News

“The motion is lost,” said South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds at the February 7th council meeting.

He was referring to Councillor Evonne Delegarde’s motion  that South Dundas “be responsible for road maintenance from this point on” at Doran Creek Estates, near Iroquois.

 While Deputy-Mayor Jim Locke once again spoke in favour of the motion, it was not enough. 

Mayor Steven Byvelds said, “one of the challenges that Swanks didn’t consider is that this is normal business. In talking to other municipalities, they do not do maintenance until final construction is done.”

[…]

South Dundas Economic Development Officer Nicole Sullivan is looking to complete an update to the South Dundas Strategic Economic Development Plan.

At the February 7th South Dundas council meeting, council agreed with Sullivan’s request and granted approval for a funding application to the Eastern Ontario Development Program (EODP). 

Sullivan had reminded council that the South Dundas Strategic Economic Development Plan, adopted in 2005, recommended periodic updates. However, she pointed out, “the township of South Dundas is now over half way through the ten year planning period and there has yet to be formal review of the plan.”

She submitted the project “for consideration as a 2012 capital budget item,” pointing out that “if EODP funding for the project is approved, it would offset the associated costs.”

“The timing is right,” agreed Deputy-Mayor Jim Locke.

[…]

At the February 7th South Dundas meeting, council passed a by-law to enter into an agreement with Brockville for fire dispatch and paging services.

Chief Administrative Officer Stephen McDonald reported that “it will probably be the end of March before we’re up and running. We’re waiting for some equipment to be delivered.” 

“There will probably be a two to four week period where we’re running duplicate systems, where there’s an overlap,” he added.

[…]

At the February 7th South Dundas council meeting, Deputy-Mayor Jim Locke inquired as to the status of Dunbar Hall. 

Clerk Brenda Brunt revealed that staff is still waiting to meet with Aviva. The insurance agent, she reported, was currently away. Upon return, staff will meet with the agent and move forward from there.

Locke expressed concern over the length of the process.

[…]

On February 11th, the Morrisburg and District Leos held a food drive at Riley’s Valu-Mart in the Morrisburg Plaza. The Leos, a youth division of the local Lions Club, “has been a group for almost two years now,” said Katie Prevost (right), President of the Leos. Both Prevost and Leos Secretary Sheldon Dunkley (left) arrived at the store before 8 a.m. in the hopes of collecting as much money and food for the Dundas County Food Bank, as possible. “People have been donating a lot,” said Prevost, “they’ve been really generous.” Someone even donated $100, said Dunkley. In total, the Leos collected 203 items and $447 for the food bank. According to Prevost and Dunkley, the Leos keep very busy fundraising, doing clean-ups and helping out wherever they can. Their next big project? A talent show in March. Prevost said the group is looking for anyone between the ages of 7 and 18 to sign-up for the talent show. Contact the Morrisburg and District Lions Club for more information.

[…]

Census results are in from Statistics Canada.

Population in South Dundas has grown 2.5 per cent between 2006 and 2011. In 2006, South Dundas reported having 10,535 people and in 2011 there were 10,794.

On February 10th, South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds said his initial reaction to the news “is it makes you feel good. There’s some apparent growth in South Dundas.”

As for where in South Dundas the growth has occurred, Byvelds said, “from what I see of the situation, we’ve had some nice growth in Morrisburg and Iroquois and there’s been some growth in rural areas.”

Surrounding municipalities  also saw some changes, some were dramatic and some were not.

North Dundas increased its population by 1.2 per cent, with a 2011 total of 11,225. 

Both North Stormont and South Stormont increased by less than one percentage. North Stormont went up by only 0.1 per cent with a 2011 total of 6,775 and South Stormont went up by 0.8 per cent with a population total of 12,617 in 2011.

North Glengarry’s population decreased substantially by 3.6 per cent going from 10,635 people in 2006 to only 10,251 in 2011.

