When Wellington County builds its new central works garage next year, it will have a large number of environmental features, county council heard here on April 28.
The county roads committee presented a report from manager of purchasing and risk management Mark Bolzon that noted council had approved an architectural services contract for renovations of the current building in late 2009, but in June of 2010 staff were authorized to change that project to a new building.
The old building at County Roads 51 and 7 will be demolished.
Architect Lloyd Grinham told council there is a five month window for getting the new building erected, so staff are doing as much preliminary work as possible.
He said a study of the old building showed it is more cost efficient to build a new one, because the older one has structural issues, particularly with the roof.
There will be 14 new tandem truck bays, four service bays and two other bays for vehicle washing. The facility will include a large overhead crane for lifting. The truck bays will have 28-feet of clearance.
There will be a two storey administration office, and the building will be “almost an aircraft hangar style building,” Grinham said.
The public entrance will face southeast. The building will also feature lockers and washrooms, with expanded women’s facilities. There will be a parts and equipment storage area, and room for administration offices. The building will have an elevator for public access. It will also include lunch and meeting room space.
There will be a large mezzanine for storage and provision for a future data facility.
Grinham said the building will be constructed using the county’s stringent “green standards.”
That includes designing it to accept solar panels in the future, when council decides it makes sense to do that.
The roof will be built to accommodate those.
There will be water storage tanks to collect rain water and separators in place to remove grit and oil to ensure the dirty water is cleaned before it is sent to ditches along the roadsides.
Councillor Ray Tout asked if there will be in-floor heating, and Grinham said there will because that is standard these days. He noted there is a challenge to heating the building because it is so high, and that increases expenses. He said there will be a lot of vents required in the building for air exchanges, which, he said, is “a big component.”
Grinham said there is a “huge component” for water collection for truck washing, as well as firefighter tanks because of the sprinkler system.
The goal in the building is “to minimize operating costs.”
Councillor Lou Maieron congratulated Grinham on his environmental proposals, and asked about solar power.
“Can we get in while the province is paying 80 cents [per kilowatt] – because I don’t think that’s going to last,” Maieron said.
Grinham said that can happen next summer during the construction if that is desired, but there is a provincial election in October and the solar power payments could change before the building is erected.
He said the panels would produce 250Kw of power, and congratulated the county for its high environmental standards.
Councillor Shawn Watters asked about the budget.
Treasurer Craig Dyer said the capital budget is approved for this year, and he said the construction budget for next year, he believes, will be sufficient. He added that the “original estimate did not include the cost of solar panels.
Dyer said council will have to decide if it wants to add the expense of those solar panels.
The total coat of the project is $4.8-million.
That includes a $100,000 expenditure in 2009, and $4.7-million in 2012.
Of that, taxes will cover $1.4-million, development charges will pay $2.4-million, and the roads capital reserve for 2010 will be $1-million.
Bolzon told council in his report staff want to:
– issue and award tenders for the removal of the old in-ground fuel tanks;
– construct the pads for and install new above ground fuel tanks near the salt dome;
– demolish the old salt shed; and
– expand the steel clad building at the top back corner of the site.
Council was also asked to:
– approve the final design concept;
– issue the request for proposals to pre-qualify the general contractors and major subtrades;
– issue the tender for construction to the pre-qualified general contractors; and
– initiate the process of applying for the necessary permits and site plan approval.
Council approved the staff requests.
