Haliburton Forest & Wild Life Reserve Ltd. general manager, Tegan Legge, said it was a “spectacular” weekend for the annual poker run.

“The weather was amazing, snow held out and trails were in great shape.”

She added they were expecting about 500 participants and ended up with 730.

Legge said the only other year that beat that was years ago, “when legend has it we hit 800 participants, but we usually average about 350-400.”

The prize-winning sled was won by Adam Kennedy, a Kashagawigamog Lake cottager.

Legge said $17,000 was donated to support firefighter operations in the community.

The Dysart et al fire department picked up its cheque for $17,000, courtesy of the Haliburon Forest & Wild Life Reserve Ltd. poker run.

On Feb. 15, the 100 Women Who Care Haliburton County group voted to choose a charity to donate to.

This was done by selecting three nominated charities, then having members vote to select a winner.

The recipient this time around was SIRCH.

On Feb. 22, a cheque for $5,800 was presented to SIRCH.

Gena Robertson and Linda Kay of SIRCH are pictured with (l-r) Pat Bradley, Tina Palmer and Sandra Slauenwhite-Box of the 100 Women group.

Anyone who would like to join their group can go to 100wwchaliburton.wixsite.com/mysite/learnmore and download a membership form.

Minden Hills council will undertake a thorough review of all municipal policies and procedures this term after some members raised concern that the township’s current guidelines were outdated and not being followed.

CAO Trisha McKibbin brought a report to council Feb. 23 outlining the township’s current hiring practices, which she says differ from Policy 16 – legislation addressing all aspects of municipal recruitment. She noted the policy should be revised to reflect new methods staff have been using since 2015.

The policy mandates that two members of council, selected from the now defunct personnel committee, assist the CAO, reeve (now mayor) and deputy reeve (now deputy mayor) in identifying and then selecting a candidate for department head positions, with the CAO, department head and two members of the personnel committee taking an active role in recruiting for all supervisory positions.

McKibbin said that, since she assumed the CAO position in 2020, she has been working with the practice that a council member will sit in on interviews for director-level positions, with all other hires being left strictly to the CAO, human resources staff and department heads.

She indicated this unofficial method had helped the township fill several positions over the past 12 months.

“During COVID, many municipalities have seen challenges with recruitment and hiring. We are in a very improved place than where we were a while ago in terms of vacancies,” McKibbin said.

The municipality is still looking to recruit a director of planning, building, and bylaw; building inspector; bylaw inforcement officer; manager of waste facilities; and clerical assistant for the clerk’s department.

Coun. Tammy McKelvey said she had an issue with staff choosing not to follow directions outlined in official policy. McKibbin said a report on Policy 16, recommending changes, would be coming to council in March, and asked that council allow staff to use its current hiring practices until then.

Mayor Bob Carter and Coun. Pam Sayne said they would be in favour of that.

“We haven’t been following this policy because it didn’t work. We had staffing issues and had to move forward. I strongly support the practice we have now. This is the way we’re finally getting some even footing with our staffing,” Sayne said.

Carter said the current practice was approved by a previous council in 2015, but the policy wasn’t changed. Coun. Ivan Ingram said that was “ridiculous”, saying council needed to pay attention to its policies and make sure they’re regularly updated and relevant. He wasn’t in favour of extending this practice, telling council that staff should follow policies as they’re written.

“They’re there for a reason. We can’t just decide ‘oh, we’re going to skip that one this week’. We have to be consistent with this. If we’re not [going to follow our policies], then why have them at all?” Ingram said. “If we have it written down, we have to follow it.”

Carter said this would put a “fairly large burden” on staff, as it would necessitate bringing forward amendments to large files like the township’s procurement policy and procedural bylaw.

“They should have been done right [and updated] in the first place, then we wouldn’t be here talking about this,” Ingram said. “We are where we are… it’s important that we do this right.”

Sayne’s motion to continue with current practices was defeated, with council approving McKelvey’s suggestion that staff revert to following existing policies until they are amended.

Haliburton’s Laurie Johnson has had a fowl experience with a flock of pigeons she says are running roughshod over the affordable housing complex she manages on Victoria Street.

Johnson estimated that as many as 100 pigeons congregate around the Parklane Apartments building daily, causing thousands of dollars’ worth of damage and deterring many of her senior residents from going outside.

The birds have been a “major problem” since Johnson assumed her role in 2020. She believes they were attracted to the area by people feeding ducks and deer in nearby Head Lake Park and have now identified the site as a reliable source of food. While Johnson implemented a no wildlife feeding policy at the building in 2021, she says she can do nothing to prevent area residents from feeding animals on municipal property.

“They are a major pest… their excrement is damaging the shingles on our roof and canopies. It’s messing up the solar panels we have on site. Their effectiveness is down 60 per cent from three years ago,” Johnson said, noting she relies on the income they generate – usually around $5,000 a year – to fund special projects for residents.

“It’s a health risk too – pigeons are known carriers of several diseases, which are spread through their droppings,” she added.

She estimates she’s spent around $7,000 trying to combat the issue over the past two years. That includes bringing in a pest control company to conduct on-site hawking, which she says serves as more of a temporary deterrent than any type of fix, hiring someone to power wash the solar panels, and the extra hours maintenance staff are putting in to scrape waste off shingles and clean the sides of the building.

