Details Released Over Simonett Building Purchase by CF

Jeff Green | May 28, 2025

On May 13, just before Central Frontenac Council voted to move forward with the purchase of 14216 Highway 7 (aka the Simonett building), Councillor Duncan McGregor asked Chief administrative officer Cathy MacMunn if a report would be “coming to our next meeting, or our meeting in June, explaining how we are going to pay for this building.”
“Absolutely” said MacMunn.

MacMunn provided a written report before the May 27 meeting of Council about the purchase, and she expanded on the matter and provided more detail at the meeting after receiving questions from council members a day before the meeting.

The amount the township has agreed to pay for the building is $1.6 million, and Macmunn said that this represents a 47% savings compared to a $3.1 million estimated cost to renovate the existing township office.

She said no renovations will be required for the building to serve the administrative requirements of the township going forward.

“Including county planning staff and interns there are 29 people who require office space at different times,” she said. She went on to detail the provincial legislative requirements that the municipality must follow and report on in the current era, including the accessibility act, water regulations, building regulations, and more. These all require staff time, she added.

The report also provides a history of expenditures on the existing building over a 30 year period, culminating in the purchase of the former Harvey's barber shop for township use in 2021.

“The building was constructed in 1995 by Oso township, and is housed a staff of 5 people at that time,” Macmunn said, “and 9 when it was taken over by Central Frontenac in 1998. It included a council chamber.”

She also reported on the benefits of the Simonett building.

The building “offers updated office space, integrated technology, and appropriate meeting areas—including an Emergency Operations Centre—It would enhance staff productivity, improve service delivery, and better support the township's operations. It would also allow council meetings to be moved from Soldiers Memorial Hall into a purpose-built space aligned with the needs of both Council and Staff.”

In order to finance the purchase, the township is planning to sell 10 surplus properties.

“We have estimated the value of those properties as 50% higher than their assessed value in 2016, the last MPAC assessment,” she said. “They should bring in more, but we wanted to be conservative.”

Deputy Clerk Jody Legue has been handling the administrative work preparing the properties for sale. One has already sold, and at least one other will be ready for market shortly. The township is planning to work with realtors as needed to obtain fair market value, particular for the sale of the existing township office.

“We need some expertise to get the best price,” said Mayor Frances Smith .

“This purchase will not create a financial burden for taxpayers, as it will be funded through reserves and repaid through the sale of other municipal properties.”

The closing date for the purchase of the new building is June 11. MacMunn said that the current plan is for staff to move in over the summer, and that service to the public will not be interrupted by the move. There are no renovations planned for the building, but it will take time for the Frontenac County IT department to prepare for the move.

No properties were identified in MacMunn's written or verbal reports this week. As for the future of the Sharbot Lake branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library, the township is meeting with Laura Carter this week.

Mayor Smith said that the Harvey building across the street from the existing council building and library branch is one possibility.

“It may need a small addition to accommodate the branch”, Smith said.

Not all of Council were receptive to the MacMunn report.

Councillor Danny Meeks said that “when you say it would cost $3 million as compared to $1.6 million, it is not apples to apples. $3 million would give you a new building, instead of a 120 year old building,” he said.

A motion to receive the report was passed in a 5-4 recorded vote, with the four no votes coming from the councillors (Councillors Meeks, Philip Smith, Gowdy, and Kelsey) who opposed the motion to purchase the building on May 13.
(A more in depth version of this story can be found at Frontenacnews.ca)