Georgina's town buildings need millions in repair: consultants
$10M in 'immediate' repairs needed

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 24, 2016
By Heidi Riedner

Council members were left “shell shocked” after a multi-million dollar price tag to bring town facilities up to standard was tabled by engineering consultants this week.

Roughly $10 million in the short-term and $50 million over the next 20 years will be required for 24 major town buildings considered in need of most significant repair, according to the results of a building review presented by Brown and Beattie on Nov. 23.

Ward 4 Coun. Frank Sebo echoed Mayor Margaret Quirk’s “shell-shocked” sentiments after hearing “a whole lot of numbers flying out there”.

Reports for the remaining 19 town buildings covered by the $99,500 review, and considered to have less financial impact, will be completed and presented to council within the next month.

The building condition assessment did not include "newer" buildings like The ROC - with the expectation that they would not be in need of significant investment - or facilities such as halls that the town is considering for divestiture.

But, one of the town’s largest portfolios in terms of its assets has “serious gap issues,” infrastructure and engineering director Dan Pisani said.

While some accessibility requirements and retrofits have been done, there are still "extensive" issues with some of the town's buildings, Pisani said, adding that "serious discussions" need to take place regarding the future expectations for some of the facilities before making further investments, or even "allowing people in some of these places".

He added the life cycle review of buildings is just the capital cost side of the coin, which does not address operational costs such as utility fees and replacement values.

Building code and accessibility issues are the two most significant factors that need to be addressed for most of the town's major facilities, according to Jeremy Nixon, who made the presentation to council.

The single most significant dollar amount was tied to the Civic Centre, which needs $5 million right out of the gate to address “immediate” issues.

Six-figure short-term fixes identified in the fire department master plan tabled last week at council were similarly raised by Nixon.

They include a long list of repairs and upgrades totalling $275,000 for the Keswick fire hall, $175,000 for the Sutton station and $50,000 for Pefferlaw.

Additional investments totalling $1.8 million for the three halls were estimated for the next 20-year period.

The building conditions assessment is the latest of a number of comprehensive reviews and master plans that have been conducted during the past year with the intent of formulating an integrated, proactive, long-term approach for allocating budget and reserve dollars, according to town chief administrative officer Winanne Grant.

She said the “infrastructure gap” Georgina is facing is not uncommon, but added that the town’s 2017 budget process is the first time council will be taking a "long-term approach to decision-making”.

That will largely be framed by the town's long-term financial plan being compiled by Hemson Consulting and scheduled to be tabled next month.

It will consolidate the results from the numerous studies and plans completed by consultants this year, as well as the growth-related capital costs associated with the development charges study.

Two years into its term, council is “now at that stage where all the puzzle pieces are all fitting into place”, Mayor Quirk said.

"It may not be the picture we would all like to see, but it is the reality of how many issues we have and how we are going to tackle it."

Ward 1 Coun. Naomi Davison was “cautiously optimistic” moving forward with what she called the second phase of the town’s new long-term approach to doing business, even if “it’s going to hurt”.

While $10 million in “immediate” fixes identified in the building reports would represent a 30 per cent tax levy increase to the 2017 budget, town treasurer Rebecca Mathewson said that obviously could not be borne by the public and will not happen.

Issues identified as priorities from the “magnitude of information staff is reviewing,” however, will go into the draft budget being tabled Dec. 14.

A modified strategy for the town's reserve funds, which currently sit at $45 million, is also in the queue for 2017 budget discussions.

“We need to be reserving for the future,” Mathewson said, adding that while there are several reserve funds for specific buildings, there is no current general reserve fund for replacement or rehabilitation.

Brown and Beattie’s 87-slide presentation to council, as well as separate reports for each facility in the review, are available on the town’s website at georgina.ca.