Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Acknowledging a number of ‘gaps’ in physical signage throughout Greater Napanee, the town will turn to technology to inform residents and visitors of any burn bans.
During their May 25 regular council meeting, council voted to adopt the staff recommendation, which was to remind residents through their tax bill that burn permits are required for any outdoor burning within the municipality. The messaging will also remind anyone who owns property within the town boundaries to check if there are any burn bans in place prior to lighting a fire. Those who obtain a burn ban can be notified of any burn bans via the town’s online system.
That was the staff recommendation included in Greater Napanee Emergency Services fire chief John Koenig’s report, included in the Emergency Services Plan. Both reports were received by council.
Koenig was asked for a report on fire department signage in part because of a deputation made to council earlier this month when a seasonal resident claimed she had been unaware a burn ban was in place when she was charged by the GNES fire department for having an outdoor fire. She argued that she hadn’t seen any signs on the route she drove from the 401 to her cottage.
Koenig’s report noted there are 14 signs throughout the municipality, but he did acknowledge it would be possible to drive certain routes from the 401 to various points within the town without seeing one.
“There’s actually 36 ways by road you can get into Greater Napanee and get around the signage,” said Koenig. “To keep 36 boards up, we can attempt to put 36 boards up but it’s going to be a large effort and an expensive effort.”
Koenig’s suggestion includes adding additional signage in more visible locations, but concedes they won’t cover every route into town.
Councillor Dave Pinnell Jr. said he’d like to see those gaps addressed.
“There is still a couple places where I would still like to see some signage,” said Pinnell Jr. “For instance if we were driving either way on the 401 and we get off on Deseronto Road, if we go north or south there’s no signage.”
“The other one I’m really concerned about is Palace Road,” Pinnell Jr. added. “If we’re travelling in either direction on the 401 and we get off on Palace Road, we could physically drive in Palace Road into Highway 2, go up and over the old Palace Road bridge go County Road 9 and go all the way around County Road 9, which is cottage country, lots of cottages and never see a sign.”
Councillor Bob Norrie countered it should be up to property owners to be informed what the rules are regarding burning, regardless if they read it on a sign or not.
“People are adults,” said Norrie. “Remember the days when people would say ‘ignorance to the law is no excuse?’ Enough is enough to us catering to everybody. People know when to have a fire or not. They know whether it’s dry or not. You could put 1,000 signs up and people will go a different route. People should start taking responsibility for their actions and we should start treating people like adults.”
Norrie added that he didn’t want to dedicate tax dollars to more signs.
“We shouldn’t burden 90 per cent of the tax payer with more money for signs, which are ugly, because 10 per cent can’t figure the law out,” added Norrie.
In the case of rentals, property owners are held responsible for any burning that is done on their property.
-Council voted to authorize a request for proposal for the removal of all rail related iron of decommissioned rail line on town owned property located on Dairy Ave. The iron is estimated at greater than 520 tons and is valued at $150,000. The high demand of scrap metal is among the reasons the town is looking to extract the metal now.
A map indicating where the decommissioned rail line is located along Dairy Avenue.
Council will discuss at a later date possible uses for the rail bed, one possible use being a walking trail.