‘No do-nothing option’ on Town of Georgina’s replacement civic centre

Make it or break it decision from Georgina council expected in March

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 13, 2023
Amanda Persico

After years of debate, Georgina council is expected to make a final decision on the replacement civic centre project.

One of the things preventing the go-ahead is the new $50-million price tag.

“Prices are not going down,” said Mayor Margaret Quirk during a recent council meeting.

TIME IS MONEY

Since 2018, the town has spent more than $1 million on design and redesign costs.

Recently, council was presented with a new 44,600-square-foot civic centre.

Councillors debated the merits of a new building, many citing the renovation and redesign pre-pandemic costs did not present a full picture.

One thing is clear, council needs to move forward with the replacement project or axe it completely and start again at square one.

“There is no do-nothing option,” Quirk said.

“The civic centre has served us well, but its time has come. The functionality of the building does not work.”

After hours of debate and discussion, council opted to prolong the final decision until next month.

“What made sense years ago might not make sense now,” said regional Coun. Naomi Davison, who pushed to move the debate to March 1.

“We want this to be our forever building. This amount hurts. And I want to feel confident of this decision.”

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE CURRENT CIVIC CENTRE?

Georgina Civic Centre elevator

• Immediate repairs: $27.7 million is needed, which does not include a structural redesign to allow for more space; staff relocation and leasing options while renovations are underway; nor moving the IT server and removing asbestos found in the basement.
• Accessibility: The current elevator is not large enough to fit a wheelchair and there are several half floors accessible only by stairs. Any renovations to the current civic centre would have to be compliant with current provincial accessibility standards by 2025.
• Air quality: There’s no HVAC system and it is uncertain if the roof has the structural capacity to support an HVAC system.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Georgina Civic Centre timeline

The project has been on the books since 2016 and in 2018 Georgina council voted to move forward with a standalone building.

That’s not to say the project -- and budget -- hasn’t changed over the years. By the end of 2019, the new civic centre was to be 49,400 square feet with a $31.2-million price tag.

Enter the pandemic and council opted to look at various other design options, including a 21,200-square-foot option, which is the highest per square-foot cost.

HOW WILL THE CIVIC CENTRE PROJECT BE FUNDED?

Georgina Civic Centre costs

Council approved a new funding strategy for the replacement civic centre, but not the $50 million price tag.

The new funding strategy involves creating a new civic centre reserve funded by the 2023 and 2024 infrastructure tax levy along with other facility repair reserves; taking out a temporary capital line of credit; and borrowing against town reserves.

“This is a funding strategy I can support, I can defend,” Quirk said.

It allows for a 12-year repayment plan after construction is complete. The initial $27-million plan was to be funded through a 30-year debenture loan that amounted to about $1.5 million in annual debt repayments and about $18 million in interest payments.

Based on the updated budget along with higher interest rates, using the initial funding formula would amount to about $3.1 million in annual debt repayments over 30 years and about $42 million in interest payments.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Now, the town is grappling with high interest charges, rising inflation and increasing construction costs, bringing the total budget to $50 million -- with less square footage than the initial plan.

About three-quarters of the increase is directly related to inflation and higher costs.

“None of us like it,” said Coun. Dave Neeson. “Nothing has changed in terms of the need for a new building. No one wants to spend this kind of money.

But we also know it's not responsible to push it off.”

The town has created a dedicated webpage for the Civic Centre replacement project. For more information, visit georgina.ca.