.

Using information from Statistics Canada and the national Hunger Count survey, food banks are able to provide three meals to people in need for every dollar donated. 

Based on this ‘meals measure’ the equivalent of 6,393 meals were donated during the campaign.

“I am very pleased with the results. This is the first time we have tried a county-wide food drive at various locations’ said Ian McKelve, Dundas County Food Bank Administrator. “Our community was once again very generous with their donations. Of course we couldn’t have done it without our volunteers who generously donated their time to gather and process the food we collected.”

Every Plate Full was a national campaign organized by Food Banks Canada to make sure none of our neighbours went hungry this summer.

[…]

Spring has finally arrived and Upper Canada Village has opened its gates to welcome visitors to an exciting, new season.  

May will be a busy month and the Village will be alive with tradition over the Victoria Day weekend.  Visitors can join in the Queen Victoria Birthday celebrations on Sunday, May 17 with patriotic speeches, grand military manoeuvres, a hand-pumped fire engine demonstration and enjoy a piece of birthday cake. 

Without a doubt, one of the joys of Spring is watching the fields and gardens come back to life after a long winter.  The Spring Planting weekend (May 30, 31) at Upper Canada Village is a great time to visit and see nature’s renewal.  

The 2015 season will mark the 350th anniversary of the arrival of the Canadian Horse in Canada.  

All season long visitors will be able to see the Canadian horses at work.  

They are an integral part of daily life at Upper Canada Village performing tasks such as drawing the Tow Scow along the canal, pulling Carry-alls through the Village for tours and other farm related chores.  

This season, Horse Lovers’ weekend will be a not-to-be-missed event on Labour Day weekend September 5-7.

Upper Canada Village offers a number of summer youth camps.  Some spaces are still available.

“We have a great season of events, programs and summer camps at Upper Canada Village.  Our summer youth camps are a great opportunity for young people to make new friends and have a completely unique experience.  This season we have a full line-up of events planned with many returning favourites such as Medieval Festival, Food Lovers’ Field Days and the War of 1812 Military Re-enactment weekend.  In July and August we will be bringing back the Haunted Walks and Murder Mystery Dinners that were very popular last year,” said Geoff Waycik, Manager of Historic Sites, St. Lawrence Parks Commission.

New this year is the ‘Breaking Down the Barriers to History’ weekend on June 20 and 21.  While Upper Canada Village offers an excellent multisensory experience every day, this event will be further enhanced for those with sight loss, hearing loss and mobility challenges.

Other events coming up in June include Sheep Shearing Days – June 2-5 and Medieval Festival June 6-7.  

Special education days include Monday, May 25, War of 1812  and Monday, June 8 for Medieval Festival.  Students can also visit the Aultsville Train Station for the British Home Child Exhibit and Educational Program offered June 2 and 3.

Upper Canada Village will be open daily from May 6 to Labour Day and then Wednesdays to Sundays from September 9 to 20, 2015.

[…]

Following an ongoing investigation into several reported break-ins occurring during the month of April in South Dundas, Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry and Grenville County Ontario Provincial Police Crime Unit members have arrested and charged four adults. 

Details were released May 7. 

Criminal Code of Canada search warrants were executed at two residences in Edwardsburgh Township resulting in several items of stolen property recovered; consisting of drugs, assorted electronics, hunting equipment, hand/power tools, lawn tractor/gardening products and cash.

Allan Robinson (42) of Edwardsburgh Township is charged with;

– Break, Enter a Place – Commit Indictable Offence (4 counts)

– Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under $5,000 (4 counts)

– Mischief Under $5,000 (2 counts)

– Possession of a Controlled Substance – Cocaine.

He is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Morrisburg on June 9, 2015.

Patricia Mellon (36) of Cardinal, Ontario is charged with;

– Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Under $5,000

She is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Morrisburg on June 9, 2015.

Christos Valaveris (50) of Prescott, Ontario is charged with;

– Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over $5,000

– Fail to Comply with Recognizance.

He was held in custody pending an appearance (bail) at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brockville.

Tara McEnaney (41) of Prescott, Ontario is charged with;

– Possession of Property Obtained by Crime Over $5,000.

She was released and is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brockville on June 5, 2015.

[…]

Presently, South Dundas is not a willing host for future wind projects, but that could change.

At the May 5 South Dundas council meeting, mayor Evonne Delegarde read the resolution passed October 1, 2013. 

That resolution, originally brought forward by South Dundas deputy mayor Jim Locke, stated that, “Due to the fact that Ontario has a considerable generating capacity and only 25 per cent of the current wind power generating approved by contracts are currently connected to the power grid, the Municipality of South Dundas hereby declares that any future proposals will not be supported until the supply and demand for generation demonstrates a need.”

