Month: August 2013

Here, this morning, August 28, at 8:30 a.m., South Dundas officially opened for business in the municipality’s new headquarters, the South Dundas Municipal Centre.

While the $4.1 million renovation project to refit the old Morrisburg High School, that broke ground December 6, 2012, is not yet complete, the second and third floors of the building, are ready to welcome its first new tenants.

The second and third floors are the domain of the municipality. 

Only days before the municipality moved in, reporters were allowed to tour the facility. 

The most striking features of the building, and the thing that many of those who will work there like best, is the many large windows that give the building a bright, airy atmosphere. Not only do they provide a great view overlooking surrounding Morrisburg, they fill the building with beautiful daylight and they can be opened too.

Those who visit the South Dundas Municipal Centre for municipal business will enter go to the second floor where they will be greeted by South Dundas’ administrative staff, at their new counter that opens into the large administrative area. 

The administrative offices, like all of the offices in the building are grouped together with other offices in areas that they are calling pods. The administrative pod includes the treasurer’s office and the clerk’s office.

According to staff, the administrative space is similar in size to that in Williamsburg, but the layout has been much improved for better efficiency. 

Another pod includes the planning and public works pod which includes offices for planning and building staff along with public works manager. This pod includes a common work area and three offices, each about 110 square feet in size.

Another pod features a meeting room and offices for the fire chief, economic development officer and manager of recreation programming. For the first time, these managers will all be under the same roof. 

At the far end of the hall is the chief administrative officer’s office which includes some extra administrative space and an extra office.

There are enough offices for all South Dundas office staff, and some room for growth in the new building.

The second floor has two meeting rooms, and an archive room for records currently in use by staff.

The third floor is where South Dundas council will meet. Council chambers, with a small caucus room and an office for the use of the mayor and council fill the east side of the third floor and the west side is a large recreation area, that will house some of the recreation programming activities that South Dundas offers. 

The old wooden front door, is being replaced with glass to preserve some of the look and character of the 1925 building.

Once paving is complete, there will be about 100 parking spaces available at the SDMC. The front lot alone has parking for 40. The paving is being done in two sections to allow the St. Lawrence Medical Clinic to remain open for regular hours throughout the construction process.

The next step will be completion of the first floor of the building, the new home of the St. Lawrence Medical Clinic. The clinic plans to be in that space early next month. 

Once the first floor is complete, the renovation project then shifts to the existing St. Lawrence Medical Clinic space. Part of that will be retained for SLMC for administrative purposes, but part of the building will become the home of the new Morrisburg branch of the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Library. 

[…]

While a grand opening celebration of the South Dundas Municipal Centre is not expected to take place until the entire project is complete, the mayor did have some comments as South Dundas staff moved into the new municipal headquarters this week.

South Dundas mayor Steven Byvelds is impressed with the completed second and third floors of the building. “It’s great,” said Byvelds. “There is lots of space and the new council chambers will provide enough space, even for the meetings with challenging issues.”

“The staff floor is laid out well and I am sure they will be happy with their new surroundings.”

“I believe the best thing about this project will be the collaboration of the St. Lawrence Medical Clinic and the SDG Library all in one location,” said Byvelds.

Byvelds also noted the importance of using this historic building that will serve the community well for generations to come.

He admires how in Europe heritage buildings are looked after, and even after WWII were rebuilt into places that are functional, to keep the past in mind. This is something that Byvelds believes this project has accomplished.

The mayor is pleased with the contractors on the project, RJ Bourgon, through Chris Markell. 

“They have done a great job of staying within budget, with the exception of a few minor changes we asked for, and they have kept the schedule tight,” said Byvelds. 

“In the end, I believe we will have restored an old building to its former glory and made use of space that is needed in our community,” he concluded.

The second and third floors of the South Dundas Municipal Centre opened for municipal business Wednesday morning.

The elevator is not yet in service, so those attending the building are asked to use the south entrance until further notice. For those unable to access the second floor without the elevator, service will be provided on the first floor, according to the CAO. 