South Glengarry’s population change was closest to that of South Dundas in that it increased by 2.2 per cent with a total population of 13,162 in 2011.

Overall, SD&G’s population increased by 0.7 per cent between 2006 and 2011. According to the census profile provided by Statistics Canada 2012, SD&G’s 2011 population is 111,164.

[…]

The first annual Riverside Heights Winter Carnival continued its second weekend of activities with a “3 on 3 hockey tournament” on February 11th at the George Jowett Recreation Hall.

While the planned toboggan races and snowman building contest were a bust thanks to uncooperative weather, the breakfast, hockey and supper events went forward as planned.

The hockey tournament had four teams of three. These hearty hockey lovers braved the freezing temperatures and had lots of fun doing it.

Each player contributed $20 to join the tournament, which included a Saturday morning breakfast. Jamie Robinson and Joey Dufresne, organizers of the event, have earmarked the money raised from the event to help a local resident in need.

[…]

“Last night was amazing,” said Iroquois Public School (IPS) Principal Kelty Grant.

She was referring to the February 8th Digital Literacy event sponsored by IPS Parent Council. 

The event, the first of its kind at IPS, offered parents a chance to learn how they can use technology and the Internet to help their children’s learning.

Grant, who was on hand to greet parents and usher children to the free on-site childcare, said “we had a really good turnout – about 40 parents and about 12 children.”

Interested parents were given the opportunity to attend any two of the four offered presentations, all of which were free, while their children were safe and having fun with some local high school volunteers.

According to Grant, the high school students “set up tables with games and activities in the gym.” 

Among the seminar presenters were Mike Singh, teacher with Soft-Where to Learn; Laura Oliver and Candy Campbell, Regional Student Engagement teachers; Elaine Gribbin, Regional Speech Language Pathologist; and, Alison Sutherland, Learning Resource Coach and teacher at IPS.

Grant reported that all four seminars were “well attended.”

“Parents who didn’t have a chance to get to the iPad/iPod technology seminar have been asking if that one will be offered again,” she said.  

“We had borrowed enough iPads for all parents to get a chance to try out some apps, and then at the end of the session they had an opportunity to show what they had discovered on the SmartBoard, which was plugged into an iPad.”

“Parents also seemed to love testing out the educational websites that are available,” said Grant, adding that “the evening was a result of our Pro Grant. We are using the Pro Grant money to purchase a membership to an educational website that parents and students will be able to access at home.”  

Iroquois Public School’s Digital Literacy event was such a success that they’re planning to do it again. Grant indicated that while a date had not yet been set, late March looked like a definite possibility.

“It is well worth the time and effort when you see our school community coming together like this,” said Grant. “We have some pretty amazing parents at IPS!”

[…]

 One of the many concerns held by South Branch Wind Opposition Group (SBWOG) is that Prowind Canada’s proposed 14-turbine wind farm will be but the first of many.

Reports have surfaced that another company has been scouting for land in South Dundas. Invenergy Canada’s Director of Business Development, James J. Murphy, confirmed the report on February 9th: “Invenergy has been working with some landowners to investigate the potential for a wind energy project, but these efforts are very preliminary.”

“As per company policy we do not identify landowners by name who have signed agreements with us,” said Murphy.

At the January 17th South Dundas council meeting, Councillor Archie Mellan declared a conflict of interest when it came time to discuss requests made by SBWOG. In an e-mail to The Leader on February 11th, Mellan explained the conflict of interest.

“As to your questions, I will not go into details as it is a private matter of my personal business. It is a land lease agreement for a possible project. We, my brother and myself, decided to go ahead after much research and questions before I had decided to even run in the last municipal election. Invenergy  was the only company that approached us as they are the ones who are looking at this area for their proposed project.”

Invenergy, one of the largest companies of its kind in the United States, has a headquarters in Chicago, Illinois and local Canadian offices in both Toronto and Montreal.

According to their website, “Invenergy and its affiliated companies develop, own and operate large-scale renewable and other clean energy generation facilities in North America and Europe.”

