A pair of Haliburton cottagers are ticked off with Dysart et al township after a mandatory septic inspection earlier this summer mistakenly flagged an issue with their system.

John and Lori Sexton own property along Spruce Lake and had their septic checked by town staffers in May. They were surprised when, following the inspection, they received a notice stating their system didn’t meet municipal standards. The supposed problem was a missing inlet baffle – a device that helps wastewater flow smoothly throughout the septic system.

The Sextons said they questioned the inspectors, who insisted they couldn’t locate the baffle, which typically extends into the top area of the tank. So, they arranged to have someone come in to fix it.

“A contractor came out – he had a camera with him, which he used to find the baffle right away,” Lori said, noting town staffers didn’t use a camera while carrying out the earlier inspection.

The Sextons were billed $170 for the visit. They feel Dysart should cover the “unnecessary” tab.

“We’re out a good chunk of money now because of a mistake, which doesn’t seem right. I don’t know why the township isn’t using a camera for these inspections so they can avoid situations like this,” Lori said. “We are really supportive of these inspections… we just feel it’s not a very good process if the township is making people pay for things that are already there.”

Bri Quinn, supervisor of Dysart’s sewage system maintenance program, described the Sexton’s case as an “oddball” situation. She said a standard flow test, carried out on every system, raised some red flags.

“The effluent wasn’t coming from the inlet opening on the end of the tank, it was coming from somewhere else,” she said, noting she got on the ground and peered her head through the tank opening to see if she could spot the baffle. “We couldn’t see anything, and at that point it wasn’t clear to us [a baffle was installed] and it wasn’t safe for us to try and repel down anymore.”

Quinn said last year, staffers would use their iPhones to take photos inside the tank, but noted the town is moving away from that practice after several phones were dropped and lost. She added the department was looking into purchasing cameras to be used for inspections.

After reporting the issue to her superior, chief building official, Karl Korpela, Quinn said she was confident the Sextons’ case was being handled by the book.

“We’re not repairmen… I’m not comfortable asking [summer students] to go out and basically plunge into a septic tank to find someone’s baffle. So, if it’s not clear to us at the time then it’s something we’re going to ask for proof of,” Quinn said.

Cottager wants more thorough inspections

Gunars Vestfals had his Drag Lake property inspected in June and was told his system required a pump out after the technician found what they believed to be approximately two feet of sludge at the bottom of the tank. This was news to Vestfals, who had his tank drained just a few months earlier. He said his system typically needs pumping every four or five years.

After a contractor came out it was determined the tank had around two inches of actual sludge.

He said he’s out around $315, after going ahead with the second pump out, and is calling on the township to be more thorough in its testing.

“Dysart’s program appears to focus on what they call ‘sludge’. When the depth measurement of it is a third of the tank, being two feet, they insist on a pump out. In reality, most of [that] is suspended sewage, still decomposing,” Vestfals said, pointing out what he perceives to be a key flaw in the township’s testing.

Quinn admitted, “there’s always areas of improvement.” She said staff usually meet every other week to discuss the program, complaints, and any potential changes.

Wilberforce Service Centre co-owner Todd Watling told Highlands East council Aug. 8, the now years-long closure of the IB+O trail to snowmobilers due to a failing bridge has had a significant impact on his and other businesses.

Watling said winter is always slow, as cottagers are not around as much, but snowmobiling traditionally supplements their income.

He said co-owner, Lindsay, has estimated they were down more than $140,000 last year, which is “almost crippling to our business.” He said the winter snowmobile conditions were good, so they can attribute it to the trail closure. “Our numbers should have been up, not down.” He said it was so bad, they considered closing last winter and embarking on renovations earlier.

Watling said they are hearing similar stories from other Wilberforce businesses, including the restaurant. “We just simply get bypassed. They choose their rides elsewhere, other trails, other towns, so it’s been significant.”

The businessman added that as a snowmobiler, he gets at least a dozen inquiries every week about what is happening with the failed bridge that forced Highlands East to close the section of trail. He said he does not have any answers for them. He told council some communication or timeline would be welcome.

Jon Cumming, president of the Paudash Trailblazers Snowmobile Club, also spoke to council. He noted his club has more than 1,500 members, comprising ratepayers. He is also on the board of directors for district two of the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs.

“I want to impress upon council the importance of resolving the problem prior to this winter,” he said.

