The Robinson family announced via social media last week that Robinson’s General Store had again changed hands, with a new family, led by brothers Ven Komina and Satya Jyesta, planning to re-open the store in early April.

The Robinsons, who owned the store from 1921 to 2021, sold to Mike and Katie Hinbest. However, the Hinbests ran into financial hardship and closed the store Jan. 8.

During a Jan. 10 interview with The Highlander, Mike Hinbest said he had been speaking to the Robinsons about their difficulties.

Joanne Robinson posted to the Dorset community Facebook page March 23, to say, “after having been owned and operated by our family for 100 years, we were, like all of you, disappointed and devastated when we learned that our beloved Robinson’s General Store closed in January.”

She said that since then, they have been working hard in the background to find a solution to allow the business to re-open.

“We understand the inconvenience this closure has caused the community and we thank you for your patience during this difficult time.”

She went on to announce the new family taking over the operation of the store.

“Knowing how much the store is needed by the community, they plan to open in early April. It will take weeks and months after that to ramp up to full operation. Please understand this and support them through this transition time. We look forward to the community welcoming the new people and giving them all the support they need to allow the store to thrive again,” Robinson added.

The Highlander was unable to contact Komina or Jyesta as of press time this week.

The Township of Minden Hills has conceded it erred in following provisions of the Ontario Building Code (OBC) and has made changes to an upcoming public meeting after being questioned about not complying with the statutory notice period.

The concession came after a taxpayer, Matthew Wesley, wrote to council and sent a letter to The Highlander.

Wesley pointed to a recent staff report proposing a 14.29 per cent increase in permit fees for residential construction, and a 50 per cent increase in building administration fees. He claimed the jumps come with no rationale, as required by provincial legislation, nor was 21 days notice provided of the public meeting required under section 7(6) of the Building Code Act (BCA).

Wesley told The Highlander, “knowing how the relevant legislation applies, and being a concerned taxpayer when the municipality tries to operate without transparency or due process, I feel the need to speak to the issue.

“Most concerning seems to be that they do not even know about the relevant legislation. This particular issue affects me, as it should anyone else who will be taking out permits in the near future. If a fee increase went to attracting and retaining qualified staff to help service the demand in local construction, that I could get behind.”

He added the proposed fee increases, if used appropriately, “could improve an outdated compensation model that has seen chronic vacancy in that department after a hemorrhage of staff. Qualified building professionals protect the municipality and the taxpayer from risk and liability. In-house staff are also more affordable than consultants.”

The township has contracted out its planning to D.M. Wills Associates of Peterborough ever since former planner Ian Clendening left.

Mayor Bob Carter said it is estimated by the AMCTO (Association of Municipal Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario) that municipalities, no matter their size, must produce between 200-300 reports per year for the provincial government. “This specific report is required by provincial legislation, but it is only submitted to council. Somewhere, the report was missed a number of years ago and nobody noted it,” he said.

“We thanked Mr. Wesley for bringing this to our attention and we will be producing this report regularly in the future. The report provides council with assurance that the fees collected do not exceed the costs for providing the service.”

Carter added, “our review of all fees was meant to bring us into line with the fees charged by neigbouring municipalities and to try to reduce the burden on taxpayers who are subsidizing services provided to users.”

CAO Trisha McKibbin wrote Wesley to say after reviewing files and speaking with finance and building department staff, “it appears annual reports have not been completed as outlined in Section 7(4) of the Building Code Act and thank you for bringing that to our attention. The township will ensure that these reports are completed annually moving forward in accordance with applicable legislation.”

As for the statutory public meeting, she added the township will be holding one on March 30 as outlined in a public notice. She said the meeting will focus on all other sections of the fees and charges bylaw, except the section related to building permits and fees. She said that meeting will likely take place in April and, “the township will ensure to provide you and the public with the statutory notice of this meeting. I look forward to seeing you at the public meeting.”

Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) is anticipating a $3 million deficit by year end, with CEO Carolyn Plummer saying the organization’s stretched resources were having a “significant impact” on operations and morale at the County’s two hospital sites.

Answering questions from The Highlander at a March 23 board meeting, Plummer said the status of HHHS’ finances was concerning, with the organization still relying on its line of credit to cover thousands of dollars in basic, day-to-day operational costs.

“We have a number of priorities we have to move forward with as an organization to make sure we can keep going and support the changing needs of the community… but with the financial and staffing pressures we’re facing, it does place a tremendous burden on the team to try and find ways to mitigate those challenges,” Plummer said.

“We can’t just pause and stall, we have to continue to move forward… to the best of our ability with the resources we do have,” she added.

Backing up the CEO, finance committee chair Irene Odell noted the organization’s financials are “in bad shape.” It was noted HHHS had incurred $17,000 in interes-trelated costs over the past six months.

HHHS is spending approximately $330,000 per month on agency nurses, including at its long-term care facilities, to keep its services operational. Plummer said between 40 and 50 per cent of the total nursing hours in Haliburton and Minden are being covered by agency staff.