That motion was forwarded to the Minister of Energy and the Premier of Ontario at the time.

After mayor Delegarde read the resolution at the last week’s council meeting, she said that she would like to direct staff to forward a copy of it to EDP Renewables who at the last meeting spoke about plans for a new project east of the South Branch Wind Farm that could mean up to 40 new turbines to the area.

She also said it should be forwarded to the other company who plans to discuss another proposal with the municipality at an upcoming council meeting. 

But the rest of council did not agree with Delegarde’s direction.

“I originally brought that resolution forward, but a lot has changed in the last two years,” said South Dundas deputy mayor Jim Locke.

He said that he would like to see the location of the proposed towers  before taking that stance with those interested in South Dundas for future projects.

He said that a lot of the fears regarding the South Branch project never materialized. 

He suggested that, had two of the towers been erected in different locations there would not have been nearly the opposition to the project.

He also said that property values have not been affected.

“Let’s see the plan first, and then make a decision based on the plan,” said South Dundas councillor Marc St. Pierre, who was not part of the council that passed that 2013 resolution.

The other new council member Bill Ewing, who is the South Dundas representative of the Rideau St. Lawrence Utilities board, said that he would like to have a better understanding from the RSL perspective before making any decision.

South Dundas councillor Archie Mellan did not participate in these discussions having declared a conflict of interest in the matter.

Under the new provincial program, municipal support is one of the factors considered in the awarding of contracts. 

EDP has not yet officially asked for that support.

[…]

The 2016 construction season is the season that 1,100 vehicles per day will be detoured around the County Road 16 (Brinston Road) 401 overpass.

Throughout the consultation process, the exact timing of the local project was not known, having been narrowed to either the 2015 or 2016 construction season.

Now, the MTO is now planning to replace both the Brinston Road and Aultsville Road underpasses in the same construction season, a revision from the plans presented at the last public information centre session last November.

“The contract is planned to be tendered later this summer, with some preliminary work expected in fall 2015,” said Mike Delugt, MTO spokesperson. “The bulk of the work is to be completed in 2016 with full closures of the municipal roads in the area of the bridges. Detours will be in place during the full closures.”

Both the Brinston Road and Aultsville Road overpasses will be demolished using a rapid demolition process. Rapid demolition minimizes the impact on 401 traffic, requiring the overnight closure of the eastbound and westbound lanes for 12-18 hours each.

Neither of these projects meets the criteria for rapid replacement, a process which is used in large cities.

The full closure season closure (April – December) 2016, reduces construction time, as opposed to using traditional on-lane closures, explains Delugt.

Brinston Road is a busy local roadway with annual average daily traffic of about 1,100 vehicles per day. During the road closure for the overpass replacement, traffic will be detoured to County Roads 40, 1 and 2. 

[…]

Moving day is approaching for the Dundas County Food Bank.

About 14 months after planning began to move the Morrisburg location of the Dundas County Food Bank into a new home just down the street, officials are happy to announce that the move will take place May 22 and 23. The Dundas County Food Bank will open in its new location May 25.

The new food bank will be in a portion of the fully renovated former library location at the Morrisburg arena.

The move won’t disrupt any food bank service, as the food bank closes at 3 p.m. on the Thursday in the old location and will open, no matter what, in the new location at 10 a.m. the following Monday.

A small group of volunteers has been working to assemble and arrange the shelving that will house donated food items.

Jim Millard, of the DCFB said that the location has more than enough shelving, as they had purchased some when Zellers was closing. In addition to that shelving, the library donated surplus shelving, tables and chairs to the food bank for its new home. 

Millard estimates that about 30 to 40 people have made themselves available to help with the move. Those volunteers will include Royal Bank staffers, student volunteers and regular food bank volunteers. 

[…]

South Dundas is being targeted by EDP Renewables for significantly more wind generation.

The 30 megawatt South Branch Wind Farm, which is owned and operated by EDP Renewables consists of 10 wind turbines. 

Last week, South Branch project manager Ken Little and Tom LoTurco of EDPR, met with South Dundas council to talk about future plans within South Dundas.

Since the South Branch project, which was part of the Ontario government’s feed in tariff program, to bring wind power generation on line by signing 20 year, 13.5 cent per kilowatt hour, contracts with developers, things have changed.

A competitive procurement process is now in place, and Little says the new dynamic will be beneficial for both the industry and for consumers.

According to Little, wind generation is being pursued by the government because, with the refurbishment of the Bruce and Darlington nuclear plants and the planned shutdown of Pickering, “Ontario’s energy surplus will soon end.”

“Wind generation is cheap and low risk,” said Little. “Even with a growth scenario, there will still be an energy gap.”

