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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTR-53-94 THE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON REPORT Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE File -Co Date: July 4, 1994 Res' # rpJRD By-Law# Report#: I -53-94 File#: Subject: COURTICE COMMUNITY CENTRE LIBRARY- JOINT USE FACILITY Recommendations: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report TR-53-94 be received; 2. THAT the Clarington Public Library Board and the Northumberland Clarington School Board be thanked for their contribution to the working committee which was established to explore a joint use project for the construction and operations of the Library component of the Courtice Community Centre; 3. THAT the Clarington Public Library Board and the Northumberland Clarington School Board be informed that inclusion of the School Board Library requirements in the Courtice Complex would result in an increased cost to the taxpayer, and as a result Council will not be supporting a joint use facility at this time; and 4. THAT the Northumberland Clarington School Board be requested to continue to explore joint use options with the Municipality and the Clarington Library Board for future sites which my be planned to incorporate joint uses. BACKGROUND AND COMMENT: 1.0 During the 1994 Budget deliberations dealing with Clarington Public Library Board's capital requests Council authorized Staff (copy of GPA-179-94 attached), to recognize funds relating to operations cost for the proposed Courtice Library. 1.1 As part of the preliminary investigation of the potential for savings related to the operations cost for Library services in Courtice, the Chief Administrative Officer, the Treasurer, and the Director of Community Services, along with the Clarington Library Director, met with Director of Education and Senior Staff of the Northumberland Clarington Board of Education in early April 1994. TR-53-94 Page - 2 - 1.2 The agenda for the meeting centered on the potential for a joint use Library facility which would serve needs of the public and the students of the elementary and public schools located in the vicinity of the site identified for the future Courtice Library. It was overwhelmingly agreed that the Clarington taxpayers would best be served by a joint use facility which could provide an enhanced level of service and look to operational efficiencies by sharing or pooling of financial resources. The meeting concluded with an agreement for Staff to meet again to explore the details of such a project. 2.0 Senior Staff met on a number of occasions during April, May and June and working committees were established who also met on a number of occasions to work through the specific human resources, financial, and physical space requirements. 2.1 Through the efforts of the Library Director and her counterpart at the Board of Education and the Board's Controller of Plant in conjunction with the Superintendent of Facilities, the physical access problems and the financial/human resources impacts were defined and presented for review by the Senior Staff Committee. 2.2 The results of the working committees were as follows: a) The School Board would require a 20,000 square foot facility in order to meet their needs. This request would significantly increase the overall spatial requirements from the originally projected 12,000 square foot Library. There would be capital costs associated with this increase in size and since the building belongs to the Municipality, there were capital costs for which details on cost sharing had yet to be justified by the School Board in their capital analysis. b) The basic operational costs would increase by approximately $3,000 in the first year and therefore there would not be any reduction to the household tax base as a result of a joint use library. c) The proximity issue investigation concluded that the only reasonable physical joint access would be with the High School; the elementary school is not feasible because of the distance. d) The Facilities Superintendent researched the possibility of reduced maintenance costs through joint use of existing maintenance staff and concluded that there would be no cost reduction through the shared use facility as both the Board and the Municipality are currently operating at comparable and efficient rates. e) The Board confirmed that the possibility of an arrangement of contract for service whereby the School Board would pay for the Library services provided by the Municipal Library would not be a feasible option for them at this time. TR-53-94 Page - 3 - 3.0 The exercise produced some very valuable information, and the efforts to reduce the overall tax impact as evidenced by spirit of co-operation between all three parties involved sets a positive trend for future discussions with the School Board on potential future endeavours, particularly in situations where new schools are to be constructed. The exercise for Courtice focused on retrofitting for the most part and thus savings to the School Board by this endeavour would not be maximized. 4.0 The School Board has indicated a willingness to participate at the design stage of the Courtice Community Complex in an effort to explore with the Municipality, any potential joint use relating to recreational components of the facility. The intent would be to incorporate specific reasonable requests into the design such that the School Board curriculum could be designed to incorporate costs for services provided. 5.0 Staff have concluded that it would not be in the Municipality's best financial interest to proceed with a joint use Library at this time. 5.1 Staff also recommend continued liaison with both the Clarington Library and the School Board for potential future joint use facilities. The Municipality has recently been notified that the School Board's Capital funding allocation includes two (2) new school sites in Clarington and arrangements are currently being made to pursue potential joint uses for these projects. Recommendations would be made to Council following exploration of these options. Respectfully submitted, Reviewed by, Marie A. Marano, H.BSc.,A.M.C.T., W.H. Stockwell, Treas cr. Chief Administrative Officer. J.P�Vtorof ruana, D Community Services. MM/hjl Attachments ATTACHMENT TO TR-53-94 L MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON General Purpose and Administration Committee March 11, 1994 Minutes of the reconvened special meeting of the General Purpose and Administration Committee held on Friday, March 11, 1994, at 9:00 a.m., in Meeting Room #1 ROLL CALL Present Were: Mayor D. Hamre (Attended the morning session until 12:00 noon) Councillor A. Dreslinski Councillor L. Hannah Councillor K Hooper (Attended Until 12:10 p.m.) Councillor M. Novak Councillor J. O'Toole Absent: Councillor D. Scott Also Present: Chief Administrative Officer, W. Stockwell (Attended until 4:05 Treasurer, M. Marano Director of Community Services, J. Caruana(Attended until 4:05 p.m.) Fire Chief, M. Creighton (Attended until 4:05 p.m.) Director of Public Works, W_Evans (Attended Until 12:10 p.m-) Economic Development Officer,T. Letts (Attended From 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.) Director of Planning and Development, F. Wu (Attended until 4:05 p.m.) Clerk, P. Barrie Councillor O'Toole chaired this meeting. Ramona Rickard, Chairman, Clarington Library Board, together with Erla Jose, Finance Chairman and Barbara Baker, Chief Librarian, were present to review the 1994 budget requests received from the Library. Resolution #GPA-179-94 Moved by Mayor Ham re, seconded by Councillor Hannah THAT the Chief Administrative Officer and the Treasurer meet with the Librarian in an attempt to recognize funds for 1995 Courtice library start-up costs, realizing no impact on the tax levy and submit a further report to the General Purpose and Administration Committee. "CARRIED" Resolution #GPA-180-94 Moved by Mayor Ham e, seconded by Councillor Hannah THAT the Committee move "In Camera" to discuss a personnel issue. "CARRIED"