January 23, 2020 Vol. 20, No. 03
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Area fire departments sharing surplus gear with Bolivia by Craig Bakay
L
ast fall, North Frontenac firefighter Michael Leach went to Bolivia, ostensibly for some rope rescue exercises. When he got there, he became involved in that country’s battle against wildfires in the Amazon basin. What he found was many young people willing to put their lives on the line, but without many of the tools their Canadian counterparts take for granted. Leach brought his story back and presented to the joint chiefs of the Mutual Aid agreement. Moved by the need, the chiefs decided to get involved and the result turned out to be two ½-ton truckloads of gear being shipped to the Bolivian firefighters, courtesy of the Stone Mills, Napanee, Kingston
and North Frontenac fire departments. “We’re sending coveralls for fighting wildfires, bunker gear — especially boots, forestry hose, main water supply hose, all sorts of things,” said North Frontenac Chief Eric Korhonen. “We even got contributions from our suppliers Canadian Safety Equipment and A. J. Stone in the form of gloves and safety equipment. “The chiefs of the mutual aid group were very quick to respond.” Korhonen said the chiefs and the mutual aide group were “very sympathetic” to the plights of their Amazon Basin counterparts, referring to the efforts as “firefighters without borders.” So, last week, a section of the firehall in Plevna was full of gear, all waiting to be
North Frontenac Fire Chief Eric Korhonen with a load of “very gently used” firefighting gear on its way to Bolivia.
sent off to the third-world country. “We have at least two truckloads being sent to Peterborough where it will be put
on a plane to Toronto and then to Bolivia,” he said.
South Frontenac Committee of the Whole - Janaury 21
Senior rues the pending loss of transportation services by Wilma Kenny ydenham area resident Ann Barlow came as a delegate to explain, from her perspective as a senior citizen without a driver’s license, the importance of the Frontenac Transportation Service.. This service provides access for grocery shopping, transport to Kingston for medical
S
and other appointments, and in Barlow’s case (she is a watercolour artist, specializing in local scenes and subjects), has made it possible for her to develop a small business marketing fine art cards featuring local fauna, flora and landscapes. Because she has outlets in Kingston, Sunbury, Sydenham and Keplar, Barlow hires
Former Plevna correspondent celebrates #99
Vie and her son at Sharbot Lake Retirement and Retreat on Tuesday
V
ie Mcinnes was raised at Snow Road. She lived in Tweed for a time, and wrote for the Tweed News. When she moved to Plevna, she continued writing for Tweed, but added the Perht Courier
and The Frontenac News to her roster. Eventually, she confined her efforts to the Frontenac News. She wrote our Plevna column for over 20 years. She tuned 99 this week.
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RFTS so she can visit the outlets monthly to maintain her displays. The County’s decision to not include funding support to RFTS after 2020 means her monthly business travel costs will increased by nearly 50% next year, which threatens the viability of an already low-profit enterprise. Barlow concluded: “Although the County receives Provincial and Federal cash for ‘use of roads’, you seek to gain an additional $48,000 by adding to the financial stress…of the 223 low-income ‘unique individuals’ who depend on the drive service. When you made your decision to cut funding we were not consulted and our needs were not considered. Surely there are better ways to achieve your economic goals than by hurting vulnerable seniors in the community.” Barlow was frustrated by Mayor Vandewal’s reply that her request would have to go to the County early next fall, when the 2021 budget is being planned. Until last year, Frontenac Transportation Services has been run by Rural Frontenac Community Services, which is based in Sharbot Lake, under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Southern Frontenac Community Services, which is based in Sydenham. It received $96,000 in Frontenac County funding. The MoU fell apart last year, and the two agencies requested $48,000 each from Frontenac County for 2020, and the county granted the money but said it was the last year for funding and the two agencies should look elsewhere for support next year. Mayor Vandewal told Barlow that the county has asked both Rural Frontenac Community Services and South Frontenac
Social Services for their statistics and business plans related to transportation services, but to date the two agencies appear not to be working in cooperation on this issue. Vandewal said there have already been many complaints from residents about this lack of County support for transportation services. Deputy Mayor Sutherland suggested that if the two agencies could not work together, perhaps the County needs to assume full responsibility for this essential program. Councillor Revill complimented Barlow on the clarity of her letter, and he and Mayor Vandewal assured her that they would bring it to County Council’s attention. At this point, CAO Carbone shut down the discussion, saying this meeting’s purpose was to receive delegations, not to debate topics that were not on the agenda. 2019-2022 Strategic Activities Draft Report CAO Carbone presented the final draft of the Township’s Strategic Plan for the remainder of this term: it is an ambitious and detailed report, available in full (draft) form in the agenda notes online for the Jan 21 COW meeting. One interesting suggestion among many was to review the possibility of relying less on the standing committees (which sometimes cancel meetings for lack of agenda items) and more on the Committee of the Whole. Overhead Wires a Hazard for Birds Eliza Murphy of Sydenham came as a delegate to Council to address her concern about the hazards presented to
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