“Our purpose here today is to tell you about the impact this has had and to express the hope that we will see increased communication and transparency from Highlands East as this project unfolds.”

He noted the OFSC sells 100,000 trail permits annually, with the industry having an estimated economic impact of more than $3 billion in Ontario. He said snowmobilers use goods and services everywhere they go.

The closure of the bridge, and consequently the trail, means local riders cannot do loops and tourist are cut off from connecting trails.

“The loss of this bridge has created a break in our trail system affecting our club, Haliburton County Snowmobile Association and Buckhorn District Snowmobile Club,” he said. “Wilberforce is a hub, has services like restaurants, groceries, and fuel, and it’s been marooned.” He added the break makes it hard for them to groom the trail system. He noted it is affecting summer users too.

“This process has been ongoing for over two years and we still don’t have a really good sense that anything concrete is going to happen and time is ticking away.

“We are really concerned about the pace of which this project has proceeded and what appears to be large time gaps and occasional sidesteps to move this thing to completion.”

Cumming added with the trails committee being disbanded, it’s hard for people to find out what is going on. He said snowmobile clubs want to help but need information.

Mayor Dave Burton said Highlands East would be hosting a meeting Aug. 22 with user groups.

“We have some quotes, some prices on the bridge … we’ll just get together and we’ll have more answers, probably, for you then,” he said. Burton added his goal is to have the bridge in place by November at the latest.

Public works operations manager, Perry Kelly, added pricing had been submitted by two independent bridge supply companies and both prices had been broken out for comparison pricing. “I’m trying to get this bridge installed and opened up before the freeze up this fall,” he said.

Highlands East hired an engineer to assess the wooden bridge in April 2022. The firm, Greer Galloway, recommended the bridge be shut immediately due to structural issues. The inspectors said it was beyond saving. Councillors unanimously voted to close the bridge.

The province is one step closer to establishing a police services board for the County of Haliburton.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Solicitor General wrote County CAO Mike Rutter July 19. Rutter had submitted the proposal for a detachment board on behalf of the townships.

The spokesperson said all proposals had to go through a thorough review process but confirmed the Haliburton County OPP detachment board proposal had been approved by the Solicitor General to the next step in finalizing the board compositions. That will involve posting to the Ontario Regulatory Registry (ORR).

The ministry is working on drafting the regulation, expected to be available on the ORR for public comment in the summer or fall, the spokesperson said.

“Posting of the regulation is one of the last steps before the regulation can be finalized in advance of bringing the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (CSPA) into force in early 2024,” the spokesperson added.

The suggested composition is a sevenperson board, with five councillors, one community representative and one provincial appointment.

On behalf of the Ministry of the Solicitor General, I would like to express my appreciation to all the communities involved in the proposal development process,” the spokesperson said.

“I acknowledge and value the significant efforts undertaken to create a proposal for a detachment board that addresses the unique needs of each community that receives OPP policing services in your detachment.”

The spokesperson added, “the ministry is planning to share more guidance as soon as possible on next steps, with the understanding that municipalities and First Nations require time to plan for the implementation of OPP detachment boards before the CSPA comes into force.”

The mayors used to meet with the Haliburton Highlands detachment commander as part of an informal Community Policing Advisory Committee (CPAC). However, following the CSPA in 2019, the province told municipalities they had until June 7, 2022 to apply for detachment boards.

It’s all part of the new community safety and well-being plan presented to County councillors at a Jan. 26, 2022 meeting.

The owners of the historic Rockcliffe Tavern in downtown Minden have nixed plans to rebuild the site, announcing this week they intend to put the property up for sale.

Friends Dan Gosselin, Kirsty Goodearle, and Mark and Lise Dracup purchased the old bar, located on Bobcaygeon Road, in February 2021 and unveiled grand plans to rebuild the once-popular site. Now, more than two years later, they’re getting ready to relist the property.

“Unfortunately, our discussions with the township of Minden Hills have not progressed the way we would’ve hoped… which is really disappointing, not only to us, but we’re sure many of you. After nearly three years of planning, we are now making the difficult decision to put the original Rockcliffe property back up for sale,” the group said in a post on Facebook.

They will focus their attentions on the Rockcliffe Moore Falls location, which opened in June 2022.

In a recent interview with The Highlander, Gosselin laid the blame for the downtown project failing at the feet of Minden Hills staff and council. He noted the Rockcliffe investors were interested in purchasing a parcel of municipal land beside the rundown building, which has been vacant since 2015, allowing them to rebuild a “bigger, better Rockcliffe.”

