Good mid-week afternoon to all our readers. We begin today with a recurring theme in this area: municipalities frustrated with sharp Ontario Provincial Police cost increases. Hastings County council is preparing to "make some noise" about the issue.

Elsewhere in the area, costs are also front of mind for municipal leaders, as politicians in Brockville deem an elegantly-designed sewage pumping station chosen by popular vote too expensive, and politicians in Cornwall ponder the fire department's budget.

In Kingston, heritage advocates are worried about recent council decisions.

And in Belleville, Christmas is on many people's minds, as are the scent and feel of a natural Christmas tree.

These and other stories from our newsrooms across Eastern Ontario can be found below. 

The top stories from across our region

Madoc Township Mayor Loyde Blackburn listens to a discussion by fellow Hastings County councillors after he proposed a motion objecting to an increase in the cost for provincial policing."We've got to do something," Blackburn told the group. PHOTO BY LUKE HENDRY/The Belleville Intelligencer

Hastings County councillors set to 'make some noise' about OPP cost hikes

Hastings County council is poised to object to the latest price hikes for Ontario Provincial Police service and the lack of a phased-in approach.

Many leaders of the county’s 14 member municipalities criticized the province’s approach Tuesday while meeting in Belleville for the monthly session of council’s finance committee.

Chief administrative officer Connor Dorey said the total cost for OPP service across the county is set to jump from $8.5 million this year to $10.3 million next year. That $1.8-million difference amounts to an increase of 24 per cent, he said.

From left to right, Cornwall Fire Services Deputy Chief Leighton Woods, Deputy Chief Addison Pelkey, and Chief Matthew Stephenson speaking to the Cornwall Fire Services Master Plan on Tuesday Sept. 10, 2024 in Cornwall, Ont. PHOTO BY SHAWNA O'NEILL/The Cornwall Standard-Freeholder

Cornwall Fire Services seeks $1.1M to build training centre

With a new headquarters slated to open in 2025, and the question of keeping its current headquarters on Fourth Street as an operating station before council, Cornwall Fire Services has its next requested structure included in next year’s capital budget.

Cornwall Fire Services wants to build a new training centre on the grounds of its new headquarters located at the northwest corner of Brookdale Avenue and Tollgate Road, at a cost of $1.1 million. Fire Chief Matthew Stephenson pitched the project to council on Nov. 14, on the grounds the current structures firefighters train at on Saunders Drive have outlived their purpose and the cost of this new training site could be covered by renting it out to other fire services.

Stephenson has proposed using $265,500 from development charges, and mortgaging the remaining $834,500, suggesting rental revenue from other fire services could provide $110,000 a year over 10 years to repay the mortgage. The facility’s total cost would be $1.1 million.

Cornwall Transit Sunday service in a queue of related projects

Stop if you’ve heard this before— Cornwall Transit’s consideration of expanding to Sunday service is on the to-do list, but not as the No. 1 item.

That’s what was repeated by general manager of infrastructure and municipal works Michael Fawthrop as council reviewed Cornwall Transit’s draft 2025 budgets on Nov. 14. A move to providing Sunday service would come along as Cornwall Transit completes work on an on-demand transit service, and a transportation master plan.

The Cornwall Standard-Freeholder newsroom would love to hear from you. To reach just this newsroom, email csf.news@sunmedia.ca.

Brockville Mayor Matt Wren speaks during discussion of the Centeen sewage pumping station design at the Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024 meeting of city council's general committee. In the background are Couns. Katherine Hobbs and Phil Deery. PHOTO BY RONALD ZAJAC/The Brockville Recorder and Times

No-frills sewage station recommended

A gracefully-designed Centeen Park sewage pumping station inspired by the St. Lawrence River is the public’s choice, according to a recent online survey – but city leaders say it’s just too expensive.

Instead, council’s general committee on Tuesday unanimously backed a staff recommendation that the city opt for the least costly of four proposed designs, a no-frills station that will still get the job done.

“I don’t think anybody can get excited about adding the curvature of a roof for three million dollars,” Mayor Matt Wren told the committee, referring to the estimated cost difference between the two projects..

POLICE: Lockdown at high school