High School Construction Delay: Council Accountability
Asked by Melissa Marshall · 2 months ago
Funding for our new high school has been available since 2021, yet we are still years from breaking ground, while Ontario communities funded after us are already under construction. The Province did not create that delay, council vote did.
For the record: A 2023 closed-session decision delayed the project, with individual votes not readily available. In December 2024, the vote to advance the school was
YES: Norcross, Gabrek, Masters, Jacks and Foster;
NO: MacLellan, Cox and Harrison McIntyre.
Biss and Rapin recused.
Question:
If you were on Council or the Board when these decisions were made, how did you vote, and why?
That delay cost this community roughly two years. What did we gain that justified it? What materially changed about the site, plan or agreement between the 2023 decision and the eventual approval?
If elected, what specific steps will you take to move this project forward now?
Peter Barbati's answer
I was not on council.
The delay increases costs. Delays may be beneficial if needed to mitigate a plan which does not meet growth expectations, environmental concerns, financial issues, but if so, alteration must be done to the plan to efficiently lessen the negative financial impacts, and impact to the community through non-decision.
I would like to re-examine the plan, questioning why 25 acres is needed for a high school and associated support features (fields, parking, etc.).
Additionally, the main historic component that should be protected is the Banting home, outbuildings and associated structures, along with a reasonable parcel of land.
Traffic will always be an issue, regardless of where the school is built due to the expected increase in the general population. Removing the high school from the core will increase vehicular traffic. Much of this can be mitigated with the implementation of walking/cycling corridors to the school area.
If the current structure cannot be reimagined/renewed, and all of this during the off season, which is essentially impossible, a new construction is the only reasonable consideration. Further delays will increase costs.
