News

Pictured are members of the local Golden Gears car club with one of two truck loads of food they delivered to the Morrisburg Branch of the Dundas County Food Bank on Wednesday, September 19. In addition to approximately $3,000 worth of food which was collected at last weekend’s celebration in Iroquois and the Club’s Car Show, the delivery included cheques totalling $1,100 which were presented to coordinator, Norma Smith. This represented donations from the club and proceeds of the 50-50 draw held  at the September 16 Car Show.

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Hi. Our names are Fang (tan coloured husky pictured left) and Austin (black and white husky-husky/mix right) and we are both currently staying at the South Dundas Animal Control Pound. We are looking for forever homes. Both of us are estimated to be about two years old and we are both males. (Fang has been neutered, Austin has not.) Anyone interested in providing homes for either of these two beautiful dogs, should be prepared to handle a high energy dog. The Siberian Husky is a medium sized dog and is a working dog breed. They are very active and energetic, and if trained can make a great family pet. The Husky is affectionate with people but independent. Obedience training is recommended. Huskies tend to run and are excellent escape artists which could be why these two have landed at the South Dundas facility. Huskies need physical and mental stimulation on a daily basis. Many are used for recreational mushing and skijoring, and they absolutely love the activities. For more information on Fang and Austin, or to meet them please call Kevin Casselman at 613-543-2980

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Waterfront land owned by Ontario Power Generation is going up for sale in South Dundas.

OPG Real Estate is undertaking a province-wide review of its surplus lands and in that review they have so far decided that six waterfront properties in Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry are surplus to OPG’s operational needs. The identified lots are vacant and zoned for residential use, so OPG has applied to the United Counties to sever the properties to allow them to be sold as building lots.

Four of the land division applications are in South Dundas, two along Lakeshore Drive, one at the intersection of Lakeshore Drive and County Road 2 and the other at the east end of Grisdale Boulevard. The other two are in South Stormont on Ault Island.

Asked if OPG has previously severed land for sale in SD&G, Cathy Nelson, counties planning secretary, said, “This is the first I’ve seen.” Nelson has been working with the counties in the land severance division for about 10 years.

The application process for these lands is underway with abutting property owners sent notice of the severance applications. The applications have been circulated to agencies including the two municipalities and South Nation Conservation for comment.

Of the adjacent landowners who received notification, about a dozen have contacted the counties to allow them the opportunity to voice their concerns/objections through the public process, before  the County decides on whether or not to grant the land severances.

One home owner with concerns recently contacted The Leader to express her concerns and to help raise awareness that this land severance process is taking place.

Sara Lawson holds the land licence on the OPG-owned property at the end of Grisdale Boulevard. This land severance, if successful, will privatize the whole 2.5 acre waterfront section that she presently maintains and uses according to OPG specifications.

Her land licence, which expires in 2016, will be cancelled.

“I feel that a discrimination has taken place,” said Lawson, “Everyone else gets to keep the licensed bits of land in front of them.” Lawson expressed her disappointment and explained that she has always been a careful steward of the land being ever mindful of the historical and ecological significance of the area. “We didn’t ask to have this land kept by OPG. They kept it.”

“I would lose my river access,” says Lawson, adding that she won’t be the only one as she has always been open to the fishermen, walkers and other people using the river access respectfully.

“We’re not a city,” said Lawson. “It is so shortsighted to let this be developed as residential land when there are houses for sale all over that seem to be showing little signs of movement.”

“OPG does not have a specific number of applications/schedule for applications identified at this time for future severances,” said Neal Kelly, Director Media, Issues, Information Management Ontario Power Generation. 

“If the current severance and sale is successful, OPG may proceed to sell other properties in the area.”

He further explained that, the OPG-owned lands licensed to private residential owners along the St. Lawrence differ in terms of permitted uses, elevations, environmental constraints, access, and the majority are waterfront lands maintained for OPG’s operational purposes. 

OPG’s program of licensing some properties to adjacent owners will continue as a means of managing these waterfront operational lands. 

The lands subject to the current severance applications offer characteristics that allow for their development as residential lots. In those circumstances, if the lot is deemed applicable for sale, the current Waterfront Licence may be cancelled. 

These Licensees will have the same opportunity as other potential buyers to purchase the properties. 

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A sign bylaw for South Dundas is in the works.

A first draft of the bylaw was given to council at a recent meeting, however they were not happy with the document which they found too restrictive and far reaching.