Recruitment remains a challenge, Plummer noted. While she said there had been an uptick in the number of resumes received for open RN postings since the new year, retention of existing staff has proven problematic.

“It seems every time we take a step forward, we immediately take two steps back,” the CEO said. “We’re still running into issues with staff choosing to leave and go elsewhere where a higher compensation is offered, and we’re [not able to match that] with the constraints of our collective agreements. There’s certainly a lot of things that need to change, as many of the issues we’re facing are outside of our control.”

Plummer previously told The Highlander the organization could use an additional 12 full-time RNs.

Salaries for registered nurses in Ontario hospitals are set by the provincial government through the Ontario Hospital Association, with first year professionals starting at $34.24 an hour and the most experienced RNs earning a maximum of $49.02 an hour.

Nurses and other public sector workers have seen pay increases capped at one per cent a year since 2020, under Bill 124 – the province introduced as the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act. An Ontario court found Bill 124 unconstitutional in December 2022, with Justice Markus Koehnen ruling it infringes on workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The government has since appealed the decision.

The government’s contract with the Ontario Nurses’ Association, the union that represents 68,000 RNs and other healthcare professionals, expires March 31. President, Bernie Robinson, told media March 3 that initial negotiations with the province had broken down, with arbitration looming in May.

While MPP Laurie Scott did not answer questions posed to her, Hannah Jensen, press secretary for health minister Sylvia Jones, told The Highlander, “hospitals experiencing urgent operating and financial pressures are encouraged to work with their Ontario Health Regions to identify opportunities for improvement and cost savings.” Jensen did not respond to a question about the long-term feasibility of hospitals relying on agency nurses to fill shifts.

Plummer said the potential for temporary emergency department shutdowns in Haliburton and Minden still loomed large.

“We remain in a precarious position. Potential closures are something we continue to grapple with on a regular basis,” she said. “We’ve had many close calls (more than 20 in 2022), and we continue to have close calls on a monthly basis.”

Dysart et al council has abolished its Policy 38 – legislation that outlined rules and regulations for the installation of cell towers within the municipality.

Following a heated discussion March 28 members voted unanimously to rescind the policy, just moments after approving a new 75-metre tower for Elephant Lake Road. Part of the Eastern Ontario Regional Network’s Cell Gap project, the structure will provide 5G-level service to residents surrounding Benoir Lake.

It became the second tower site to receive approval in Dysart, after the previous council gave the green light for a similar structure to be installed on Minnicock Lake Road. In attendance virtually Tuesday, EORN CEO Jason St. Pierre said there will be 13 new towers erected in Dysart as part of his organization’s plan to improve cell connectivity for 99 per cent of residents across eastern Ontario.

Ward 3 Coun. Tammy Donaldson took exception to this latest application, saying she had issues with the way Rogers’ site acquisition specialist, Jeff McKay, handled a public consultation session March 14. She said most of the 16 attendees were against the tower’s location on Elephant Lake Road, with up to 10 alternate site proposals pitched by the public falling on deaf ears.

McKay retorted the chosen site had a “better than nine out of 10 score” for addressing outlined stipulations for an EORN project. He said the other sites proposed by residents during the meeting weren’t a good fit,

“At this location we are capturing hundreds of additional subscribers into a strong 5G coverage radius… we wouldn’t get that if we moved it,” he said. “Relocations as small as 50 metres can have a dramatic effect on who receives service and who doesn’t.”

Donaldson said the tower didn’t fall in line with the municipal policy, which recommends sites be located at least one kilometre away from residences and be camouflaged. She noted the closest household, which she revealed to be her own, was 264-metres away from the proposed site.

When asked about a potential conflict of interest for Donaldson, CAO Tamara Wilbee told The Highlander it’s the responsibility of individual councillors to declare one. Staff has no input in the decision.

The Municipal Conflict of Interest Act stipulates if a member has an outside pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, in any matter and is present at a meeting of council where the matter is discussed, they should, prior to any discussion, disclose the conflict and recuse themselves from taking part. The act also states that members with a conflict shall not take part in or attempt to influence any vote on the matter.

Donaldson was the lone vote against in a 6-1 decision.

When approached for comment, Donaldson said, “I reached out to the integrity commissioner [after the meeting] to discuss and I do not believe I have a pecuniary interest as the proposed tower is not on my property and I will not gain or lose financially. I felt I was representing constituents who raised concerns.”

Dysart’s integrity commissioner, Tony Fleming of the Kingston-based Cunningham, Swan, Carty, Little and Bonham LLP, is responsible for investigating any alleged breaches of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. When approached for comment on this situation he said, “it would not be appropriate for me to make comments on allegations of this nature in the press.”

Following the vote, Donaldson pitched that council rescind Policy 38, which has been in place since 2014.

“We might as well not have a policy because nobody is abiding by the one we have,” she said.

