North Frontenac Council - May 22

Jeff Green | May 24, 2012

Ompah fire station/ambulance base faces new hurdle

The long talked about joint county/township building project in Ompah is at risk once again, even before the construction bids have been opened.

After dealing with a political impasse that spanned two administrations, Frontenac County and North Frontenac Township finally agreed on a way forward for a 1500 square foot ambulance post and a 2500 square foot fire station to be located on a lot that North Frontenac Township purchased in Ompah some five years ago. A project manager has been hired, and the bids have come in for a design-build project. If the bids come in as hoped, the project was scheduled to get underway in June, and the only hurdle left was the cost of the project. If the North Frontenac portion of the cost exceeds $550,000, then North Frontenac Council reserves the right to back out of the project. After years of muddied waters, the way forward finally seemed clear.

That all changed when one of the companies that was considering bidding on the project found out during a site visit that the 3.6 acre lot had at one time been occupied by a gas station.

The township was aware of this when they purchased the property in 2007, and at the time soil samples were taken by a consulting company, AME Environmental, in the vicinity of where the fuel tanks had been located. It was determined that the site was not contaminated.

However, once the potential bidding company raised the issue with the project manager who has been hired to oversee the project, an engineering firm called Malroz was contacted in order to determine if the original study was sufficient.

Malroz reported back that the provincial regulations have changed since 2007, and now phase 1 and phase 2 environmental studies, as well as a test well and a hydrogeological study will likely be required. All of these cost money, somewhere between $25,000 and $50,000.

The various costs were outlined for council by township CAO Cheryl Robson: “A Phase 1 assessment, which is a study of all the background information about the site and is basically a desktop exercise, will cost between $3000 and $5000. A Phase 2 Assessment, which involves taking soil samples throughout the property, between $10,000 and $30,000. A test well, which would become the well for the building afterwards, between $5000 and $10,000. It’s another $1000 to test the well, and $3000 - $5000 for the hydrogeological study.”

Furthermore, as North Frontenac Council met in special session on Tuesday, May 22 to decide whether to proceed with the various studies, they were faced with difficult time frame issues.

“If we decide today to go ahead with the phase 1 and phase 2 assessments, they will take 10 weeks to complete, and it will still be possible to have the building closed in before winter if the assessments come out clean,” said Robson.

George Gorrie, the chief building official for North Frontenac, sat in on a conference call with representatives from Malroz.

“At the end of the meeting I pointed out that no one from Malroz has been to the site, and some of the information they were working with was wrong. The lot is 3.6 acres and the total size of the tanks was 3,500 litres and they were located at one corner. The site is on the shield and there is not much soil anywhere. I think if they visit the site, which they said they would do, they might see it differently,” Gorrie said.

Councilor Wayne Good said he did not see “how council can consider spending up to $50,000 before we even know what the bids are from the builders. If the bids are too high, the project will be dead, and we will have spent $50,000 for nothing.”

“Whatever happens, the property belongs to us and we have an obligation to ensure it is safe,” said Councilor John Inglis.

“If we commit to a phase 1 assessment today, we will be moving the project forward without spending too much money. We can decide later on about the phase 2 assessment, the well, the hydro G study and all the rest of it,” said Mayor Bud Clayton.

“There is a 4-week delay before a phase 2 assessment can be started, so we might be moving out of this construction year if council doesn’t decide on that today,” said Cheryl Robson.

Council opted to approve only a phase 1 assessment at this time.

Cheryl Robson said that township staff were going to contact Frontenac County staff as soon as possible to see if the bids for the project can still be opened this week as per the original schedule, so Council will be aware of the cost they are looking at for the project by the time they meet again next Monday, May 28.

They could proceed with the phase 2 assessment, the well and the other studies at that time should they so choose.

North Frontenac commits $100,000 to Pine Meadow re-build

After years of fundraising and lobbying provincial officials, all of the approvals and the funding scenario for the Pine Meadow Nursing Home re-build were in place. But just two weeks ago, as plans were being made for the official ground breaking ceremony for the project, the numbers came up short when the bids came in for sub-contracts for the construction.

The $6.5 million project, which is being funded largely through fundraised dollars and a $5.1 million loan from Infrastructure Ontario, was over budget by $300,000.

Through a series of efforts, that gap was reduced to $100,000, but by the rules set out by Infrastructure Ontario (a provincial loaning body for projects undertaken by not-for-profit corporations and municipalities) that money had to be found before the project could proceed to the groundbreaking stage.

Lennox and Addington County has committed $25,000 per year for 10 years to the project, and Addington Highlands Council has waived most of the building permit fees for the project, but efforts to secure support from Frontenac County for the rebuild have repeatedly failed.

Pine Meadow is located in L&A but a residents' survey showed that half of its 60 residents resided in Frontenac County before moving to the home.

“This request for $100,000 is make or break for the project; we either get a commitment for $100,000 or the project dies,” said North Frontenac Mayor Bud Clayton.

Clayton added that even though the money is being called a grant, it is nothing more than a financial guarantee because other monies will be coming in and the project has a $500,000 contingency fund built into the financing.

“Why not make it a promissory note or a loan guarantee?” asked Councilor Gerry Martin.

“Our auditor told us that if we are going to commit this money today, through a simple resolution of council, it has to be as a grant. That is why we are calling it a grant of up to $100,000,” said North Frontenac CAO Cheryl Robson.

“So we aren’t going to cut a check today?” Martin asked.

“The chances of us ever using the money are remote. It may come at some stage. It’s the letter more than anything else that is needed now,” said Clayton.

“I think the community really needs this,” said Deputy Mayor Fred Perry, “I’ll support it. Let me put it that way."

Council supported a resolution granting up to $100,000 to Pine Meadow for the construction project.

(Editor's note - Mayor Clayton also serves as the unpaid Chair of the Pine Meadow Management Committee. North Frontenac Councilor Betty Hunter is a member of the Board of Directors of Land O’Lakes Community Services – the parent board of Pine Meadow – see page 2 for editorial comment)