Your Council & How to Communicate With Them

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Tyendinaga Township Council have a term of four years. 

Council Members

  • Mayor Claire Kennelly

    “I have lived in the Township for over 60 years and am presently retired.

    I have been married to Cathy for 44 years, have 4 children and 6 grandchildren, and reside on South River Road.

    I have served 13 years on Tyendinaga Township’s Municipal Council, presently serving in my 5th term. Our family actively takes part in all township functions and activities. Some of my proudest achievements on Council are helping establish the Volunteer Fire Department, organizing the original Canada Day festivities, was an initial promoter of Quinte Recycling, and voted against Municipal Amalgamation. I will take a commonsense approach when making Township decisions.”

  • Deputy Mayor Heather Lang

    I have lived, worked and raised my family in Tyendinaga Township and consider it home. As a former dairy, beef, and current cash crop farmer, I work in partnership with my husband Fred. I have an independent financial services practice, Cedarlane Financial Consulting, which has been operating for the last 16 years.

    I previously served two terms on council and I look forward to my new role as Deputy Reeve serving the residents of the township. I am proud of all our municipality has accomplished in the last several years, and am excited to see what else we can do to ensure Tyendinaga is truly Rural Living at its Best.

    I am presently on the Quinte Waste services board and I also sit on the Trenval board, Quinte Source Water Protection board, and am President of the Shannonville Agricultural Society. Past board participation includes the Tyendinaga Public Library, Quinte Conservation, Hastings Federation of Agriculture, Canada Day, Youth Soccer (coach, sponsor, volunteer) and Hastings County Riders Club/Melrose Meadows.”

  • Councillor Don McFarlane

    “My wife Lori and I moved back to Tyendinaga Township 17 years ago to live and raise our family. We both grew up in Tyendinaga Township and wanted our kids to have the same experience growing up in a rural community with family and friends.

    I ran for Council to help maintain the quality of life that is offered in Tyendinaga Township through all the activities that Municipal Government provides, and to carry out the important responsibilities that are entrusted to us.”

  • Councillor Jen Phillips

    “My name is Jen Phillips and I feel honoured to be acclaimed to Tyendinaga Township Municipal Council. I live with my husband Mike, who grew up in the township, our daughters, Ellie (9) and Katie (7), and my mom Karen. I was born and raised in Belleville and have had the pleasure of living the township since 2010. Mike and I moved here shortly after we were married to start a family and raise our children in this wonderful community.

    I pride myself on being approachable and for researching topics with the intent of seeing different perspectives. I am also keen to hear feedback about issues or myself. I encourage you to reach out with any questions or concerns. My role is that of a Civil Servant and I will strive to fill that role with integrity and accountability.

    I am very proud of my Community Service record where my passions include recreation, education and family. I joined the Minor Baseball Association and the Canada Day Committee the summer after moving here (2011) and remain on both. I began in Minor Baseball as the Secretary of the Association and then transitioned to committee member and event volunteer when we had our children. When we returned to recreational activities, after pausing due to COVID-19, I was elected President and Treasurer and have served in those roles since. I have also taken great pleasure in coaching soccer when our girls were younger, playing and/or volunteering in the Adult Volleyball and Flag Football leagues as well as the annual Golf Tournament. Additionally, I currently sit on the executive of our children’s School Council at Tyendinaga Public School as Treasurer. A position I also held during the last school year.”

  • Councillor Dave Ogden

    “My wife Michelle was employed by Hastings County for many years. Retiring 2021 manager housing services. This is perhaps where my interest in municipal government arose. Seeing the role municipal government plays in the scheme of things, it all starts here. That’s why it’s so important to be involved, younger people need to step up. Reading a CBC news article regarding Ontario’s municipal elections and there were more acclamations than ever before, this needs to change!

    I held various union positions over the years dealing with management, Chairman Audit Committee, local representative of Health and Safety, and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers/Teamsters Rail Division.”

Communicating with Council

There are a number of ways to communicate with Council, either as a whole or individually. Please review the information below for full details.

The Mayor and Council Members contact information can be found at the bottom of this page.

