By Galen Simmons
Though it hasn’t yet been finalized by the province, St. Marys council has signalled its intent to renew an updated service agreement that will see the relocation of the town’s Service Ontario office to the Municipal Operations Centre (MOC) at 408 James St. S.
At the Sept. 10 council meeting, director of corporate services André Morin presented a number of changes that will be included in the town’s 2024 service-renewal agreement with the Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services. The current service agreement first designated the town as a service provider in October 2021 after the retirement of St. Marys’ previous Service Ontario franchisee in 2020 led to the office’s closure. Public outcry at the loss of the local provincial-services office led to it reopening in October 2021 under the town’s administration.
The town renewed the agreement for one year in October 2023 as staff worked through a plan to move the Service Ontario to a town-owned facility.
“The idea when we first went into this agreement with Service Ontario was to pilot synergies that Service Ontario and municipalities can have together,” Morin said. “Since then, I believe there’s been a few different partnerships with other municipalities and obviously you’ve heard about the partnerships Service Ontario and Staples has as well. That was kind of the start of those types of relationships Service Ontario was trying to have.
“Our Service Ontario service has remained fairly stable over the last three years that we’ve operated it. … Fundamentally, we’re still seeing between 30 and 45 transactions per day, which continues to be fairly consistent. Service Ontario has identified that, for one kiosk, as fairly significant.”
While the original agreement with Service Ontario covered the cost of staffing and provided a $22,000 stipend to the town for administration, general office supplies and rent, the revised agreement no longer includes the stipend and instead reimburses the town for eligible costs. They include a one-time start-up cost for renovations not to exceed $25,000 and monthly contract compensation of $8,137.33 with up to a five per-cent increase after year one to cover the cost of staffing, administration, facility and office costs.
The new contract also stipulates the Service Ontario office be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with a one-hour closure over lunch, and it will expire every two years.
“There are some challenges, of course, for the town in relation to an agreement like this,” Morin said. “There’s some administration burden; some time that … finance spends for paying bills, HR for paying payroll, those types of things that happen. We will see a significant increase in our front-counter coverage at the MOC. There will be a lot of traffic. Having said that, that traffic will be able to do double duty; pay their taxes and get their license renewed or whatever the case may be. … There should be some benefits for the community there, but there will be increased traffic at the Municipal Operations Centre which will take some time away from our other staff.”
To accommodate Service Ontario at the MOC, Morin said the town will need to reallocate one office and workspaces for town staff will need to be re-aligned. Morin said that is possible, however it may limit future space needs in the MOC building.
On the positive side, Morin said the town is providing an in-person service supported strongly by the community, there should be some synergies through cross-training Service Ontario staff to be able to handle front-counter duties at the MOC, thus freeing up town staff to complete other work, and the partnership with the province could lead to future opportunities for St. Marys.
“Providing Service Ontario is not a standard, municipal service that we would normally provide,” town CAO Brent Kittmer said. “So, it’s something that’s new, but I think we heard loud and clear back in 2020 and 2021 that it was something the community deeply desired. So, council made the decision it was a service we should provide and, if we’re going to provide it, this is the most efficient way to do it. It’s the most efficient way to deploy our resources, to use our existing facilities, avoid a rent payment and also to ensure it stays in the community. It is a creative way to also help our operations.”
“The province was pretty clear when there was a retirement and the office shut down they were not going to lease it to a private provider,” Mayor Al Strathdee added. “Either the municipality took it up or it was going to disappear. It was closed for a long time and there was a lot of concern in the community and there was a lot of positive feedback when it did open. … I’m surprised at how busy the office is. Yes, there is some sort of cost. Let’s be quite frank, there’s always a cost. It brings people to St. Marys from outlying areas. As well, it is a service that the public has made certainly very clear to me they want to try and maintain.
“That’s why we worked long and hard to get it here.”
Morin said the current Service Ontario office at 194 Queen St. W will close for one day Oct. 18 to facilitate the move, and it will reopen at the MOC Oct. 21.
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