The Citizen, 2016-01-21, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2016.
County to explore
building new office
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Over the next 40 years, if Huron
County were to build one large-scale
office, rather than maintain its
current five, it would provide
significant savings according to a
new report.
Director of Planning and
Development Scott Tousaw
presented Huron County Council his
report at council's Jan. 13
committee of the whole meeting. He
said that if a new building were
constructed at a cost of $13 million,
annual costs would be
approximately $325,000, rather than
the current costs of $624,000 for
five separate buildings. There would
also be additional savings by way of
reduced energy costs and a smaller
building to maintain, he said.
Council has been discussing a new
building for a number of years, with
its current five buildings (the
assessment office, registry office
and court house, all in Goderich, and
the Health and Library Complex and
the Jacob Memorial Building, both
in Clinton) being labelled as
inefficient for a number of reasons,
but specifically in terms of energy
and use of space.
In his report, Tousaw said he made
a number of assumptions, however.
Namely, he assumed that all the
current buildings would be retained
but rented, providing income, and
that the land would be donated, by a
municipality or the county.
Councillors discussed the
proposal, wondering aloud if a large
building to house all the county's
employees would be necessary in
the future considering technological
advancements and the ability for
employees to conference online.
They were concerned that if the
county were to spend $13 million on
a new building that could
accommodate 160 employees, it
could become an albatross in future
years without tenants to occupy it.
In Tousaw's report, he outlined a
number of advantages to the one -
building proposal, including a single
point of access for the public, staff
sharing and reduced maintenance
costs, among other things.
He also mentioned some benefits
that will be difficult to quantify,
such as functionality, creativity and
morale of the organization.
Tousaw recommended that his
preliminary research warranted
further investigation and that funds
should be allocated in the 2016
budget for a consultant.
Tousaw suggested that the price
range for such expertise would be in
the neighbourhood of between
$30,000 and $50,000.
Howick Reeve Art Versteeg felt if
council were to approve further
consultation, it would just be a
stalling tactic and that council
should step up and make a decision.
Several councillors were also
concerned about where the building
may be located. While many county
buildings have historically been
located in Goderich, several
councillors felt that if one large
building was to be constructed, it
should be in a central location like
Clinton.
Council passed a motion to refer
the item to this year's budget
deliberations - meaning that
retaining a consultant will be
discussed further in the coming
months and that no final decision
has been made.
Wing night
The Belgrave Kinsmen are famous for their wing nights, the
most recent of which was held last Friday, thanks to the
effort of volunteers like Kevin Scott, shown above manning
the ever -important deep fryers. (DennyScottphoto)
Undecided architects
Some students were building snow forts while others were building snowmen last Friday at
Hullett Central Public School. Others were just building. Some students, like, from left, Malia
Lyons, Laurie Steinson, Emma Bernier and Alexis Bernier were just rolling snow to see who
could make the largest snow boulder. (Denny Scott photo)
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