HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-10-11, Page 20The financing of the new FamilyHealth Team building in Seaforth
was brought up as new business by
Huron East councillor Larry
McGrath at the Oct. 2 council
meeting.
McGrath, who voted against the
initial motion, brought council some
numbers put together for him that
calculated how much interest the
municipality would pay under a 20-
year debenture, an arrangement
Huron East has used in the past.
McGrath, citing the numbers he
had received, told the rest of council
that on a $2 million debenture,
which is figuring conservatively as
initial predictions were in the $2.5
million range, council would pay
between $1.4 million and $1.7
million in interest.
McGrath said he felt very strongly
about the issue, saying that the
interest the municipality would pay,
alone, would pay for a lot of road
work.“This is just from a business pointof view,” McGrath said. “I’m alsohoping that costs come in muchlower than anticipated.”
Mayor Joe Seili agreed, but said
in an interview after council that
McGrath was getting ahead of
himself.
Seili hopes to appoint a
committee soon to head up
fundraising for both this and the
Brussels Library project to take care
of some of the costs.
The proposed solution by
McGrath was to look into taking
money from the unrestricted
reserves that council has, totalling
just under $2 million, and perhaps
financing the project itself, and
saving the interest costs.
This is something that treasurer
Brad Knight says merits discussion,
but that completely depleting
reserves is not a good idea either.
“[McGrath] is touching on an
issue that is one of many council is
going to have to deal with in regards
to the clinic,” Knight said.“I think he’s right. I don’t see whywe need to automatically think thatwe’re going to debenture the wholething. The unrestricted reserves is
the working capital that we’ve got.
That’s about $2 million that we’re
looking at right now.”
However, Knight says, draining
the reserves would mean perhaps
stalling road work for one, and
prioritizing, because those reserves
are the same fund expected to
finance the new Brussels Library,
whether it’s an addition or a new
building.
“I think council would be remiss
if they didn’t make a strong
commitment to put that money back
into reserves as soon as possible [if
they do take it out],” he said.
“So again, I think it’s something
that council has to look at. We have
to look at what our cash flow is, but
I think it’s certainly feasible that we
could take a sizeable chunk out of
our reserves.”
The financing issue will come up
soon, as they are already into fall,when they were hoping to breakground on the new clinic.“The financing of the clinic is abudgeting issue that is up to council,
and if the reserves are used, it’s up
to them how long they want to take
to pay it back. They may want to
scale back some other projects,
whether it’s road construction that
they want delayed, or something
else,” Knight said.
“I think council has to do a little
forward planning on this. There’s
been the library issue in Brussels, so
they have to get some priorities
themselves as to what they want to
do and how quickly they want to do
it.”
Council faces several timely
decisions at their Oct. 16 meeting,
as both projects already have their
wheels in motion. Seili says he
hopes to have another public
meeting concerning the Brussels
Library by the end of October, as
floor plans have come in for both
addition and new building
scenarios.In addition to the library, theclinic is in the tendering process,which means that deposits will haveto be put down soon, Seili said, so
decisions on both issues can be
expected within the month. Seili
still sticks by his initial hope that
construction in Seaforth could start
by this fall.
This discussion came on a night
where they received a budget update
from Knight. With the numbers final
up to Sept. 30, theoretically, all
departments should have 75 per cent
of their budget remaining. Therefore
council was given a refresher on the
state of their finances as well as the
bottom line of their reserves.
The unrestricted reserves,
currently totalling $1,942,190, are
divided between the working capital
reserve, the equipment reserve, the
bridges reserve and the parkland
reserve. Council still holds over
$2.5 million in restricted reserves,
which is money to be considered
off-limits for such an expense.
PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2007.
Plans for a multi-family dwelling
in Wingham have a couple of
residents nervous.
Ken Mathers attended a planning
advisory committee meeting of
North Huron council on Oct. 1 to
raise some concerns he has with the
proposed development.
A re-zoning application has been
made for two parcels of vacant
residential land, one between
Carling Terrace and Catherine Street
and the other on the west side of
Catherine Street. The first property
would see construction of a multiple
attached residential building with a
maximum of four residences.
The other zoning would allow for
future development of two similar
buildings.
Ken Mathers, who is building a
home near the property didn’t feel
there was a need for this type of
residence and expressed his concern
that it would take away from the
single family dwellings.
“I’m one of the few people
actually willing to move into
Wingham and pay the taxes. I was
under the impression that this area
would stay single-family
residences.”
Mathers said that while he knows
the developer George Oriold of
Howick Homes is going to build
“good” units, he was worried about
what would happen down the road.
“I’ve seen it happen with the next
owner and the next the quality
diminishes.”
Oriold explained that there is a
need for this type of housing with
many seniors looking for options
that allow them to have their own
homes without the maintenance
work. He also explained that the
units are to be purchased not rented
so deterioration is unlikely.
Oriold said that while the plan for
now is to build three multi-dwelling
buildings, if he sees there isn’t a
need down the road it could go back
to single residences on the second
property.
Mathers still worried about the
effect this building would have on
the community. Oriold said that with
the first property they were taking a
single-family lot out of service. “It
would have allowed for three homes,
but we’re putting four units. It’s
really not changing the density that
much.”
Another resident, Tharon Riley,
expressed a concern about proper
drainage of the site. “There used to
be a pond there and quite a bit of
water lays there. I just want to know
that there will be grading so it drains
properly.”
Oriold assured her that plans
would have to be approved showing
how the water is going to flow.
Clerk-administrator Kriss Snell re-
iterated this, saying that the chief
building official would have to be
satisfied with the grading before
he’d issue a building permit.”
Snell also said that because the
proposal is for a multi-resident
dwelling, the CBO will look into a
site plan with developers that will
include things like buffers and
planting strips between
neighbouring properties.
Construction could begin in
November on the first property,
however, councillor Greg
McClinchey was hesitant to approve
the rezoning. “I’m generally
supportive. There is a shortage of
this kind of housing. However
concerns have been raised and I
would like to hear from our
Wingham representative (councillor
Archie MacGowan, who was absent)
on this.”
Snell noted that a deferment
would delay construction.
McClinchey was the only
councillor who did not vote in favour
of passing the recommendation.
However, he asked to speak with the
residents prior to having the vote on
the bylaw. “I’m not necessarily
against this I just want some
additional clarification.”
Council had a short recess to offer
him the opportunity.
When the bylaw was brought
forward later in the meeting,
McClinchey moved its passing.
Residents express concerns over multi-plex proposal
HE. discusses funding for FHT building
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