Rideau Lakes council’s asked staff to issue three tenders for drawings for a new municipal office, a retrofit of the Chantry office, and the reconstruction of the office into a public works garage and archive.
It comes off a heated discussion in another marathon meeting Monday and a 5-4 vote.
The motion also includes the township holding a pair of town halls, one before and one after the tenders are awarded, and consultation with Beckwith Township regarding their recently opened new offices.
Councillor Paula Banks says the horseshoe can’t ignore the work that’s needed on the existing site.
Councillor Dustin Bulloch feels retrofitting Chantry makes no sense in addressing the long-term needs of the community.
Councilor Sue Dunfield maintains the retrofitting of Chantry benefits the taxpayers more so than a new build.
Earlier this year Mayor Arie Hoogenboom implemented strong mayor powers to prevent the Chantry office retrofit being moved to tender.
However at the July 7th meeting a motion was introduced to re-consider By-law 2025-69, which confirmed the council proceedings of the May 12th meeting, the one where council directed staff to issue the Chantry retrofit project moving to tender, which Hoogenboom later vetoed.
That motion passed, allowing council to reintroduce the idea of issuing the tender again this week.
myFM’s reached out to Hoogenboom to ask if he’ll implement strong mayor powers for a third time this year when this motion becomes a by-law at a future meeting.
You can read the motion here.
Story by Grant Deme