Peggy Revell
With their sights set on kicking off construction of the new Robert Moore School here soon, Rainy River District School Board trustees passed a series of resolutions to solidify a site management plan during a special board meeting Monday morning.
This is the first time the Town of Fort Frances has required a site management plan for the board’s building projects, Superintendent of Business Laura Mills noted at the meeting, but added the town has a right under both the Planning Act and Municipal Act to require such an agreement.
As part of this site management plan, Mills said the town is requiring that the school board—within three years of completion and relocation of the new school—apply for a building permit to demolish and remove the portion of the old school that will not be in use.
In conjunction with this, the board also ended up voting on a resolution Monday that established a security in the form of a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) in the name of the Town of Fort Frances, in trust to the Rainy River District School Board, for $455,000.
“This security is for a number of site services, municipal site services, but as well as for . . . it’s tied to the demolition of the existing school,” Mills explained.
“So what they’re requiring is $455,000 in security to ensure the completion of all the work in this agreement. And if the board does not complete the work, then the town has the right to draw upon this security and use those funds to do the work themselves.”
Having a security is standard practice for site agreement plans, noted Fort Frances CAO, Mark McCaig, who added the town wanted to make sure there was an understanding with the board concerning the removal of the old school.
“We want to make sure that that building is removed in a timely manner following the completion of the work,” McCaig stressed. “That was a very important aspect of the project for the town.
“The town is very concerned that buildings that are not going to be in use any more in the community are removed in a timely manner because we do have some issues to do with some vacant buildings,” he noted, stressing it’s not just vacant school properties but other ones like the Rainy Lake Hotel on Scott Street.
“Why it’s a big concern for the town is that it becomes kind of a responsibility for the taxpayer for those buildings to be removed. That comes with a huge fee,” McCaig said.
“So that when people are doing developments, we want to make sure that they assume the responsibility for removing said buildings.”
While the town originally had requested a letter of credit be established, which could have cost as much as $20,000 over the life of the agreement, Mills told the board that a compromise was reached where it was able to establish a GIC—with the board owning any interest generated by it.
The total amount of $455,000 comes from a list of itemized projects, such as sewer and water and their estimated costs, board chair Dan Belluz said at Monday’s meeting.
“The way it’s going to work is that as we progress with the project, we would be paying for those bills not out of the [security] account, but out of the building fund,” he explained to trustees.
“So at the end of the facility, when we’re completed and everything else, there will still be $455,000 in there, plus interest.
“Now, that money can be used for the demolition of Robert Moore School. It’s not specifically for those items on that list,” Belluz stressed.
While trustees expressed worry over having the money tied up over the period of time, they did vote in favour of the resolution.
“The choice is if we don’t pass it, then we don’t have a site plan agreement. If we don’t have a site plan agreement, then we don’t have a building permit, and if we don’t get a building permit, then we don’t get a school,” Belluz remarked.
“So, actually, we don’t have a choice.”
Easements on the property also were among the resolutions looked at and passed by the board at Monday’s meeting.
“On our property right now, there are a number of easements and we would like to abandon those and only put on an easement that covers the existing sanitary sewer line that basically cuts the property right in half,” explained Mills, referring to one resolution which called for the abandonment of existing water and sewer easements within the Robert Moore School land while conveying to the town an easement of 30 feet in width for the existing sanitary sewer.
Other easements the board addressed were those concerning the area on Robert Moore School that’s currently used as a public laneway.
As part of the site management plan, Mills noted the board also has been asked by the town to surface treat the parking lot and its entranceway, as well as grant an easement in perpetuity to the Town of Fort Frances over and upon the land.
McCaig said this paving is required in accordance to zoning bylaws.
Also as part of the site plan, the town and board have agreed to monitor the pedestrian access to the land for public safety, Mills told the board.
“If safety is adversely affected, the town and board will negotiate in good faith to resolve the issue,” she said, citing the example of how current plans include a proposed sidewalk on Crowe Avenue just at the top end of the property where the new school will be located.
But if the town sees there is an issue with students or pedestrians, the board would possibly have to build a pathway down to Second Street East.
“Anytime you build a $14-million project, you want to make sure that you start the project properly,” Education Director Jack McMaster had noted on Friday.
Approval of these various resolutions hopefully will mean that the board has done its part, McMaster noted, which means it all goes to the mayor for final sign-off.
To get the official nod to build, the board currently is working not just with the town, but with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and Ministry of the Environment.
“It’s a major development and there’s a lot of documents and submissions that have to be in place prior to the town saying, ‘Okay, you’re ready for a building permit’ and stuff like that,’” echoed McCaig.
He noted the board already has submitted an official plan amendment to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for approval, which will be followed by an appeal period that will expire July 16.
Meanwhile, undergoing a site plan agreement to obtain a building permit means a number of requirements and documents need to be submitted, reviewed, and accepted by the town, McCaig explained.
“There’s no reason to think that by the time that the appeal period ends, that all those documents shouldn’t be in place and they’re ready to go,” he stated.
“Once we start it, I think there will be huge benefits for the town,” McMaster said, noting the board will be keeping up-to-date photos of the project’s progress on its website at www.rrdsb.com
“Any time there’s this type of construction going on with subcontractors, we have an opportunity to employ a number of people in town and keep money coming into town,” he reasoned.
“Paralleling with the library, it’s actually quite exciting,” McMaster added. “I think these two projects will be great, not only economically for the town, but just for the kind of image that we’d like to present.”
Also at Monday’s meeting, the board passed a resolution for the temporary borrowing of $11,497,014 on the Robert Moore capital project to the Royal Bank of Canada to serve as bridge financing until government funding comes through.
Other motions passed at the meeting included:
•awarding the banking tender to the CIBC for the period of five years commencing Sept. 1, 2009, with the option of two one-year extensions;
•awarding RFP-SS2009 (for Fort Frances High School security camera upgrade) to Sunset Lock and Security;
•approving the purchase of two trucks for the plant department out of surplus funds in 2008/09; and
•approving the architectural contract for the Mine Centre School project with Evans Bertrand Hill Wheeler Architecture Inc.
