News

 

Nothing is officially finalized, but there are tentative plans to fill the space now occupied by the Morrisburg Branch of the SD&G library, at the lower east end of the Morrisburg arena.

Essentially, the space will be divided up as a catch-all.

The primary tenant will be the Dundas County Food Bank. 

That means the Food Bank will eventually vacate its present home, in the neighbouring, municipally-owned Second Street building commonly referred to as the ‘old parks building.’ 

Since before this term of council, the municipality has expressed an interest in finding new homes for the tenants of the ‘old parks’ building, which is to be demolished. 

With that in mind, the municipality has spent minimal funds on that building’s upkeep over the last several years.

That building, 50 years ago at the time of the Seaway project was erected then as a temporary building. It continues to be used by the municipality as a home for the Dundas County Foodbank’s South Dundas location, temporary office space for the fire chief and the South Dundas Sports Lending Library.

Once the former Morrisburg Collegiate Institute redevelopment project is complete, transforming that building into South Dundas’ new administrative headquarters, the fire chief’s office will be located there.

The Dundas County Food Bank will take up about half of the current library space at the arena, according to South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds. 

“We have no formal agreement with them right now, so this is all tentative,” he said.

The tentative plans for the rest of the space that the library move will open up, are to provide space for the South Dundas Sports Lending Library, which freely lends sports equipment to South Dundas residents, and to take about 20 feet at the extreme north end of the space and partition it off to provide workshop space for the recreation department workers.

None of these tentative plans will materialize until the SD&G library moves into its new location which will be in the space vacated by the St. Lawrence Medical Clinic.

Once the clinic moves into its new home inside the high school building, in about a year’s time, the current clinic location will be renovated for the library.

Byvelds is not yet ready to discuss what plans are in store for the land that will be left vacant when the ‘old parks’ building is demolished.

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Looking for a Forever Loving Home

Still a young fella, this Husky Mix was rescued just over a week ago in the Riverside Heights area. Small for a husky, he is brown with tan &white markings and is extremely friendly. He has one beautiful blue eye & one beautiful brown eye. 

Two advertised dogs (and one we didn’t advertise) were adopted this past week. The four year old ‘pretty lady’ shepherd & the little brown shepherd husky mix have found homes!

Still looking…large Hound mix (PIc 4),  young Yellow Lab mix male (Pic 3) (Adopted as of Sunday, February 10)

Seven year old, White Shepherd male named Casper (Pic 2), & special needs Bull dog (not pictured).

Interested in adopting a dog??? Call Kevin at the South Dundas Animal Shelter at 613-543-2980 to find out what dogs are available and to arrange a meeting. This could be one of the best phone calls you will ever make!!!

Join our Facebook family at South Dundas Pet Rescue. We are now pushing 1,500 Facebook contacts!

The South Dundas Shelter is always in need of blankets, towells, dog beds, bowls, collars etc. Thanks to the support of the Morrisburg Animal Hospital, these items can now be dropped off there. Anyone wishing to donate money to help with the support of the animals, particularly with the purchase of their food, can do so by cheque made out to the Municipality of South Dundas and specifically marked for the use of the shelter. Rescued dogs are kept by the municipality for four days after which they are signed over to Kevin Casselman (the municipality's animal control officer) who tries, on his own and with the help of a small group of dog lovers,  to find them homes. 

This is a public service column. The Leader accepts no responsibility for the dogs or the adoption process.

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South Dundas now has a tourism strategy with a focus.

South Dundas council adopted “A Passport Forward:  A Tourism Product Development Strategy for South Dundas” in January.

Contained in that report are South Dundas’ priority tourism sectors, now identified as history and historical attractions, arts and culture and cycling.

History was identified as a priority, because history is the second largest draw in SD&G with 12.5 per cent of visitors going to historic sites during their stay. South Dundas has a unique historical narrative, which is an integral part of the community identity.

Identifying the arts and culture sector as a priority builds on thriving assets such as Upper Canada Playhouse. It responds to the increasing desire to experience the community and supports both local visitors and the family/relatives market while enhancing the quality of life for local residents.

Cycling tourism is the primary focus for sector development for Cornwall and the Counties Tourism. South Dundas identifying this too as a priority will facilitate the attraction of a new visitor market here in a format that is ideal for South Dundas as it links businesses and experiences throughout the entire community.

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Last Wednesday, January 30, co-workers, customers and friends helped Morrisburg Branch Manager Connie Kirkwood celebrate her 30 year career with the Bank of Montreal. Kirkwood, who lives in Morrisburg, began her career in Ottawa…in a location that is now a Dairy Queen, she says with a laugh. During her 30 years with the bank, she has been located throughout Ontario. From Ottawa, she went to Kingston and then farther west to Don Mills and then Burlington. She is originally from Pembroke and started her career right out of school, beginning as a teller and working her way up to loans clerk, and eventually to loans officer. Since 2002, she has been at various locations as Branch Manager. Most recently, she was in Finch for six years and Winchester for seven. She has been in Morrisburg for just over one year. “It’s been an amazing career. I’ve enjoyed all of it, especially the people I’ve met over the years. I still run into people I have worked with.” Kirkwood’s 30 years with BMO have involved a lot of changes. “Lots of changes, all for the better,” she says, recalling how “we used to calculate interest manually. There were no computers back then.”

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Five days in front of the Ontario Labour Relations Board, still have not resulted in a decision on whether the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario has counseled unlawful strike activities.

Upper Canada District School Board, along with the Trillium Lakelands District School Board filed the application with the OLRB January 23, and the hearing began January 25.

The school boards argue that the union’s direction for teachers to withdraw from voluntary activities constitutes an illegal strike.