Mayor: ‘open for business’

Discussions with the town first took place in October 2021. Shortly after, Gosselin and co. appeared before the previous Minden council, which deemed the land to be surplus. They directed staff to source a survey and come up with a valuation. Months, then years, went by without any update

“We haven’t gotten anywhere – no responses from township staff, no activity, no information. We’ve been told for the past year this is a private council matter and couldn’t be discussed behind closed doors,” Gosselin said.

“When we brought this project on, we knew there would be challenges, but the lack of action has been ridiculous. Had you told me before that Minden is such a terrible place [for entrepreneurs] to get support, we probably wouldn’t have bought it.”

Minden Hills mayor Bob Carter said timelines for the survey were thrown off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said municipalities must go through “a very stringent process” when wanting to sell surplus land and that staff had done everything by the book.

That survey was completed earlier this year, with the land valued at approximately $125,000. Staff then retained a realtor and began the process to put it on the market.

“There were a couple of people who had expressed interest, so we went to them before it went onto the market,” Carter said. “It was always going to go on the market. We can’t just sell it to them, it’s a piece of municipal land. We have to make it available through a fair process, and that’s what we did.”

Carter said any notion that Minden Hills is anti-business, or anti-development is “categorically false.

“We’re totally open for business. Just because they [the Rockcliffe owners] weren’t successful in what they wanted to build doesn’t mean we’re not open for business,” the mayor said. “We can’t show favouritism. Whoever wins the bid may want to build something else. Not everybody has the same ideas.”

Carter noted a deal to sell the property has been agreed and will close later this month.

The group, in their post, say their focus is now entirely on building the Moore Falls location.

“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, but we still think we’ve done an incredible thing for the community. We didn’t bring back the old Rockcliffe, but I think we brought something new and exciting,” Gosselin said. “We’re all in on this [Moore Falls] location.”

Editor’s note: The story has been corrected from an earlier edition, which said the township land along Bobcaygeon Road was valued at approximately $1.25 million. The actual value of the land was around $125,000.

Handmade quilt maker, Heather Poppe, is getting her studio ready for the 17th annual Haliburton County Tour De Forest, Aug 5-6.

Poppe hand stitches quilts, afghans, socks, pillows and more in her studio along Hwy. 118 east of Glamorgan Road.

She has been making quilts for more than 60 years.

“I started making quilts on the farm I grew up on in Wilberforce with my mother and grandmother” Poppe said.

She has been part of the Tour De Forest since 2006 and is looking forward to showcasing her work this coming weekend.

Poppe has spent the last three months working on a quilt with a blue heron in the center. She hand stitched each of the feathers and lily pads, which was “time consuming.” She has also spent many months working on several other pieces. One of her favorites is a quilt that showcases two bears and their cubs.

“It almost looks as if this quilt is a picture. I added the border onto it to give it that sort of look,” Poppe said..

For more information on Heather Poppe and the 17th annual Tour De Forest: haliburtontourdeforest.com.

Located at the historic Donald Schoolhouse, a pop-up event this weekend will feature a curated selection of artists and makers from the Highlands and neighbouring counties, welcoming a spectrum of mediums.

Organizer April Gates said the Aug. 4-5 event will feature fine jewellery artist Miranda Britton, fabric artist Jen Manuell, artist and writer Victoria Ward, OG Cucina, Woodsmoke and Lore, and Vintage and Blackbird Pottery. Wax linen jeweller Leslie Howchin of Moth Jewellery, will be joining the show, Saturday only.

Gates said 2023 marks Blackbird Pottery’s 9th anniversary at the Schoolhouse and 21st anniversary in Haliburton.

It’s fitting to welcome the public to the property, where historically, the community has gathered. When the Schoolhouse was decommissioned, it served as a church, then a community centre before becoming a home and workspace.”

She added, “we’re loving this grassroots rural market experience. It’s a gem of a destination for weekend road trippers and locals. Makers and patrons together weave new life into this storied property and we’d like to see that continue to grow.”

In the event of unstable weather, check ahead. Find updates by following Blackbird Pottery on Facebook and Instagram. To contact, visit blackbirdpottery.ca. The ‘Schoolhouse pop-up’ is Aug. 4-5, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 5843 Gelert Rd.

