Council briefs: Land sold to company and parking lots to be fixed

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Dilegge purchases two acres

Another industrial plant is coming to Woodstock after the city finalized the totalling $230,000 sale of 0.8 hectares (two acres) to Dilegge Properties Ltd. at 201 Bysham Park Dr.

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Council briefs: Land sold to company and parking lots to be fixed Back to video

Council previously approved the sale of two acres to Dilegge in June for a property at the east end of Nellis Street. However, an official plan amendment was needed for that site, a process that could take three to four months, according to the staff report.

Dilegge hoped to begin construction immediately so found another site on Bysham Park Drive that’s also fully serviced.

The staff report noted Dilegge plans to build a roughly 740-square-metre (8,000-square-foot plant) for Copper Wire Stripper, a company that assembles and distributes wire-stripping equipment.

The sale is expected to close Sept. 20 and construction should begin shortly afterwards.

Parking lots to be repaired

Four municipal parking lots will see work done before the first snow fall.

Council approved $1,108,993 for Bright’s Permanent Paving Limited to rehabilitate the city lots.

The report stated $360,000 will be spent at the 944 James St. lot, $150,000 for one-third of the Woodstock District Community Complex lot, $120,000 for the Brock Street municipal lot and $95,000 for the Roth Park lot.

Coun. Ron Fraser said he’d heard from residents in the Roth Park area who were concerned about the freshly paved lots being a spot for speeding cars and creating extra noise.

Brian Connors, the city’s director of parks and recreation, said his department is focusing on repairing the lots and then assessing way to discourage mischievous activity.

“We want to keep the lot maintained, so people that are using the park can use it without endangering their vehicles,” he said.

Connors said the work on Roth Park for the south and north shores, as well as the community complex lot, will be finished in phases to fit within the budget.

Stormwater project authorized

City council approved a tender award for $250,000 to remove sediment from the Brick Pond and Finch stormwater management facilities. Councillors also authorized an additional $70,000 for the project from the reserve for capital projects.

Ground Force Environmental Inc. of Kitchener was the lone bidder at $285,050.70, inclusive of HST. The city’s purchasing policy requires council to approve tenders when there’s only one bid.

The report to council noted staff previously worked with Ground Force in 2015 on a similar project

The report stated the engineering consulting fees are expected to be about $60,000, leaving $190,000 for the construction after $250,000 was set aside in the capital budget.

Harold de Haan, the city engineer, told council the intent is to remove sediment at the bottom of the storage facility, much of which isn’t visible from the surface. The work is expected to shortly begin.

Less funding for Small Business Centre programs

The city signed a three-year agreement with the province’s Ontario Transfer Payment plan to receive $180,823 annually for its Small Business Centre.

The report stated the centre’s core funding of $85,823 remained unchanged but noted reductions of about 12 per cent to the Starter Company Plus and Summer Company programs.

“With the new provincial government and its ‘Open for Business’ initiatives, a stringent review of funding had been undertaken and, in this time of financial constraint, core funding for the SBEC and the Summer Company and Starter Company initiatives have been maintained, but there is no additional funding for over and above base funding received in previous years,” the staff report stated.

The Starter Company Plus program will receive $63,000 and Summer Company will get $32,000.

The province has supported the Small Business Centre since its creation in 2002.