Director of planning, Jeff Iles, was seeking council direction regarding updates for the legislation, which he admitted last year was outdated. After council agreed to drop the policy, Iles said the most significant impact moving forward is that tower applicants won’t be required to hold public open house meetings to discuss a proposed project. Instead, correspondence will be collected from the public by letter, responded to, and then submitted to the township for review.

A new intra-regional housing initiative, aiming to bring almost 500 affordable rental units to the Highlands by 2031, has been labelled a “potential game changer” by County CAO Mike Rutter.

Representatives from the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC) unveiled plans for its ‘Seven in Seven’ program to County council March 22. Peter Emon and Jim Pine, of the EOWC, said the project would construct 7,000 new affordable rental units across 13 counties in eastern Ontario over the next seven years, with a tab of at least $3.1 billion.

Units will range in size from bachelor, featuring a single-roomed living area, to three-bedroom apartments.

Pine noted that, through the plan, the County could expect to see 490 new units built by 2031, with a further 735 units constructed in neighbouring Kawartha Lakes. Estimates peg the cost of that construction at $496.2 million, though Pine noted this didn’t cover procurement or servicing of land.

Emon said the EOWC had been working with municipal partners on the plan for around a year.

“Tackling the lack of housing and accompanied homelessness issue is our primary priority,” Emon said. “There is a chronic and serious supply problem with [all forms of housing] across our region… while we have made some progress, it is not enough to solve the issue. That’s why we have come together to pool our collective resources and experiences into a bold, new regional solution.”

Rutter said the project would be “monumental” for the County if it were to proceed, especially following recent news from KLH Housing Corporation, the local community housing service provider, which announced in February that it was pausing development on three new builds, slated to add 100 affordable units to the regional portfolio, due to the current economic climate.

Possible 2024 start

As of Feb. 21, KLH reported having 2,198 households on the waitlist for community housing, including 438 in the County. The average wait time for new applicants is 10 to 14 years.

“This project would address our waitlist issues here entirely,” Rutter told The Highlander in a February interview. “I think one important thing to note is this shows we’re not alone. A lot of places are running into these same problems… coming together with an organization like EORN that has such a tremendous track record, it’s potentially game changing for the future of our community.”

Investment needed

To make the project viable, Pine noted the EOWC was looking to partner with private developers.

“A mixed model approach makes most sense. Evidence shows if we can [incentivize] one rent-geared-to-income unit to be built, the private sector will buy in and build three units of their own at market rate,” Pine said.

This could help bring an additional 21,000 units to eastern Ontario.

All three levels of government will need to invest, too. Pine said municipalities could assist with land procurement, with the province and feds contributing funds for construction. He pointed to a recent report published by Scotiabank’s Global Economics Group, which suggested investment in social housing is the best way to address Canada’s housing crisis.

“They say it’s the best solution to unlock greater supply, as more affordable units will relieve pressure across the wider housing continuum,” Pine said.

MPP Laurie Scott said she was open to the initiative and “looks forward to [hearing] more information” soon, while MP Jamie Schmale threw his backing behind it.

“I would support anything that will get housing built quickly and at an affordable level. This housing shortage has hurt the growth of Haliburton County and created great hardship for a lot of people. It’s past time we did something,” Schmale said. “But if we rely on government only to get this problem fixed, there will never be enough money. We do need the private sector to be involved.”

Emon noted the project would have an economic impact of around $9 billion.

“It’s a great way to build the economy up at the same time,” he said.

Local response

County warden and Algonquin Highlands mayor Liz Danielsen said the EOWC has an “exceptional” track record when it comes to tackling regional issues, pointing to the success of the Eastern Ontario Regional Network’s Cell Gap project, which it helped launch. That $300 million initiative will improve cell service for 99 per cent of rural residents in the region by 2025.

“They’ve shown they can bring big projects together,” Danielsen said.

Dysart mayor Murray Fearrey said one of the major hurdles would be manoeuvring the provincial policy statement, which he says makes it difficult to sever and service lots in rural Ontario.

Bob Carter, Minden Hills mayor, said his concerns were mostly financial. Sitting on the KLH and local Habitat for Humanity boards, he said development costs would likely be significantly more than the $440,000 per unit the EOWC is currently projecting.

“If we have to start adding water and sewer connections [to future lots], that increases costs substantially,” he said. “We need to keep that in mind and be prepared to fight for this on a lot of different fronts to make it work.”

Pine said the group has retained a consultant and is establishing a formal business plan. He said a pilot in one of the 13 counties to provide proof of concept will be launched in the fall. If all goes well, and there’s a commitment from all parties, he said construction could begin in 2024. That was music to Danielsen’s ears.

“It’s ambitious…but it’s in all our hearts that this is a successful project. We’ll do everything we can [at the County level]. On our own, it’s a struggle to see how we can make this work. But through a regional approach, there’s a lot of opportunity for success,” she said.