Orillia dock repair on pause

By NATHAN TAYLOR THE PACKET & TIMES January 10 2010
The city should consider its waterfront master plan before starting the dock-replacement project at the Port of Orillia, the mayor says.
Councillors decided at Monday night’s council committee meeting to not award a $532,469.56 contract for Phase 1 of the project, which would include electrical and water upgrades.

“The concern that I’ve cited is the fact that we’re going ahead with the electrical repair, and unfortunately, there would be another building” required for that, Orsi said.
That small building, which would be a sort of electrical control room, would be placed right beside the main port office, and “the building design is not complimentary to the port,” Orsi said.
Bruce Duncan, manager of property and purchasing, said the building design was intended to reflect the existing port facility.
There’s also the potential to encase the electrical room within the port building, Orsi said.
The mayor’s priorities are to first start acting on the waterfront master plan, then take a look at how the port fits into the bigger picture.
“We do support renovating the port and the docks. This is not in any which way a turnabout. We just want to make sure we do it once,” he said.
Coun. Patrick Kehoe agreed that “the building as proposed is not all that aesthetically pleasing.”
We can learn from past mistakes, he added.
“We need to pause and look at what opportunities we can create and by incorporating this into the bigger picture.”
Coun. Don Jenkins was concerned about delaying the project.
“The city has waited a long time for action on the waterfront. I agree with my friends that we should revisit it, but we should do it in a timely manner.”
The tender documents would still be good for another 60 days, councillors were told, giving them time to decide on the next step.
The overall estimated cost of the proposed three-phase project is $2.22 million.