The problem is getting so big that Johnson feels she needs a concrete, long-term solution to remove the pigeons from the area. While there’s around 100 birds to deal with now, each female lays between 10 and 12 eggs a year, and since they imprint on their young, it’s likely any hatchlings will join the flock.

She said she’s identified three potential options – purchasing and installing a net on the south side of the building to protect the solar panels; bringing a company in to trap and remove the pigeons; or setting up OvoControl feeding stations around the building, which will sterilize the birds.

“We couldn’t find any trappers that would release the pigeons elsewhere. They would be euthanized, so we want to avoid that. The sterilization program takes two to three years to have an impact and is quite expensive at $10,000… so the netting would be our preferred route,” Johnson said, noting she has a quote of $20,000 to complete the work.

“This would take a huge chunk out of our budget. For $20,000 we could do a renovation inside the building or fund some special events or outings for our seniors. There’s a lot of good we could do with that money,” she said. “It’s such a high cost to deal with this issue. We’re a non-profit… it would be nice if we had a bit of help.”

Issue spreading to downtown

Johnson has also reached out to the Haliburton Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Haliburton Village BIA, believing the pigeons to be a problem for downtown businesses.

Laurie Bonfield, owner of Country Pickin’s, said she’d like to see something done to divert the birds from the area.

“It’s heartbreaking to see what they’re doing to our downtown appearance,” she said.

She agreed with Johnson, noting the birds pose a risk to public health and called on the township to take action. There is precedent in the County – Minden Hills council contracted pest controllers in 2020 to address the pigeon population in its downtown, to some degree of success.

After just recently replacing the roof of her downtown location, Bonfield is worried about the potential impacts the growing pigeon population will have on its lifespan.

“They’re destructive – some other businesses in the downtown are having major issues dealing with this issue too,” she said.

“I don’t know what the solution is… but the situation is only going to get worse if it’s not dealt with.”

Expressing concern about the need for affordable housing in the Highlands, County council passed a watered-down resolution of support for the Highlands Corridor at its Feb. 22 council meeting.

Shelley Hunt of the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust and Paul Heaven of Glenside Ecological Services Limited made a delegation to council about the corridor. The 100,000-hectare swathe of land connects Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincal Park, Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park and Silent Lake Provincial Park.

Heaven said the natural environment in the corridor provides critical services required for building climate change resilience.

“We know we’ve experienced serious flooding in 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2019, at which point we’ve had declarations of emergency in three of those years,” Heaven said. “Wetlands have the ability to soak up water, absorb them during times of high water, and then slowly release that water as the landscape dries.” He said they had mapped wetlands in Snowdon, Lutterworth and Glamorgan and discovered the corridor is 17.9 per cent wetlands. He said any further loss of wetlands would only exacerbate the flooding situation.

He said there is also high carbon storage, due to fens and bogs. Heaven added 71 per cent of the corridor is forested, with 75 per cent being mature, including the largest stand of old growth Hemlock in Ontario.

Heaven said wildlife is under stress due to disease, insect infestations, droughts and flooding and species can only survive if they can move, so connectivity between the parks is key.

The Highlands Corridor is also home to 39 federal and provincial species at risk, 25 provincially-significant species, and 42 regionally or locally significant. To that end, Heaven said a three-year project, with 5,500 volunteer hours, was dedicated to a turtle barrier wall and underpass on Gelert Road.

Hunt and Heaven said maintaining that biodiversity is critical to keeping healthy ecosystems. In the end, they added the local economy needs healthy lakes and ecosystems to sustain itself.

Their strategy for building the corridor includes seeking protection of unceded Crown Land as a conservation reserve. They want to build partnerships with private landowners to promote good stewardship and enhance connectivity. They also plan to liaise with other stakeholders, including government and First Nations, as well as continue their ecological research.

In their delegation, they wanted the County to pass a resolution and letter of support of their efforts to better protect the Crown lands and waters in the corridor.

Affordable housing

Coun. Cec Ryall said he thought the work the Land Trust and Heaven are doing is “unbelievable.” However, he said Highlands East is entirely in the corridor, and there may be land suitable for affordable housing.

“If we support this particular resolution … is that going to restrict what we’re capable of doing, or lobbying the Crown for that kind of property to be used for affordable (housing)?” he asked.

Hunt said they understand the need for housing and could look at establishing a reserve in key parts of the corridor, not all of it. “I think there’s room for side-by-side conservation and room for people and room for smart development within the corridor as well.” Heaven added they are aware there are forestry and mining claims. “So, there’s lots of discussion to move forward and it’s going to be a long process.”

Council passed a revised resolution of support in principle and that the Land Trust and Heaven consult with the County as corridor boundaries are further refined, and Crown lands to be protected as a conservation reserve be identified.

Hunt said they will be holding a reception at Queen’s Park May 4, hosted by MPP Laurie Scott, and will be having a local event this Friday, March 3 at 7 p.m. at the fish hatchery. Scott will be in attendance. Admission is free. Register at haliburtonlandtrust.ca or call 705-457-3700.