  • Writing to the Mayor & Council

    All correspondence should be addressed to “Mayor and Members of Council” in order to be considered for placement on a Council agenda.

    Submissions may be dropped off at the Municipal Office, mailed, faxed or e-mailed. Submissions received before 12:00 Noon on the Thursday prior to a regular Council meeting will be considered for placement on that agenda and will generally appear within the “Correspondence” section.

    If you wish to receive a response, please include your complete mailing address with your postal code, phone numbers and email address as part of a covering email or cover page to your submission, in order for staff to contact you.

    It is the Township’s practice when emails/letters are received and also circulated/copied to all members of Council by the author, that it not be placed on an upcoming agenda. The purpose of this practice is to eliminate the duplication of items received by members of Council.

    Any member of Council may request to have an email/letter they have received, to be placed on an agenda for discussion.

    Do not include personal information within the correspondence if you do not wish this information to be published.

    Letters containing profanity or submitted anonymously will NOT be circulated or placed on an agenda.

    The Township of Tyendinaga collects personal information in your communications to Council or its Committees under the Municipal Act, 2001.  This information is collected to enable Council and/or its Committees to make informed decisions on the relevant matter.  Individuals who make submission to Council should be aware that any personal information in their communications may become part of the public record and may be made available to the public through the agenda process which includes publication on the Township’s website.

  • Appearing before the Mayor & Council

    You can register as a Delegation by submitting our Request for Delegation Form to the Clerk no later than 12:00 noon on the Thursday preceding the meeting you wish to appear at. Should delegations be full for that meeting, another date can be requested.

    Please see our upcoming meetings on the Council Portal.

    If you do not provide sufficient information or refuse to disclose the reason for your delegation you will not be permitted to appear as a delegation. The request can be emailed or delivered in-person. If your request is received after the deadline, or if there are already two (2) delegations scheduled, your request will be placed on the next regular Council agenda. Delegations will be scheduled to make a presentation to a regular Council meeting, at the discretion of the Clerk in consultation with the Mayor. The Office will contact you by telephone, letter, or email regarding your request. The Clerk will inform Council of requests that are not granted.

    If a deputation request is granted, all presentation materials must be submitted to the Clerk’s Office by 12:00 Noon on the Thursday prior to the Council meeting date. Material submitted by this time will be included in the Agenda package. If a delegation is unable to submit the written information in advance of the meeting, he/she should provide 7 copies for distribution to Council and staff.

    Delegations are limited to a maximum of 15 minutes. The purpose of the delegation is to provide information to Council; Council may ask you questions but will not debate on your presentation; it may be referred to staff if additional reporting is required.

    If you wish to present an issue to Council and do not want to appear as a delegation, you can write a letter directed to Council and it may be brought forward as correspondence on an upcoming agenda, or you can contact Councilors’ by finding their contact information at the bottom of this page.

    As a delegation, you must also be aware that all Committee and Council meetings are open to the media and your comments may be reported in the newspaper.

    Delegation Guidelines

    There are some restrictions regarding delegations/deputations:

    • The subject matter of the deputation must be within municipal jurisdiction.
    • Any person who has previously addressed Council on a topic will not be allowed a second deputation unless the person can prove that there is new information to present to Council.
    • Each deputation will be limited to a maximum of 15 minutes except that a delegation consisting of more than five (5) persons shall be limited to two (2) speakers each limited to speaking not more than ten (10) minutes.
    • No more than two deputations shall be scheduled for any Council meeting, subject to the necessity to deal with matters of an urgent nature.
    • Deputations to Council from declared candidates for elected office shall not be permitted.
    • Deputations shall not promote a specific business.

Contact Us

Claire Kennelly
~ Mayor
30 South River Rd
Heather Lang
~ Deputy Mayor
979 Wyman Rd, Shannonville, ON K0K 3A0
Don McFarlane
~ Councillor
1709 Lazier Rd, Tyendinaga, ON K0K 3A0
Jen Phillips
~ Councillor
379 Enright Rd RR1, Shannonville ON, K0K 3A0
Dave Ogden
~ Councillor
1320 Shannon Rd, Plainfield ON, K0K 2V0