[…]

“Chris was a volunteer right from his earliest years,” said his mother, Karen Marshall. “After he came back from his 2005-6 tour in Afghanistan with the Canadian Armed Forces, and joined the Edmonton Police Department, he remained determined to find ways to help others, to make the world a better place.”

Chris and his partner Shayna Campbell, a pharmacist, agreed to take a year away from their respective jobs in Canada and pay their way to Africa: ultimately, they decided to volunteer at St. Francis Health Care Services, established in 1998, in a congested Ugandan slum area near Mbiko.

Shayna and Chris have seen children playing happily with a soccer ball made out of plastic bags. They have become friends with kids like Hakim, a proud member of the Shadow Idols Club, run by St. Francis, one way for boys to avoid roving, violent youth gangs. They have fallen “in love with the omoanas, Lugandan for children, who are everywhere since Uganda’s population pyramid looks like an upside down T.” They have jogged with boys who have no shoes, but dream of “running for Uganda in the Olympics.” 

On Christmas Day they joined the St. Francis staff for African food and dancing: Chris reported his lack of rhythm and Shayna won Ms Saint Francis! 

“There are a million reasons to stay in Uganda,” Shayna Campbell said. “The people are polite, welcoming, warm-hearted and sincere. ”

A deep desire to help their adopted African community over the long term has led Chris and Shayna to try and turn the ‘empty shell’ of a maternity ward at St. Francis Health Care Services into a finished hospital able to save mothers and children. 

St. Francis Health Care Services is (Chris and Shayna emphasize this) a grass roots organization, built and run “by Ugandans for Ugandans,” with little government funding, in the heart of Njeru. 

It also lies at the heart of the highest HIV prevalence rates in all of Uganda. 

Right now, under the leadership of Faustine Ngarambe, the centre serves 20,000 Ugandans, some treated with HIV medications, some orphaned by the AIDs pandemic, some hoping for education, some simply needing care in their last days. 

“At St. Francis, they have realized that fighting HIV means more than medically treating the disease. The staff has initiated income generating groups, youth groups and other projects to reach out to the community.”  

Keeping St. Francis a vital force in this poor community is a daunting task for its Ugandan founders. The needed maternity hospital was only partially completed before money ran out in 2010. Yet this hospital is the one project the director and his dedicated St. Francis staff most want to see completed: it will take at least $33,500 to do it. 

Finishing the St. Francis maternity hospital has become Chris and Shayna’s goal.

“Women’s health, especially their reproductive health, is a major concern,” Shayna Campbell explained. “(Chris and I) are passionate about the subject since it is not just maternal health we are talking about. It is the livelihood of a people.”

To their great delight the young couple has recently received the news that, following their direct, personal appeal, the Stephen Lewis Foundation has agreed to be the physical sponsor of their efforts to finish the St. Francis maternity hospital. The Stephen Lewis Foundation is world renowned for its dedicated work in Africa, especially in the fight against AIDS. 

With the Foundation’s support,  every dollar raised  in Canada will go directly to the maternity ward project.  The Lewis Foundation will also issue charitable receipts in Canada. 

Karen Marshall (543-4360), who is equally passionate about seeing the Ugandan hospital become a reality, is holding a special fund raiser/silent auction luncheon on Saturday, February 18, at noon, at St. James Anglican Church Hall in Morrisburg.  Using a power point program and notes created by Chris and Shayna, she will talk about the project and discuss how people can help. 

Shayna and Chris report that as of February 13, 2012, they have reached 47 percent of their $33,500 goal. 

They invite people to log on to http://stephenlewisfoundation.akaraisin.com/fundraisingpages/maternityward to pledge and to see how the campaign is going.

“Uganda’s hopes and dreams are similar to the hopes and dreams of Canadians,” Shayna and Chris said. “It is important to invest in the mothers’ health to improve the lives of their children.”

[…]