With council’s input the document is being amended to better fit this municipality’s needs. 

What council would like to see is a document that primarily addresses the use of temporary signs, especially those which are scattered along the front of busy retail areas like the plazas in Morrisburg and Iroquois.

After they provided their input, council asked that the document be reviewed by the South Dundas Chamber of Commerce, the Morrisburg Business Improvement Area and the Iroquois and District Business Association.

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The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has confirmed that a working public telephone has been re-installed at the Morrisburg Town Dock marine telephone reporting site.

Canadian Law requires that individuals entering Canadian waters report to the CBSA. This is not a new requirement.

In 2011, the CBSA, in an attempt to make this reporting requirement less burdensome to Canadian and United States (U.S.) boaters, modernized its reporting requirements by allowing certain Canadian and American citizens and Permanent Residents to contact the CBSA from their cellular telephone upon arrival in Canadian waters rather than proceeding to a designated Marine reporting site and calling the Telephone reporting Centre (TRC) in order to report to the CBSA.

The following group of individuals may report by cellular phone: Canadian citizens and permanent residents who have not landed on U.S. soil; and U.S. Citizens and permanent residents who do not plan on landing on Canadian soil.

Those boaters who are residents of the United States and who intend to land on Canadian soil, or Canadian boaters who touched land in the U.S. and are returning to Canada are required to report to a CBSA designated marine reporting site from the land based telephone provided by the marina to obtain clearance from the CBSA.

To report to a TRC from a landline, only one individual may leave the vessel to call the CBSA. The vessel and passengers must be cleared by the CBSA before any other passengers are permitted to disembark the vessel.

The public telephone located at the Morrisburg Town Dock Marine Reporting Site was removed earlier this summer. While there was no telephone available at the reporting site, temporary reporting measures were put into place.

With the phone now back in place and back in service, boaters must return to proper reporting procedures.

 

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After the next council meeting South Dundas council will have their first ever code of conduct.

Staff presented council with a draft of the code of conduct at the September 18 council meeting, and no member of council had any issues, questions or suggestions for amendments to the draft.

“There’s nothing here I can’t sign,” commented deputy mayor Locke.

Of the code, councillor Jim Graham said, “This is certainly something that will be enforceable.”

“This is a trend that is happening, and it’s a good thing,” said councillor Evonne Delegarde.

“There’s nothing here that’s news, but it’s nice to have it put in writing,” said councillor Archie Mellan.

Mayor Steven Byvelds was very pleased with the draft document saying that South Dundas’ code is better than the others he had seen at the recent Ontario East municipal conference.

The document spells out the roles of council, the head of council and officers and employees of the municipality.

It sets out the minimum standards of conduct and specific rules about handling confidential information and releasing information to the media. With this new document council will also have a specific list of procedures to help them handle operational inquiries.

Compliance with this code will be mandatory, as any member of council, staff or the public who believes the code has been contravened will be able to submit a formal complaint to an integrity commissioner. The integrity commissioner will have the power to investigate the complaint filed, make a decision regarding the infraction and impose necessary penalties. 

The integrity commissioner will be retained through a contract whereby they provide the service to the municipality on an as needed basis.

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Winchester District Memorial Hospital (WDMH) has been named Ontario’s Top Performer in Maternity Care in a new report from NRC Picker Canada and the Ontario Hospital Association.

Of new Moms who gave birth at WDMH, 89.5 percent say they would recommend the hospital to their family and friends – making WDMH the most highly recommended maternity program in Ontario.

WDMH also scored in the 90th percentile in the acute care inpatient – one of only eight hospitals in Ontario to do so.

“The purpose is to highlight excellent performance based on patient perceptions and to identify those hospitals that may have good practices in place that others may be interested in,” note the authors.

“We are very excited to be singled out in this important report,” notes Cholly Boland, WDMH CEO. “We are very proud of the care provided by our staff, physicians and volunteers and it is gratifying to see that our patients agree.”

The report is entitled Patient Ratings of Overall Satisfaction and Likeliness to Recommend for Ontario Hospitals: Percent Positive Scores and Associated Percentile Rankings for Acute Care Inpatient and Maternity, Emergency Department and Rehabilitation- 2010/11. 

It focuses on patient experiences in acute care, emergency, rehabilitation, and maternity. 

