On Tuesday, March 22nd Pelham Town Council will be receiving information pertaining to the potential Community Centre that has been the subject of a great deal of debate over the last few months. The information will include presentations from the architect with the design and elevations, as well as from the construction manager reviewing costs, and from staff who will provide details about financing.
Though some Councillors initially expressed concerns about the capacity of Council Chambers during what was likely to be a well-attended meeting, it was ultimately decided that moving to a larger facility would be cost prohibitive.
“The question was asked by one of the Councillors about the location, and our response as staff was that it would cost quite a bit of money to have the meeting at a different location,” said town CAO Darren Ottaway. “So council just determined that they would stay where they were.”
Ottaway did not know the exact cost off hand. He states “We didn’t go too far into it but the preliminary cost for the recordings and the microphones and all the other things that would be needed, my understanding was that we would have been looking at over a thousand dollars.”
When asked if he felt that Council Chambers would be able to accommodate every resident who wishes to watch the proceedings, Ward 1 Councillor Richard Rybiak, stated that he did not know how many people would be coming out, but that he felt satisfied with all the options available to residents.
“The meeting on the 22nd is not a public meeting per se,” he said. “It’s open to the public, of course, as all Council meetings are, but it’s a meeting specifically for council to receive the information from the people who are going to provide it and Council will spend the next month to month and a half making sure that all the information related to the community centre is made completely available to absolutely everybody in the town.”
This effort to keep residents informed will include a video recording of the proceedings being made available via the Town’s website on the 23rd and a re-broadcasting by Cogeco at 1pm on the 24th.
Following the meeting on the 22nd the town has promised several weeks of public engagement, with specific dates to be announced shortly. Council will have to make a decision by early May if they want to begin construction in August.
