Clearview council supports hall renos ‘in principle’

Clearview council has agreed “in principle” to bring all six of the township’s community halls up to accessibility standards.
Council members referred to the motion, tabled by Deputy Mayor Barry Burton, as a vote of confidence to show that the halls will not be closed and sold off and that tax dollars will be spent on the improvements.
Mayor Doug Measures said the August 5 vote is a good step forward, but there are still many steps ahead.
The motion was made during the first of three special council meetings to decide the fate of the halls in Avening, Brentwood, Dunedin, Duntroon, Nottawa and Sunnidale Corners, which all require upgrades to meet AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) standards by 2025.
The decision to upgrade the halls comes with support from the various hall boards which have each passed a motion confirming a range of commitments by the respective halls, including fundraising efforts.
Councillor Robert Walker spoke in opposition to Burton’s motion, saying, “I’m just concerned that we are giving false hope to the halls.”
“I don’t like it and I think it’s premature,” he said, adding that the outcome may be that the costs are too high.
Councillor Thom Paterson spoke in support of the motion, saying, “This is a vote of confidence to the hall boards that we’re committed to preserving what they mean to this community… We have more work to do.”
He said he hopes cost savings can be found once they get into the details about the level of accessibility required.
“I think it’s more important to move forward than to hesitate some more,” said Paterson. “The halls are anxious to know where council stands.”
The vote passed 5-3 with those in opposition not willing to fully commit to renovating all the halls without all the information at hand.
Council went on to assess each hall individually in order of when staff received direction from the hall boards.
Avening Hall was the first to respond with a commitment to renovate and fundraise.
“We just need the word and we’re good to go,” said hall rep Councillor John Lamers.
Avening Hall volunteers are hoping to find some cost savings by referencing the fully engineered plans developed in 2016. The project went to tender but council of the day declined the tender when it came in way over budget.
Sunnidale Corners also has engineered drawings for a portion of its renovation.
Many of the halls are exploring other add-ons, such as outdoor washrooms for Brentwood and kitchen upgrades for all.
Halls are also interested in exploring elevators versus lifts, and the associated maintenance and licensing costs.
As of August 9, council has agreed to do some cost analysis to get a better idea on the true costs associated with Avening, Brentwood, Sunnidale Corners and Nottawa. A subsequent meeting will be held to discuss halls in Dunedin and Duntroon.
Measures acknowledged that the 25 per cent fundraising commitment asked of the halls is “very negotiable,” saying the ratio wasn’t really well flushed out during in-camera discussions to decide on a process for evaluating the halls.
Through consultations with the hall boards it was determined that no hall was interested in taking ownership of the hall and that so far, each hall was willing to commit to fundraising with the exception of Nottawa.
Nevertheless, council showed support for exploring the idea of building a new hall in Nottawa.
A total renovation price tag of $5 million was bandied about for all the halls but in truth, the township does not yet know the actual costs of renovating or re-building halls and has yet to get into engineering details.
The next meeting date, to discuss Dunedin and Duntroon, has not yet been scheduled.