After years of planning and construction, the organic health and beauty product company Living Libations officially opened its new, state-of-the-art headquarters in Haliburton June 20.  

More than 50 people attended to celebrate the 22,000-square foot facility off Harburn Road. Builders designed it for low environmental impact and energy efficiency, meeting the Passive House Building Standard to consume only 10 per cent of the energy versus a conventional building of its size. 

 Founder Nadine Artemis said the Haliburton area enchanted her, causing her to move her business here 15 years ago.

She thanked the various people and builders involved in making the new headquarters happen.  

“It really takes a village to build a building,” Artemis said. “We are in deep appreciation to the countless co-operative components that brought us all together and accomplished this vision.”  

It took a years-long process to get here.

After a tragic fire burned down their home and business headquarters in 2013, they first came before Dysart et al council with their plans to construct the new headquarters in 2015.

The company also went through some controversy, earning Calico Road residents’ ire in 2017 due to increased traffic when they operated their business there temporarily.  

But now the business is finally settled into its permanent home.   

“A construction project of this size has intense moments, quick-decision making and thousands and thousands of microdetails,” Artemis said. “To have this process feel smooth and timely is a miracle.”  

The four-storey structure is “flooded with natural sunlight,” according to a company press release.

High-performance energy recovery ventilators cycle fresh air through the building without affecting indoor temperature.  The structure earned a newly-created award from Legalett Canada, who provided engineering, design and supply of the building’s foundation.

National sales manager Ken Williams presented the Construction Pioneer Award to Living Libations and project developer Greg West for the achievements in energy-efficient design. 

 “This project has, to say the least, been inspirational to us,” Williams said. 

Artemis said she was thankful to the local community for their continued support.  

“We are also in deep appreciation to the community of our clients and their love of libations. Your absolute adoration for our creations is really our continued inspiration,” she said.

Retiring Capt. Dan Collings gave his cadets a proud salute as he bid farewell after 24 years of leading the 1129 Haliburton Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps.  

Collings formally stepped down from the role after the corps 34th annual cadet review June 15 at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 129 Haliburton.

Organizations including the Army Cadet League of Canada gave him a series of service recognition certificates as he departed the 15-cadet unit.  

He leaves with his cadets on top, as Haliburton won the 2017-18 Lord Strathcona Award for the best small corps. He praised them for their effort over the year.  

“Without you folks, this couldn’t happen. Your dedication, your praise, your sense of teamwork and family is second to none,” Collings said.  

It was a good time for him to leave, he said. He plans to work with the Canadian Rangers in northern Indigenous communities before he retires in three years.  

“It’s time to go, pass the torch,” he said. “There’s great staff here that can take over and the corps is in a great place right now. We’re in the best place we’ve ever been.”  

Regional Cadet Support Unit Major Gary Burns also presented Collings with a certificate and said he is amongst the top officers he has encountered.  

“For these folks to be successful, there have to be adult leaders,” Burns said. “As the commanding officer, without him, there’s no direction. He is, in fact, the pinnacle of the organization here.”  

The cadets showcased their skills at the review, marching, parading and taking part in a series of program demonstrations.  

Master warrant officer Jakob Bull said it was a great year for the unit.  

“There have been so many opportunities. Honestly, I think the number of things this core can do is limitless,” he said.  But he added it was sad seeing Collings retire.  

“He was amazing, he had everything perfect to a tee. He was a super relatable guy, really humble.”  

Lt. Corina Hall is taking over as commanding officer for the unit. She said Collings has led the unit since she was a cadet and though there are big shoes to fill, she is excited to take on the position.  

“I’ve also been able to come up behind him and learn a lot from him,” Hall said. “I’m looking forward to taking my turn to lead the corps.”  

As Collings gave his corps one last salute, he talked about how he felt about them. 

 “You guys are like family, like my own kids. Some of you are children of some of the cadets who were here when I started, that’s just amazing,” Collings said. “I wish you all the best. Keep up the good work.”

Barb Elliot, a professor in the ecosystem management program at Fleming College, said Kushog Lake is healthy and doing well, at the annual Kushog Lake Property Owners Association general meeting.  

Elliot brings four students to the lake every fall to complete tests and she said the results show no major issues or decline in the health of the water and surrounding habitats.  

One of these tests is called a ‘secchi disk’ and it is used to measure the clarity of the water. Throughout her presentation, she showed cottagers tools, such as the disk, that researchers use to collect samples and measure levels from the water.

