From quilt machines to clean streets: Gananoque Council blends heritage, housekeeping and hope at recent meeting

In a town where the past is as treasured as the view from the waterfront, Gananoque’s April 1 council meeting played out like a quiet but deliberate march through civic duty, with moments of real heart, a dash of history, and a promise to keep the streets clean and the stories remembered.

Zane Smith, the quietly tenacious collections manager at the 1000 Islands History Museum, appeared before council seeking final approval for the latest additions and subtractions to Gananoque’s civic collection.

With a council vote, a shuttlehead spinning and quilting machine, a colour print of the Gananoque Carriage Company, and photographs from the construction of the Thousand Islands Bridge all joined the official historical fold.

In a gesture of curatorial evolution, a weathered furniture set, four chairs, a crate, hutch and stove were respectfully removed from the archives.

While the past found its place, the future got a little cleaner.

Mayor John Beddows officially declared April 20 to 26 as Pitch-In Week, inviting residents to roll up their sleeves and help tidy the town. Coun. David Osmond and staff relayed that brush pickup – branches and twigs – is free. Leaf and yard waste, however, still needs bag tags during the advertised spring pickup window from April 14 to 25.

Council’s financial stewardship also made the docket. A bylaw was passed allowing the mayor and clerk to sign off on a Court Security and Prisoner Transportation Program Transfer Agreement, good for $80,042 from the Solicitor General’s office.

Meanwhile, council approved a scope change request to the tune of $598,921 for the detailed design of forcemain twinning. This is part of a broader, long-evolving project aimed at modernizing the town’s wastewater infrastructure.

The design contract, originally awarded to J.L. Richards and Associates back in 2017, has shifted over time as new data emerged and project priorities sharpened. With Phase 2, the East End Pumping Station, already under construction, the town is now racing toward critical milestones for Phase 3 – the actual twinning of the forcemain.

Roughly 84 per cent of the funding approved in this scope change is earmarked for highly technical work: design, geotechnical investigations, and site surveying. Deliverables include everything from borehole logs and trenchless construction feasibility reports to a full suite of detailed design drawings and technical specs.

Come September, Gananoque Town Hall will glow a new shade of empathy, with the colour blue, in honour of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, following council’s support of a request from the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Canada.

And behind closed doors, council authorized legal counsel to finalize a matter with a notice of discontinuance and a final release – with an additional draw of up to $11,000 for expenses.

Gananoque’s next council meeting is scheduled for April 15 at 5 p.m. at Town Hall.