EDP qualified to participate in the bid process and is eyeing an area east of the existing South Branch wind farm, towards Winchester Springs for a new project. EDP is assuming that about 50 to100 mW of capacity is available in the lines adjacent to South Branch. 

A project of that capacity would likely mean 20-30 new turbines, but could mean up to 40 turbines, depending on the size of the turbines used. 

If EDP pursues this project it will be registered and declared in August, and would be built about four years from the contract date.

According to Little, reliable wind, high electricity demand, available transmission capacity and significant landowner interest make this an attractive project for the company. 

Through the new procurement process, municipal support will be key, a point that Little and LoTurco stressed with municipal council. 

They also mentioned that with future wind projects, like South Branch, there will be a fund established, which generally pays about $1,000 per megawatt for the size of the project, back to the host community. They also said that they are willing to discuss road use agreements. The road use agreement for South Branch was $2.7 million. Like South Branch, this project would be fully funded by EDPR.

Little told council that they are already planning many opportunities for public open houses.

[…]

The Long Sault Friendly Circle #336 is hosting its third annual Seniors Showcase, Saturday, May 2, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the South Stormont community hall in Long Sault.

“I founded this two years ago, and it’s grown into something big,” said Carson Elliott, president of the seniors’ club which is part of the United Seniors of Ontario.

Now, in its third year, a committee of 20 has an event prepared that, they say, will have something for everyone.

According to Elliott, over 40 exhibitors are participating. Silent auction, free draws, door prizes are part of the fun. Crafts and homemade baking will be for sale by various club members and the Knights of Columbus will be running a food concession on site.

Eight acts of entertainment are lined up for the day. There will be a kids corner and a magic show as well.

Elliott estimates that about 600-700 people will attend the popular event.

The Long Sault Friendly Circle is 122 members strong and is made up of seniors aged 50-92. They are a social club which holds dinners and has lots of fun participating in various activities.

Admission is free.

[…]

 It’s only been about six months since municipal water and sewer users experienced a substantial increase in their utility bills, but another increase is on the horizon.

Because there’s not enough money left to fund the necessary capital projects for the South Dundas municipal water treatment plant, staff asked council to consider increasing the fixed water charge by $4 a month. That increase would mean that Iroquois water users will see an increase of $8 a month once sewer charges are factored in, and Morrisburg water users will see a total increase of $7, including sewer charges.

South Dundas treasurer Shannon Geraghty explained that increasing the fixed portion of the rate structure is the only way to tackle the issue. He said that if the consumption charge is increased, it would only prompt people to conserve, and therefore not bring in the funds needed.

Even with this increase, there will not be enough money in the water reserves to pay for the $558,500 worth of capital projects that need to be done. So, the funds for the capital work will be borrowed from the Morrisburg and Iroquois sewer reserves which are healthy at almost $1.8 million.

“We can’t do this on a regular basis,” commented South Dundas councillor Archie Mellan.

“You’re right, this is not sustainable,” agreed South Dundas chief administrative officer Steve McDonald. 

Nonetheless, South Dundas council agreed to the proposed increase.

The biggest capital project at the South Dundas water treatment plant is the replacement of the Zenon filters, the main component of the plant.

These filters are nearing the end of their 10 year lifespan.

While staff knew that they would have to replace them soon, they recently learned they actually need to purchase the filters before October 6, 2015.

South Dundas manager of public works Chris Bazinet explained that the original water treatment plant contract included a 10 year replacement cost of guarantee of $350,000. 

That means if the filters are purchased before October 6th they will cost $350,000. If they are purchased after that date, they will cost $700,000. 

So the municipality  needs to act sooner than later to take advantage of the offer. The new filters must be installed at the time of purchase.

Council is expected to approve the necessary bylaw for the increased rates at the next regular meeting.

[…]

It’s been almost 10 years since South Dundas residents connected to the Williamsburg municipal sewer have seen an increase to their sewer charges.

But that will change with their next tax bill.

South Dundas municipal staff told council at the water and wastewater budget meeting held April 22, at the South Dundas Municipal Centre, that sewer charges need to be increased right away.

It was decided that for 2015, the sewer charge, which appears on their property tax bill, will jump from $98 to $150. 

With recent upgrades to the electrical panel and the replacement of two primary pumps, the Williamsburg sewer reserve has been significantly depleted.

Even with the $52 increase, that will only bring in about $2,600 to add back into the reserve, according to South Dundas treasurer Shannon Geraghty.

“We need to address this and start building the reserve back up to a comfortable level,” warned Geraghty.

“It’s something that has to be done,” said South Dundas mayor Evonne Delegarde.

This increase will be implemented right away and staff will further review and assess the need for further increases in future years as they update the bylaw and mapping.

[…]