She also described the four main problems with the lake and how people can help.

 According to Elliot, the four major challenges are: water temperature, habitat loss, excessive nutrients and non-native species. She said cottagers and property owners can help alleviate these problems by not using fertilizers, making sure their septic tank isn’t leaking, cleaning their boats before putting them in the lake and keeping a natural shoreline. 

 Brenda Pearcey, a property owner on Kushog Lake, said the information was very enlightening but not enough people showed up to hear it.  

“I think it’s great but the people that are here are the considerate people,” she said. “It’s the ones that aren’t attending the meetings that this information should be getting to.”  

Pearcey says she keeps a natural shoreline at her property so she doesn’t disrupt the habitats of native wildlife. Her property is on the narrows where the trout spawn and she is very concerned about their numbers.

 “It was terrible last year. I saw maybe three mates. Three females and two males and that was because they lowered the water the year before when the fish spawn hadn’t hatched yet,” she said.  

Elliot said the turnout for the event was very good considering the nice day and was happy to have so many questions from people concerned about the environment.  

To find out how your lake is doing, the Coalition of Haliburton Property Owners Associations recently released a report on 118 lakes in Haliburton County.

The Lake Health Report for the Haliburton Highlands is available for purchase for $10.

Many Haliburton County residents aren’t ready to give up living on their own to move into a retirement home.

The Age-Friendly Master Plan, designed to address questions like this, caught the eye of some George Brown College professors recently. 

 On June 21, four faculty from the college made the trip to Haliburton to meet with the Aging Well Committee about the plan and how it works.  

Doreen Boville, aging well chair, said they were excited the plan had attracted attention to the growing issues older adults face. 

 “Because they’re teaching students to work with older adults, they want to see what older adults do,” she said about the meeting. 

 The boardroom buzzed with excitement as the committee and the faculty of the Activation Co-ordinator/Gerontology Program exchanged stories and ideas.  

One issue that was discussed by the group is housing. Questions such as ‘what happens if seniors aren’t ready to enter a retirement home yet but aren’t fully capable of being on their own?’ were asked and talked about in depth. 

 Solutions such as Airbnb, foreign caretakers and live-in PSW’s were brought forward.  

Pamela Gauci, a professor at George Brown, said they are teaching the next generation of caretakers so they need to be informed of what is happening, even in small communities.  

The college became interested in the plan after starting a new course in the program.  

“A new course for us, started a couple years ago, called aging in place,” said Molly Marrack, the program co-ordinator.“

I couldn’t find a curriculum for it so I started reading master plans.” She said a student had found Haliburton’s online and sent it to her.

She included the plan in the course as an example to students of what it means to try and make services accessible to an aging population. 

Marrack said the plan “presented an opportunity (to learn) because it’s the future of a lot of communities.”  

The organization’s master plan came together after they received funding from New Horizons in 2012.  

It includes both seasonal and full-time residents and narrowed down older adults’ needs to four top priorities: transportation, housing, access to community and health services and social participation.  

The committee continues to work to improve life for older adults in the county by holding events such as bridging the gap: independence to assistance on September 27 and the housing summit October 18.

The future of the historic Donald chemical building is now in doubt with the non-profit co-operative trying to restore it contemplating litigation against the structure’s owner.  

The partnership between a local co-op and owner Jim O’Connor is no more.

After the co-op invested more than $90,000 in grant funding and donations to help restore the building, the planned lifetime lease of the property to the group never came to pass.  

Co-op member, The Land Between, received a legal opinion on a potential lawsuit May 29.

Co-founder of The Land Between, Leora Berman, who has also managed the project for the co-op, said legal action would be a last resort.  

“I’m hoping Jim sees the light. Sees the importance of the building,” Berman said. “No one will fund a private individual for their personal gain. It should be in public hands.”  

The Highlander reached out repeatedly to O’Connor. He declined an interview and did not provide any answers to a submitted list of questions. He instead said to refer to a story published in the June 18 edition of The Haliburton Echo. 

The only comment from O’Connor in the story was indirect, and stated: “O’Connor said as the owner of the building, he wanted to move forward with the restoration and was working on it himself now.”  

The partnership between the co-op and O’Connor began in 2010.

With the structure decaying, Berman gathered organizations out of a desire to preserve the historic building.

It is the last remaining from the Standard Chemical Company Plant, at one time the largest producer of iron coke in North America.  

