Wellington County is in the early stages with its plan to replace the roads operations garage facilities over the next 10 years.
Roads committee chair Gary Williamson updated council on June 28.
In a June 12 roads committee report, staff outline the status of the six county garages, excluding Drayton, which is currently being built. Four of the six are slated to be replaced between 2019 and 2027:
– Arthur garage, which is 46 years old and slated to be replaced in 2021;
– Erin garage, 48 years old, replacement in 2024;
– Brucedale garage, 60 years old, replacement in 2024; and
– Harriston garage, 47 years old, replacement in 2027;
The Aberfoyle and Elora garages are 40 and 33 years old respectively, and both are slated for replacement after 2030.
“We’re moving forward with the next works yard, which is in Arthur in 2021,” said Williamson.
“We did a road tour … and it’s obvious that we need to start this program.”
In the report, operations manager Paul Johnson states the four garages are in the forecast capital budget, with Arthur expected to cost $6 million. It is not determined yet if the new garage will be a standalone shop with mechanical work completed in Drayton, or include mechanical work at the Arthur shop.
“The reason for this thought is none of our member municipalities have their own mechanics and as we do. Should we offer our services to the member municipalities?” states Johnson.
“If we do that at select garages that means that the shop has to have mechanical services available.”
Adding the mechanical services would mean a larger shop size to accommodate those services.
He stated the next steps will be to confirm if the lower tier municipalities want the county to do their mechanical services to determine the sizes of the new garages.
New Drayton works garage
Williamson updated council about the status of the new Drayton works garage project.
A report from construction and property manager Kevin Mulholland outlines the work completed to date, including site grading, installation of a well, installation of fire tanks, masonry installation, underground floor preparation and “earthwork” on the storage dome.
Through the summer, the concrete floor slab will be poured plus installation of the pump house, doors and windows, septic system and drywall installation is scheduled to begin. The completion is estimated at the end of August.
