Council requires additional study of Dundela Rink project

 

 Council has decided that it needs additional time to study a  proposal from the Dundela Rink Committee, one of the three applicants for the South Branch Community Fund grant. 

The requests for support from Helping Hands and The Optimists were accepted in principle at the September 1, 2015, meeting.

Ben MacPherson, Recreation Program Coordinator, presented the briefs of the three successful applicants for the South Branch Community Fund to council. 

Six applications for the South Branch Fund were received by the August 14 deadline, but the committee determined that only three of those applicants met the specific criteria for funding laid out per the agreement with EDP Renewables. 

The Community fund currently stands at $60,000, with a further $30,000 due in January. The fund was established to provide $30,00 yearly to South Dundas for 20 years.

Matilda Helping Hands requested $5,000 for seniors’ programing, and the Optimists Club of South Dundas requested $1,000 for extended programing at an annual Family Day event. The Dundela Rink committee requested $120,000 to construct a new Dundela Rink Building.

While councillors were in agreement that these were all worth projects which would benefit members of the community, concerns were expressed about the actual costs that could be associated with the Rink Building. 

Councillor Ewing questioned the ultimate costs of electrical and plumbing, while councillor Mellan stated “We have $61,000 in this fund, but we will need $120,000. And the septic system on the site just won’t ‘cut it’. 

We probably need to factor it into any plans too, which definitely ups the price of this submission.” 

Deputy mayor Locke pointed out, “This is a municipal building. We have a responsibility to fund it. But we don’t necessarily only have to use EDP funds. We have to sit down and talk to EDP to decide what we can get away with cost-wise.”

 Councillor St. Pierre said “I would like to see the issue of the Rink approved and settled first, and then the other two applicants can receive their funds.”

“I am committed to putting a building back there,” said councillor Mellan, “but if we go ahead, we need to have EDP on board allowing us to (commit) two more years of their funding to this (one) project. Can that be done?  It would mean that we have no money for other applicants for the next two years. 

And there is no point going ahead if the costs rise higher than $120,000. We need more research into the septic and heating situations, and into whether EDP will support us.”

Council agreed that staff needed to research additional plans and possible cost cutting measures for the rink building. 

Mayor Delegarde emphasized that EDP must be involved in decisions about whether their South Branch funds for the next two years could be “earmarked” for this one project.

CAO Shannon Geraghty said that “we do know there is a need for a building, but we are not certain that this is the size of the building we need. I recommend that we re-address this question on September 15, when we will present other possible ideas.”

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