The next OLRB meeting takes place February 6, when a decision could be reached.

While OLRB chair Bernard Fishbein’s decision on this complicated matter will apply to the applicant boards, its impact is potentially far-reaching.

[…]

 

Winchester District Memorial Hospital announced Friday, February 1, that a new Sleep Lab is being added to the list of clinical services available for local communities. 

WDMH has teamed up with Hospital Alliance Group to offer this important service close to home. The Sleep Lab will operate in the Dillabough Building from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. from Monday to Friday. 

Overnight sleep studies will help diagnose a wide range of sleep disorders, from insomnia and sleep apnea, narcolepsy and night movement disorders such as limb movement disorder. 

As the demand for service increases, it is expected the service will expand to seven nights a week.

“Hospital Alliance Group is pleased to be working with WDMH. We know that sleep disorders affect 15 to 20 per cent of the population and if left untreated can result in higher risks of diabetes, heart disease, impotence, depression and arrhythmias. 

Sleep disorder patients also may have daytime sleepiness which increase motor vehicle accidents, work related accidents, poor job performance and decreased quality of life,” adds Lino Di Nardo, President of Hospital Alliance Group.

“WDMH is continually looking for ways to better serve our communities and the sleep lab will be a great benefit to local residents,” notes Lynn Hall, Vice President, Clinical Service and Chief Nursing Executive. 

“We spend about one third of our life sleeping, and sleep is important to help repair and restore our bodies. Our specialists at the Sleep Lab look forward to helping you manage any sleep related ailment and will provide guidance in the treatment of such disorders.”

Patients should speak to their family physician for a referral.

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The 2012 review of South Dundas website statistics will serve as a benchmark to help measure the success of the site, and the impact of the work being done to build up online traffic to the site.

Nicole Sullivan, South Dundas economic development officer recently reviewed the statistics.

“Now that we have a benchmark, just under 90 visits per day, we can better comment on the success we’re having with viewership in the coming years,” Sullivan said.

Having now established a benchmark for viewership over the full year, Sullivan has some insight into what information viewers are most interested in and how they arrived at the site. 

Knowing how someone arrives at the South Dundas site, is a key piece of information that will allow Sullivan to work on increasing the use of the site.

While most of the traffic to the site appears to be locals seeking municipal information, the visit and business sections average 300 to 350 hits per month.

“I am always looking at ways to increase the number of visits,” said Sullivan.

With that in mind, Sullivan plans to work with community partners to strengthen the connection between their websites and the South Dundas website. She plans to dedicate some of the marketing budget to online advertisements linking viewers to the website.

Sullivan will continue to build on the information disseminated through the “Experience South Dundas” Facebook page. 

Four per cent of referrals to the South Dundas website come from that Facebook page. 

Twenty-one per cent of referrals come from the United Counties of SD&G website.

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Only two days after a Stampville home was completely destroyed by a fire sparked by a space heater, South Dundas firefighters were again battling a blaze ignited by a space heater.

Tuesday, January 22, just before 10 a.m., firefighters from the Iroquois and Williamsburg stations were called to the scene of a house fire at 11397 County Road 18.

The fire was called in by a neighbour and passerby who saw smoke coming from the home. 

No one was home at the time of the fire.

Chris McDonough, Fire Chief for South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services, was the first to arrive at the scene.

“I kicked the door open and threw in a (Dry Sprinker Powder Aerosol agent) DSPA,” McDonough told The Leader. It landed very near the source of the fire and doused the flames somewhat until fire crews arrived minutes later to extinguish the blaze.

“A cat was able to survive the fire,” said McDonough. 

The residents returned home about half an hour after fire crews arrived a the scene.

The fire was caused by a space heater left running in the kitchen while the residents had gone shopping.

Firefighters remained on scene until about 1 p.m.

McDonough said that the major difficulty in fighting fires in the extreme cold is keeping the firefighters safe from the effects of the cold and the equipment functioning properly.

Although fire crews were able to save the structure, damage is still quite extensive, estimated at $60,000.

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Friday, January 25, employees were evacuated from Beavers Dental in Morrisburg for about 2.5 hours while South Dundas firefighters from the Morrisburg station located and extinguished a fire.

“The fire was caused by the roofing contractor heating the membrane along the flashing on the roof’s edge,” said Chris McDonough, Fire Chief for South Dundas Fire and Emergency Services.

McDonough was first to the scene at around 10:30 a.m. 

“When I arrived I was met by the facilities manager who explained that there was work being completed to the exterior roof and excessive smoke was penetrating the interior of the building and the air-handling system,” he said. 

Upon further investigation, fire crews discovered several areas where flames were visible along the north wall of the building, at ceiling level.

Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the flames, with access through the roof and interior ceiling.

Once the fire was out and the smoke cleared from the building, employees returned at about 1 p.m. 

Damage is estimated at $4,000.

[…]

Casper, is a German Shepherd, aptly named for his unusual white colouring. He is friendly and house trained (not neutered) and is about seven years old. Since he was a pup, he has lived in a loving home with his loving, forever best friend. Having come from a single person (male) environment, Casper would probably flourish in a quiet home. He has been at the South Dundas Shelter close to two weeks, where he has been allowed to come to terms with his devastating loss. It is so hoped that this beautiful dog can find a loving, comfortable home to replace the one he has lost.

Ten dogs at the South Dundas Shelter. 

There were no adoptions at the South Dundas Animal Shelter this past week. Anyone interested in adopting a dog is invited to please call Kevin at 613-543-2980 to meet any of the dogs there. With  just eight indoor kennels, it has been difficult pairing some of the dogs so all are indoors and out of the extreme cold of the last week.

This is a public service column. The Leader accepts no responsibility for the dogs or the adoption process.

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