Council re-examines Tillsonburg town hall site again

Jeff Helsdon, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A possible site for a new town hall was narrowed after Coun. Kelly Spencer brought debate on the subject back to council with a motion she presented at the Jan. 13 meeting.

Her motion was to reconsider a motion passed on July 8 for the new hall to be located at 10 Harvey Street. Effectively, the previous motion was to tear down the existing customer service centre at 10 Lisgar Street and to build an entirely new building on that site. Spencer’s motion also directed staff to investigate the feasibility of a greyfield site owned by the town on the northeast corner of Brock and Harvey Streets, as well as the possibility of a daycare in the building.

Speaking to her rationale for reconsideration and suggesting a different location, Spencer pointed to the former town hall steering committee that disbanded before she was on council, which recommended the Brock-Harvey location with an estimated price of a new building at $8.2 million in 2022. Following an environmental investigation at that site, a decision was made to locate the town hall at 10 Lisgar Ave. The mayor favoured this location, and council concurred. However, when a report was presented at the July 8 meeting identifying potential issues at the Lisgar location, a teardown of the existing building was suggested with a complete rebuild and a preliminary price tag as high as $18 million. Council voted to proceed, but was split on the decision.

In the meantime, Spencer said staff are spread between several locations, leading to lower morale.

“I believe we are going to lose more staff if we don’t have a light at this tunnel,” she said. “This was to be a temporary placement until the 10 Lisgar town hall was built.”

Spencer said there have been comments in the community and on Facebook about “cozy offices for council.” She noted this is inaccurate, as only staff and the mayor would have an office in the building.

Fast forward to last fall, and council passed a motion the cost of a new town hall shouldn’t exceed $11 million, and 50 per cent of the costs needed to be in the bank through the sale of land. Spencer apologized to staff for the many reports on the topic over the years.

“This is a massive commitment and an important commitment,” she said. “The feedback I received from many people is to build for the future, not to build minimum otherwise it will cost taxpayers down the road unnecessarily large amounts. It doesn’t need to be big and fancy, but functional.”

It was also suggested traffic would be better at the Brock and Harvey Streets location. Spencer based the suggestion for a daycare on a similar plan that was done in Zorra Township. She said Sonbeam Daycare has 400 families on a waitlist and Tillsonburg Little School has another 350.

Coun. Chris Parker asked for more information on the contamination at the greyfield site. Economic Development Officer Cephas Panschow explained there were a number of bore holes drilled and there was slight contamination in two holes.

“That’s something that has to be dealt with as a part of site development, but there is a difference in the world of environmental science between a site where you are going to put residential uses where people are sleeping and staying overnight and an office site,” he said.

Coun. Bob Parsons questioned whether the addition of a daycare would delay moving ahead with a town hall and said he could support the amendment. He still wanted staff to look at the feasibility of 10 Lisgar on a scaled-down basis, with offices built in the bay and the building not having a new fire dispatch area.

“We own the land and have vacant space there,” he said. “There is room there for offices and a council chamber.”

Spencer agreed to the amendment to the motion.

“Just to reiterate, this is a really difficult and important decision,” Spencer said. “It’s highly politicized. Everyone wants to do the right thing. I know speaking to the other council members, it just didn’t fit. There’s nothing wrong with exploring the options to make it efficient for staff and reduce the cost for the community.”

She asked if there was design work completed for 10 Lisgar to proceed within the existing structure, and was told there was.

Saying this would cost less money, Deputy Mayor Dave Beres asked for assurances that the report would be written so that if Lisgar didn’t work, efforts would be switched to the greyfield site.

Mayor Deb Gilvesy said she favoured the building within the existing structure at 10 Lisgar, saying it would be more cost effective.

In the end, council passed a motion to reconsider the original motion from July 8 to tear down the existing structure at 10 Lisgar and build a new building. Spencer’s motion was also passed with an amendment to include investigation of a new town hall within the existing structure at 10 Lisgar while also investigating the possibility of a daycare.