The Mayor of Owen Sound doesn’t think Grey County needs a new administration building.
Mayor Deb Haswell says it’s not something they should be considering when money is tight and the economy is still struggling in some areas.
Haswell says there are other issues they need to look at before spending money on accommodations.
As we told you on Tuesday — Grey County Council heard from a consultant about the need for expanded facilities.
The report says the County needs almost 74 thousand square feet in the current building on Owen Sound’s east hill and almost 30 thousand square feet in the provincial offences building.
The consultants report includes a number of options — and it states the most cost effective way is to build an entirely new facility at a cost of almost 13.7 million dollars.
Other options for renovations and additions would range in cost between 7 million and 12.4 million dollars.
County Council has asked CAO Lance Thurston to prepare a report that would look again at every option and include a process for each possible outcome.
This would include costs, functionality and expected timelines.
Thurston expects to be able to present that report to council by April.
The current administration building is more than 50 years old and has served the County well, but there are limitations in terms of expanding it.
Thurston also points out that simply expanding an old building won’t necessarily deal with the problems associated with an aging structure.
On the plus side, there is ample room on the property for a new facility, given that the site is at least seven acres in size.
One idea might be for Owen Sound to enter into a partnership with the county on a joint new administration building, given that the city is also looking long-term as a replacement for the aging downtown City Hall.
Mayor Deb Haswell says there’s no reason why they couldn’t talk about such a facility.
But she also doesn’t believe the money is there for either the city or the county to be planning a new build anytime soon.
