Central Frontenac Council - May 30/13

Jeff Green | May 29, 2013

Central Frontenac Council warms to Hinchinbrooke community center plan

The Central Frontenac Community Recreation Committee is a group that has been working on finding a way to redevelop the soon to be closed Hinchinbrooke Public School for community use. So far they have had a polite, but cool reception from Central Frontenac Council, which is wary of taking on the short-term renovation costs and the long-term maintenance costs of the building.

But this week Council may have turned a corner.

Sue Leslie-Campbell and Bob Teal from the committee appeared before Council on Tuesday evening (May 28) to ask if Council was willing to endorse an application to the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation (FCFDC) for a $20,000 grant to do a feasibility study of the project. They were also asking for a $3,325 commitment from Council.

A previous request was refused because at that time the FCFDC wanted the letter of support from Council to include a commitment to purchase the property if the feasibility study showed the project was viable.

Two things have changed since then. One is that the committee has received information from the school board about the property and has also brought in the township's Chief Building Official, Jeremy Neven, to confirm that the building is structurally sound.

The second change is that township staff have now identified an additional potential use for the building.

In a report to Council, Acting CAO John Duchene wrote that “some of the potential uses include the relocation of the existing library from the portable classroom and remodelling part of the building to accommodate the local fire department.”

The township has already began to set money aside for a new fire hall to replace the aging Parham fire hall, which is located within sight of the school.

Although some councilors were sceptical about the viability of locating a fire hall, community activity space, and library in the same building, they are now willing to see where the study takes the project.

Deputy Mayor Tom Dewey said, “It’s a good initiative. Let’s find out what can be done with the building.”

Councilor John Purdon, who sits on the board of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library, said “I was at a couple of meetings last week regarding the strategic plan for the library, and one point that was made was that libraries should not be stand-alone facilities. So this idea fits in with that rather well.”

Councilor Frances Smith said, “What I think is missing here is a business case scenario to take a look at who would be in the building and who would pay for what.”

Sue Leslie-Campbell pointed out that the proposed study includes that kind of analysis.

Councilor Bill Snyder said he also “supports the idea. The next step is to see who will use it. I’m not too interested in remodelling the building for a fire department, but we’ll see what happens with that.”

A motion of support for the funding application was amended to include a commitment by the township to “consider purchasing the property” if the study yields positive results. It was passed unanimously.

The work that has already been done by township staff, the school board, and the committee on the site had shown a few issues that need to be addressed. One is asbestos on the site, but committee member Bob Teal said that the asbestos that has been identified can be relatively easily removed. There is also a buried oil tank at the site, which will have to be dealt with. And while the septic system at the school is functional, it is at the end of its original due date for replacement.

Frontenac Arena Loan – Council decided to use funds from its Parkland Reserve fund to pay the bill that was sent to them from South Frontenac Township. The money is needed to cover the remaining costs from Project End Zone, which added four new dressing rooms, an officials' room, a skate sharpening room and storage room to the arena, which is jointly owned by the two townships.

Fundraising efforts, which were supposed to mitigate the cost of the renovations, have fallen short by about $45,000, leaving an overall balance of over $190,000, of which a little over 40%, or $78,418, has been charged to Central Frontenac.

“Parkland Reserve Funds can only be used for certain purposes,” said Mayor Janet Gutowski, “and I am confident that the arena board explored every fundraising avenue to lower the cost to the townships. I should also point out that the operating costs of the arena are very low compared to other similar facilities, and we are lucky to have it remain viable in our community when other rural communities are being forced to close arenas.”

Bears, bears, bears – Councilor Purdon brought forward a concern about a number of bears in the Mountain Grove area and in the vicinity of the Olden waste site. Council decided to contact the MNR and see if they are willing to do some outreach work in Mountain Grove about safety around bears.