The informal co-op, which also included the Haliburton Highlands Outdoors Association (HHOA), the Haliburton Highlands Stewardship Council, the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario (ACO) and the Canadian Industrial Heritage Centre, signed a memorandum of understanding with O’Connor.

The lease agreement stated that once the Donald Innovation Centre Cooperative had been created, a “life-time lease” would be drafted and come into place. 

 About $92,000 was invested by the co-op towards the initiative, according to Berman. She planned to utilize the space as a marketing hub for the local construction sector.  

After the co-op formally came into being in March 2015, Berman said she tried repeatedly to get a new contract signed.

But nothing had been settled by the time the original agreement expired in July 2015.  

“He had indicated to me he felt the property was valuable,” Berman said. “That’s why the tide seemed to turn.” 

 Between 2010-2013, the co-op invested grant funding to stabilize the building, which had major portions of its roof leaking and collapsing.

In 2013, it was deemed safe and secure, according to Berman.  

Conflict over work done 

Berman said O’Connor did irreparable damage to the facility when he renovated it for use as part of a private storage business.  

“We still thought there was hope until we saw the building,” Berman said. “We realized the brick was destroyed, the rust was not removed and the concrete did not match.”  

The legal opinion from Lindsay’s Whitford and Nagel Associates states it is unlikely a lawsuit based on breach of contract would succeed, given the previous agreement expired in 2015 and lacked in some details.  

However, the opinion said a case for unjust enrichment would have more merit.  

“As a result of the actions by DIPC (Donald Innovation Project Collaborative), the owner has benefited in that the building is now structurally safe and secure which should result in a direct increase in property value,” Garth Lee Whitford wrote. “The court would be sympathetic to your plight and would not want the owner to benefit from public funds that were intended for an entirely different purpose.”  

None of the claims made by Berman or Whitford have been tested in court. HHOA president Eric Christensen said they are trusting Berman to handle the situation. 

 “We are very disappointed that the owner has gone back on his verbal and written agreements.,” Christensen said. 

ACO chief operating officer William Coukell said although they still support the co-op, they have “not had any direct connection to this particular site in a long time.”  

But any legal effort against O’Connor will need consultation with stakeholders, Berman said. She added a new public fundraising campaign would be necessary to pay for it. 

 “This is too important a building to give up hope on. I wouldn’t still be here if this building wasn’t that important,” she said. 

The County of Haliburton is edging toward a process to decide whether to amalgamate its lower-tier townships. 

Council had a lengthy debate on the matter during its June 26 meeting. Councillors voted to have Haliburton’s chief administrative officer draft a report outlining a process to follow should council proceed with a governance model review.  

Coun. Brent Devolin called the dialogue a watershed moment. 

 “This discussion we’re going to have, for the balance of this term, for all councils,” he said. “This is the biggest thing.” 

 Talk began with a staff report highlighting the current county-wide municipal collaborations and where more could be done.

But the report went largely undiscussed to focus on the bigger-picture issue.  Coun. Carol Moffatt said in a February discussion, no county council member indicated they were “married” to any specific outcome on the amalgamation debate. 

She said although hard facts about efficiencies and funding are important to the discussion, so too is community identity. 

 “While they are critically important to our existence and our growth, equally important is what we could gain and what we could lose as communities,” Moffatt said. 

 Warden Liz Danielsen agreed but noted that idea got shot down at a Haliburton Highlands Chamber of Commerce breakfast in May. 

 “The assumption by the public is that we’re going to save money if we move toward amalgamation,” Danielsen said. “I don’t see any evidence that that’s the case and I think we’d have to have that evidence before we move too much further.”  

However, Devolin said there is need for structural change. He highlighted the struggle to fill staff positions across all five municipalities.  

“Not sure going forward we can continue to populate those positions with four or five of a particular skill set,” Devolin said. “We’re going to hit a wall.” 

He added asset management would also require significant change, given the number of similar facilities across the five municipalities. C

AO Mike Rutter said it would make sense to leave the discussion on collaborations until governance is decided on.

He added there is a reason not to wait to pursue an answer.  

“The longer these questions drag on, the more difficult it will be to attract or maintain staff,” Rutter said. “If someone doesn’t know if they’re going to have a job in a year or two years, why would they leave their job to come here?” 

Council also discussed preparing an RFP for a governance review and seeking qualified third-parties for guidance on how the process should go.  

Moffatt said she does not expect job losses with amalgamation, other than CAO positions. She added it was good to make progress on the topic. 

 “This is a great discussion, I’m pleased to have it and I think it’s exciting,” she said.