Patients were asked two key questions: “Overall, how would you rate the care you received at this hospital?” and “Would you recommend this hospital to your family and friends?”.

NRC Picker (NRCC) is an independent research institute that surveys and compares all hospitals in Ontario. 

This report will be updated by NRCC later this fall to include data from hospitals that surveyed patients, using an NRRC Patient Experience Survey between April 1, 2011 and March 31, 2012.

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A 12 year relationship between the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry and the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Community Futures Development Corporation is about to come to an end.

For 12 years, the SD&G CFDC has provided economic development services on behalf of the counties, but at the last meeting of counties council it was decided that the counties will look after its own economic development. The decision was reported to South Dundas council at the Sept. 18 meeting.

“It was felt that there was a disconnect between the CFDC, counties council and counties staff,” explained South Dundas mayor and counties councillor Steven Byvelds. The counties now have a new strategic plan, and with this plan, felt now was the time for them to start looking after economic development themselves. So, they will be doing so in 2013.

According to Byvelds, this should lead to a lot of positive synergies, as he sees the counties economic development work tying in significantly with the economic development work being done through the lower tier municipalities in SD&G.

“This is an opportunity for the Counties and the lower tiers to work together on a central goal of economic development,” said Byvelds.

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A ten year Community Strategic Plan received in principle approval at the September 18 South Dundas council meeting.

The plan, based on much public consultation and input, including that of local high school students, sets out seven guiding principles for the municipality and its decision-makers.

South Dundas’ Seven Community Directions are as follows:

-encourage and facilitate waterfront development;

-develop our municipal identity to celebrate South Dundas’ rich history and culture;

-create recreational programs, opportunities and facilities that will attract and retain families, children and youth;

-strengthen resident and visitor’s connections to South Dundas’ agricultural sector through awareness building and increased availability of products/produce;

-support business expansion and job creation;

-sustain South Dundas’ small town lifestyle through appropriate development;

-implement beautification projects to strengthen our sense of pride and community.

The plan includes an implementation strategy that sets out what actions need to be taken to fulfil the guidelines of the plan, when these should take place and which department of the municipal government should be responsible for those actions.

Late 2012 the expected actions include:

– advertising the availability of land/business space through the municipality’s website and through billboards adjacent to Highway 401 and County Road 31;

– promoting community clean up days in the township newsletter; and

– implementing a sign bylaw.

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 Locally, we are all well aware of the event now known as the Battle of Crysler’s Farm, but what is not so widely known is that on two occasions Point Iroquois witnessed notable armed conflict.

The Iroquois-Matilda Lions Club is planning a to commemorate these armed conflicts with a memorial Cairn, and  a re-enactment at the point on November 9, 2013.

They requested, and received, South Dundas council support and approval for the Cairn and the event at the September 18 meeting. Township support is the first step in a process to work to obtain funding.

“We are taking this first step to try and revive one historic event that has been dormant for many years,” reported Jacques Asselin, chairperson for the War of 1812 project for the Iroquois-Matilda Lions Club.

“We are proud of the contributions made by our fore-bearers of Stormont-Dundas and Glengarry to the creation of Canada,” wrote Howard Kirkby who is also working on this project. 

The memorial Cairn to the First Regiment of Dundas Militia will be constructed of field-stones and mortar and include four plaques highlighting key historical facts. It is proposed to have a prominent location at Iroquois Point.

In addition to that static tribute, the organization is proposing a dynamic tribute for the dedication of the memorial, a re-enactment take place at Iroquois Point.

According to the documents provided to South Dundas council, re-enactment regiments from Canada and New Your State have expressed enthusiasm and sincere interest in performing a re-enactment of the 1813 skirmish on the 9th of November 2013 with approximately 100 re-enactors. They will also participate in the public dedication ceremony of the memorial and perform a solemn memorial service at the grave sites of those militia members who are buried in the Iroquois cemetery.

For the re-enacting regiments this event would occur in association with the planned re-enactment at Hoople’s Creek and memorial service at the Crysler’s Farm Battle Monument on the 10th and 11th of November.

This Iroquois-Matilda Lions 1812 project also includes an educational component whereby they plan to prepare online and printed materials and make them available to the public to help raise public awareness and appreciation of the exploits and sacrifices made by the First Regiment of Dundas Militia.

“To conclude, this project, with broad-based community involvement and support, will put South Dundas on the War of 1812 commemorative map,” reads the report.

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