[…]

The $2 million Lakeshore Drive sewer project was scheduled to get underway this week.

With this project, and the upcoming sewer project for the St. Lawrence Street area, those driving in Morrisburg can expect to see construction detours for the next year.

For those living in the affected areas, they will see no interruptions in water or sewer service.

Temporary water lines have already been put in place. 

Because there are a lot of unknowns in an underground project, Chris Bazinet, manager of public works for South Dundas, says that there may be some minor interruptions in water service, but they would be site specific. Those affected would only be affected for a couple of hours and would be notified directly.

During any sewer project, waste is diverted (pumped/rerouted/piped) around areas where work is taking place so there are no service interruptions. 

Bazinet explains that in the case of this project where the sewer lines are being replaced, the old line stays in service until the new one is ready.

Detour signs will be going up to divert traffic away from construction.

Because there will be two sewer reconstruction projects going on simultaneously the detour route will change occasionally.

“Traffic from Ottawa Street will be diverted to St. Lawrence until minor repairs are done on Second Street. At that time, the diversion goes to Second Street,” he explained. “It will be signed,” he added. 

Even though the Lakeshore sewer project is taking place from Canada Way to almost Steward Drive, which is the only route to the Morrisburg dock, Bazinet says they will make sure there is always one lane open to allow traffic to get to the waterfront.

The project, which will see sewer, water, sanitary sewer, paving and sidewalk infrastructure re-constructed, is starting at the intersection of Ottawa Street and Canada Way. The contractors, Cornwall Gravel, will work their way west, as quickly as possible to get as much done while the weather permits. 

Once weather ends their progress, the priority then becomes the completion of the new sewer line that ends near Steward Drive.

Prioritizing the sewer line portion, is necessary to ensure that South Dundas takes full advantage of the government funding they received for this project. That funding, which requires completion of the sewer portion, must be used by March 2014. “And, it will be,” said Bazinet.

Bazinet asks the public to please be vigilant in staying away from the areas where construction is taking place, for the safety of the public and contractors.

Bazinet expects final paving in affected areas to take place in summer 2014.

[…]

MORRISBURG – Happy Face Nursery School is patiently waiting to gain occupancy status to the two classrooms at Morrisburg Public School that will be home to their new Morrisburg location.

“Construction is a bit behind schedule,” said Cheryl Firlotte, executive director with Happy Face Nursery School and Child Care.

Although they were hoping to be ready to open September 3, Firlotte now hopes that they will be able to open by mid September.

“Morrisburg is a priority for Happy Face and for the Ministry,” said Firlotte.

“This centre, here in Morrisburg, is going to be a really nice centre,” she said. Happy Face will be operating six centres in SD&G once this Morrisburg centre is opened this fall. 

Community need is what brings Happy Face to Morrisburg. 

“There is really nothing like this available in the area,” said Firlotte. “This area has been identified as needing child care for some time.”

The Morrisburg location is a day care facility. This new location is a partnership between Happy Face, the Upper Canada District School Board and Cornwall Child Care Services.  

Happy Face at Morrisburg Public School will have room to accommodate 15 children in the toddler program and 16 children in the pre-school program. Toddlers are aged 18-30 months and pre-schoolers are 30 months to kindergarten age. 

“Response, so far, has been fantastic,” said Firlotte. When it was announced earlier this year that Happy Face was coming to Morrisburg, about 50 per cent of the available spaces filled up right away. They are holding a registration night August 29, 4-7 p.m. at Morrisburg Public School. 

Happy Face follows the Ontario Early Learning Framework of play-based learning with literacy and numeracy embedded in the every day curriculum. 

The Morrisburg location will be staffed by four qualified early childhood educators.

The facility will feature two classrooms, a kitchen, office and storage space. Each room has its own washroom and there are two outdoor fenced yards, one for each age group for outdoor play.

The site will be open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Meals and snacks are provided. The cost is $32 or $35 per day, depending on the age of the child, with subsidies available.

“This will definitely fill a real need in this community,” said Firlotte.

[…]