Broken water main forces closure of OCAB

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Oxford County Administration Building (OCAB) remains closed indefinitely to staff and the public following a water leak nearly two weeks ago. The building has been closed since Friday, June 20, and as of press time, no date has been targeted for its reopening. An exception was made for Human Services clients only on Monday in order for cheques could be picked up.

Water damage is present in varying degrees on all four floors of the building and Warden Marcus Ryan said there are some theories as to what occurred, but the investigation is ongoing.

“A water pipe in the ceiling of the top floor, a connection in the water pipe, leaked. Crews are still investigating to find out exactly why that happened. It is a cold-water pipe, thankfully not wastewater.”

Workers are removing insulation from all other pipes in the building to examine all connectors in the building.

“They are doing that investigative work on top of all the remediation work to try and save as much furniture, drywall, carpet, as possible. We know where it happened, when it happened and what specific piece of hardware was involved. We just don’t know why it happened in that piece of pipe,” added Ryan.

The Warden said when he toured the building, he was fearful of the potential damage but was relieved when it wasn’t as bad as he had thought.

“Staff did a really good job of containing it immediately when they found it. It didn’t spread much farther than what they found on Friday morning, and the building is full of industrial fans to dry everything out.”

Ryan explained much of the building’s content will be able to remain in use, but he is well aware some will need to be replaced.

“Some desktop towers sitting on the floor were in an inch of water. IT will do everything it can to save those things, but I’m sure some of it isn’t good anymore. We just finished renovations in the building and the new carpet will probably dry out and be fine, but the older carpet will not be.”

Portions of drywall will also be removed and replaced to reduce the risk of mould appearing over time and Ryan added taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for the repair bill.

“We have no reason to believe it won’t all be covered by insurance and it will be manageable, but we don’t have all those answers yet.”

Staff are working from home during the closure and the last County Council meeting last Wednesday was held virtually. Ryan said it brought back memories of the pandemic and how the municipality conducted its business.

“It feels strange. I literally caught myself on Monday. I had a virtual meeting in my home office and was supposed to go to a public event in the afternoon, and I thought to myself, I can’t go, is it still on? I can go, I just can’t go to OCA. My brain, and I talked to a few staffers, automatically switched into COVID-mode. It totally feels like that.”

In terms of service delivery, Ryan explained the priority was to get customer service and human services online as quickly as possible. The latter covers issues such as the Ontario Disability Support Program, housing and Ontario Works.

“Clients usually come into customer service in the lobby, then walk down the hall. The first floor was the most damaged because the water flowed down the building. There are temporary kiosks set up in the lobby to deal with immediate issues and human services have offices set up in other buildings,” Ryan said.

He admitted working outside of their offices is very inefficient and inconvenient for staff, but virtual connections already exist, and employees are making the most of it. The next council meeting is scheduled for July 9, and a heavy agenda is expected.

“There will be planning applications, there may be delegations, so we are hoping that at least the lobby and council chambers can be available but we won’t know until the end of the week. There is a rooftop unit that heats and cools council chambers, but water got in there and short-circuited that.”

Ryan said it remains to be seen if the unit is repairable or needs to be replaced and added the meeting will have to be virtual if the necessary work isn’t completed in time.

“That’s the main hurdle to overcome but we are hoping to be back in there for July 9. To try and set up a meeting at an alternate location and the City of Woodstock was very generous in offering their chamber for us. The challenge nowadays is not just moving a bunch of people into a different room, but because we livestream meetings it means moving an entire audio-visual system.”

He added the last thing the county wants is to pull IT staff away from work on the damaged infrastructure to prepare an off-site venue for a council meeting.

Residents in need of county services are being asked to email customer service at customerservice@oxfordcounty.ca or call 519-539-9800 and follow the prompts. The county is unable to process online purchases for garbage bag tags and backflow test tags at this time. Garbage bag tags can be purchased at a number of retail locations across the County. These items can also be requested by contacting Customer Service at customerservice@oxfordcounty.ca or 519-539-9800.

Alternate locations will be in place for in-person meetings with Human Services staff. They can be reached at humanservices@oxfordcounty.ca or 519-539-9800, ext. 3390.

For updates, visit www.oxfordcounty.ca or follow Oxford County on social media.