Textile artist, Jen Manuell, from Orillia. She is one of Blackbird Pottery’s seven guests. She is pictured with her hand-dyed woolen quilts.

The late Pat Monaghan, past-president of the Highlands Buckslide Blues Society, always wanted to bring a celebration of his favorite music to Haliburton.

Now, Haliburton Forest will welcome blues lovers to the inaugural Haliburton Highlands Blues Festival Aug. 26, thanks also to the Haliburton Folk Society, supported by Haliburton Forest and CanoeFM.

Jenie Thai, a celebrated Canadian blues artist, kicks off the weekend Friday night as the final artist in the Women of the Forest series of concerts. Then, from noon until 10 p.m. on Saturday, various artists with a vast repertoire of Blues music will take to the stage.

Walter Tose, chairman for the folk society, said when Monaghan approached them about possibly making the festival happen, it didn’t take long for things to fall into place.

“Back in about May, we got talking about the possibility of something like this. Pat got a bit teary-eyed when it came together because it had always been a dream for him. I also see it as a celebration of his contribution to the Canadian blues scene with more than 40 years of promoting and educating people about the Blues.”

With Monaghan’s contacts, from many years spent around blues artists, it didn’t take long to get the musicians together for the festival.

“Such amazing support from everyone,” Monaghan told The Highlander prior to his passing. “This could be my legacy, something people will remember me for.”

A total of eight acts have been confirmed for Saturday: Sean Cotton & Tamica Herod, Alone Together, Chuckee Zehr & Cheryl Lescom, The Swingin’ Blackjacks, Rosie’s Smokehouse Deluxe, Jim Dan Dee and The Smokewagon Blues Band.

The folk society already had things in place for ticket sales and promoting their own shows, so it was easy to use that platform for the Blues festival.

Accommodation for the artists performing on Saturday was set up, and the other tasks associated with an event such as this were divvied up amongst organizers and volunteers.

Dave Harland and Rusty Rustenburg, both of the Buckslide Blues Society, will be sharing the emcee duties for the festival.

Tickets for the two events are being sold separately. Information and tickets for Jenie Thai on Friday night are being sold through the Haliburton Forest website; haliburtonforest.com .

Information and tickets for Saturday’s Haliburton Highlands Blues Festival can be found on the Haliburton County Folk Society’s website haliburtonfolk.com.

“Our community NOSE how to support the Minden Rotary,” is a tag line popping up all around the town these days.

It’s in reference to the Minden Rotary celebrity clown’s initiative, an idea that started with Sally Moore, a Rotarian for more than six years.

“We have been working on the project since January and introduced some of our clowns at the Canada Day celebrations,” Moore said.

The Rotary Club in Minden is asking people to think about becoming a celebrity clown.

“Anyone can be a celebrity clown,” Moore said. “We have the costumes ready to go, summer and winter.” She added there is no fee but it’s hoped those interested would make a donation to the club.

The volunteers are dressed as clowns for community events. They mingle, take selfies with the public, and have a good time. “You get to infiltrate the fun, mix with the crowd and hand out red noses,” Moore said.

For more than 70 years, the Rotary Club has been raising money and putting it back into the community in various ways. President Dave Woodcroft said there are numerous things the club does.

“We built the community vegetable garden for the food bank; we sponsor a lot of youth programs, including sports. Wherever we see a need in the community, whenever we can help boost things up, that’s what we do.”

Moore said the club is made up of people of action.

“Whether it is financial or manpower help that is needed, we are ready to jump in.”

Every year, the club supports the food and heat banks and in past years has gotten behind putting washrooms in Rotary Park, purchasing equipment, and supporting recreational, hospital and nursing home facilities. An upcoming project is a shed for the community gardens and an automated external defibrillator (AED).

Rotary Fest Aug. 12

The clowns will next be out and about at Rotary Fest, Aug. 12, at the Minden fairgrounds.

Rotary Fest is a celebration of all thing’s community, according to Woodcroft.

“It is building community within the community. An event that shares everything people are doing; artisans and music, games, a car boot sale, and, of course, our BBQ featuring the famous Rotary peameal on a bun.”

Clowns will also be at road tolls on Labour Day weekend, the community Halloween event, and the Santa Claus parade.

If anyone wants to become part of the fun for Rotary Fest, or future events, make yourself known to a Rotarian, or call Moore at 705-286-4922.