How are we spending our Collus cash?
That was just one of two items that have been sitting on the back burner for a couple of months, and were raised by Councillor Keith Hull on Monday. Council was expected to make some decisions on the sale proceeds — about $12 million in cash, plus another $1.7 million in a promissory note made out to the municipality by Collus — during budget discussions.
In the last several months, a number of ideas have been tossed around on how to spend the money realized from selling half of the electricity business to PowerStream, including rehabilitating Hume Street, paying down debt, and investing in the harbour.
There’s also paying for the two recreation facilities now under construction — the new arena at Central Park and the covering over Centennial Pool — a suggestion that was presented to councillors when they approved the purchase of the two fabric membrane structures.
Those two facilities are expected to come in at $12.5 million, plus another $750,000 for site work; staff suggested the funding could come from several sources, including development charges and selling Poplar Sideroad to Simcoe County, along with $8 million from the 50% sale of Collus.
On Monday, treasurer Marjory Leonard said the funds were still sitting in a bank account, and she recommended council make a decision by mid-September; she noted that if the decision is to use the money to pay down debt, a debenture to pay for the rec facilities would take six-to-eight weeks to arrange.
Councillor Mike Edwards suggested that staff provide options for council; however, Leonard recommended that the job of whittling down the options is a job best left to the politicians.
Hull’s second query was with regard to the discussion on an integrity commissioner. Council decided eight weeks ago to defer a decision — for four weeks — in order to get a staff report on the possibility of sharing a position with either Simcoe County, or neighbouring municipalities.
Clerk Sara Almas told councillors on Monday that a report has been drafted for department head review, and will be presented to council in two weeks.
In other news from Monday night:
• Councillors approved of a bid for engineering for the intersection improvements at Huron/First and Hurontario, giving the job to R.J. Burnside to complete the design and contract administration to a maximum of $71,966.
The town purchased a section of the northeast corner of the intersection last year, tearing down the Mountain View Hotel in order to make room for a widening of Huron Street to five lanes.
In his report to council, engineering services manager Brian MacDonald stated there were some design issues that still needed to come before council, such as the location of the Christmas tree, and whether Hurontario Street north of the intersection remained one-way. Those matters will be presented to council at a later date.
• Councillors signed a couple of agreements on Monday.
The first was a land-lease agreement with Journey Community Church, which will be purchasing the former Georgian Triangle Tourism Association offices to use as a coffee shop and for the church’s outreach programs.
The land-lease will give the church access to additional land for parking.
The second agreement penned is with the Red Cross for the provision of specialized transit services.
The five-year agreement carries an annual cost of just under $114,000.
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