As construction begins on a new veterinary training centre on Lakehead University’s Thunder Bay campus, the stage has been set for a separate project — a future veterinary clinic near Murillo.
Oliver Paipoonge council approved the zoning for the proposed Pole Line Road clinic at Tuesday’s planning meeting.
No details have been made available as yet. More information may come to light if the property owner applies for a building permit, Oliver Paipoonge Mayor Lucy Kloosterhuis said on Wednesday.
Kloosterhuis said that council approved the zoning on the understanding that the property wouldn’t be used for any other purpose than a clinic, should a business go forward at the location.
In recent years, the province has acknowledged a shortage of veterinarians in Northern Ontario — particularly in regard to farm animals — and has offered financial incentives to new vets who agree to practise in the North.
Last month, Lakehead University announced a $12.6-million construction contract had been awarded to Thunder Bay’s Tom Jones Corp. to build the new campus training centre.
The project is a collaboration between the University of Guelph — home to the Ontario Veterinary College — which through the joint initiative aims to recruit 20 veterinary students from Northern Ontario communities each year.
“The agricultural industry is expanding in Northern Ontario, and having well-trained veterinarians is key to sustaining that growth,” Northern Economic Development and Growth Minister George Pirie, who is from Timmins, said in an earlier news release.
The province earmarked $14.7 million for the collaboration between Lakehead and the University of Guelph, with $4.5 million of that being put toward construction of the training centre on LU’s campus.
Also on Tuesday, a hearing into a proposal to re-zone a piece of municipal property adjacent to Oliver Paipoonge’s north-end landfill site was postponed until more information could be provided to council, Kloosterhuis said.
If the zoning for the property is changed to disposal industrial from open space, it would allow the site’s “attenuation zone to flow along the east property line,” which would permit enhancements to help extend the landfill’s operating life, a hearing notice said.
Kloosterhuis said the proposed move is mainly a housekeeping measure.
