New OPP detachment waits on council

By JENNIFER BURDEN, THE PACKET & TIMES October 27 2010
The progress of the new OPP detachment is going to have to wait until the newly elected council gets up and running.
“We’re at a standstill until the new council comes in and is able to hear from the project committee,” Insp. Don Goard, Orillia detachment commander, said at the police services board meeting on Tuesday.
Detailed construction drawings of the 30,000-square-foot building to be located on Colborne Street, just east of Peter Street, are almost 100% complete — enough to begin construction, he said.
A shortlist for tender documents is also finished, but the project committee can’t hire anyone until the new council gives them the go-ahead.
“Once the tender is approved, they can pretty much break ground the next day,” Goard said. “We’re just waiting for the people who have the power to make the decision to say “Let’s go.”
But Goard also pointed out that with only two incumbents being re-elected on Monday, Ward 3 councillors Michael Fogarty and Paul Spears, the new council could very well have a different opinion on the project.
“They could kibosh the whole project if they wanted to,” he said.
Police services board member Tim Lauer, who served as councillor for 13 years and was defeated by Angelo Orsi for the mayor’s seat on Monday, said he is confident the incoming council will move forward on the new detachment.
“I’m sure that once council familiarizes themselves with the project, it will go ahead. We’ve already spent quite a bit of money on the architecture. The logistics of it will be evident when they review it,” Lauer said Tuesday.
He added that one of the reasons he ran for mayor in this election was because many of the past council’s projects have been completed or are currently underway, so he isn’t too worried about unfinished initiatives being cast to the wayside by the new council.
Mayor-elect Angelo Orsi said he has toured the current police station at 66 Peter St. S. and it is very cramped.
“We definitely need to get an updated police station,” he said. “I’m sure the plans will be reviewed in the budget and we’ll make sure that we move expeditiously on hopefully bringing them a new station as soon as possible.”
He added that the new council needs to be educated on where the $10-million project is in the planning and tendering process as well as its budget.