While roughly 30 to 40 people attended the April 22 public meeting to rezone lands as the next step for the new Fergus hospital – the majority of those attending were either municipal councillors, staff or county employees.
Centre Wellington Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj explained the rezoning amendment would switch the Trask lands from agricultural to institutional and open space.
The amendment would allow institutional, community, public recreation and other accessory uses including a hospital and other medical-related uses, child care, schools and supportive housing.
Gary Cousins, Wellington County’s director of planning and development, said “the purpose is to take another step in a fairly long process to develop a campus of institutional uses at Wellington Place [Aboyne], including a site for the new Groves hospital.”
Cousins explained the area referred to as the Trask lands are 105 acres, but the entire holding is a little over 200 acres.
“The lands are very strategic in their location. They are certainly the centre between Fergus and Elora – your community – but they are also the centre of the county. It makes it a great spot to locate new services to serve the community as a whole.”
“It also makes the land a great spot for job creation, as there will be a lot of jobs created there over time.”
Cousins said there was a fairly long history of working together “started in 2003 when Wellington County and the Township of Centre Wellington entered into an agreement to service the land with sewer and water. That allowed the eventual construction of the new Wellington Terrace in 2006 as well as the health unit in that location.”
He explained in 2008, the 105-acre Trask property was purchased by the county to facilitate construction of a new Groves hospital.
In 2010, a new archives building was built at Wellington Place and in 2011 a new OPP detachment was opened.
There have been a long series of developments on the property for institutional use.
He said 2011 also marked the year the concept plan for Wellington Place was taken to the public for comment.
That document basically set out the uses being sought.
“The next steps being taken are primarily in the development of the hospital. We’re expecting that the hospital will be looking to start construction in the spring of 2015.”
He said that while two years may seem like a long time, “we need to get servicing for the land right away.”
Cousins noted that Triton Engineering has been working with the hospital to develop servicing plans for the new hospital land which backs onto the Elora-Cataract Trailway.
There are 31 acres for the hospital site, about 47 acres of county/institutional use and 18 to 20 acres of open space, he said.
Cousins said work needs to begin immediately for the construction of Street B – from the Beatty Line into the Wellington Place lands. In addition, work is needed to improve the existing Street A and construction of a storm water management pond on site.
He hoped that work could begin later this year.
However, he estimated that the road and servicing work will take all of 2014 to get that work done.
He anticipates that by the end of 2014 that work would be completed, to allow hospital construction to begin in 2015.
He noted the current county lands are zoned institutional while the Trask land is zoned as agricultural.
Cousins considered the zoning amendment as an extension of the institutional lands of the county property.
While the existing zoning would allow a wide range of institutional uses, including a hospital, Cousins said there are a few items which need to be considered.
He said the bylaw is not specific about additional medical related uses such as clinics or laboratories reasonably associated with a hospital.
The second issue is a 10-acre parcel of land across from the hospital site, which may be developed as institutional land.
He said the land may also be considered as another site for affordable and/or seniors housing.
“It is so difficult to get sites for those kinds of use.”
Jerome Quenneville, president and CEO of Groves Memorial Community Hospital, offered a brief overview of the hospital project.
He noted there has been considerable work done by both the township and the county “to ensure this is the right site to build a hospital … everything from soil tests to traffic consultants.”
“We’ve been able to come together with some reasonable plans as to how the site might look.”
He noted the approval process with the Ministry of Health “is rather lengthy … we need to go through a number of steps.”
Quenneville said there has been success in the original submission.
The project is in the next phase of planning which goes through a provincial branch of the Ministry of Health.
This looks at the site and where services are located in relation to each other which could define how the building might look.
Quenneville is awaiting feedback from the province which will ultimately determine the final look and size of the new hospital “… even the number of beds in the new facility is yet to be defined.”
However, he added that much of this is being determined from work already done by consultants.
He said certain aspects will be determined by the local population, usage of the local facilities, and what the expectations are for future needs in the community.
“I do believe the current plans will meet those needs and expectations.”
“One of the key components in this plan, and unlike other hospitals, is the incorporation of the concept of a campus of care. This would not only include hospital services, but a family health team, physician offices, and those types of support services – such as community care access centre, mental health. That means we would be able to provide a more comprehensive scope of care. We would be working much closer together as a health care team in supporting the community.”
Councillor Fred Morris asked how the development will affect the water and sewer infrastructure of Centre Wellington.
“Only to a small degree,” responded Cousins.
He said the sewer servicing of the site is divided between the two communities.
Cousins said there is currently capacity at the Fergus plant to accommodate the new hospital.
However, he agreed that development on other parts of the property will likely have to wait until there are additional improvements to the sewage system.
When asked for specifics, Cousins said improvements to the sewage system would not be just to accommodate development on the county lands, but developments to the north and along the Beatty Line.
Councillor Kelly Linton said plans (for Wellington Place) cover a huge amount of space to be zoned institutional.
He asked what will be done to ensure the location does not seem sterile – so people want to be there.
“There is a lot of greenspace, but there is also a lot of space.”
He said discussions have suggested this will be an area the community will gravitate to, and asked how that will be accomplished.
Quenneville quipped “getting people to gravitate to a hospital isn’t a problem.”
Cousins added that getting people to gravitate to the nearby trails is not a problem either.
He noted there is considerable traffic on both the Elora-Cataract Trail and the Trestle Bridge Trail on the property.
One of the key components is connecting this development with the trails already in place, and with proposed trail development throughout the property.
Cousins suggested there will be smaller trails linking buildings.
He added a common area will be designed fairly soon.
“It is intended to be a gathering place for people in the community and people working on the site.”
He added the site design includes sidewalks and a bike trail.
“Putting all those things together, I think we are going to have a pretty attractive property that the community is going to be proud of,” Cousins said.
One question raised concerned the property including a possible street connection with Garafraxa Street.
The street is aligned with a proposed roundabout and the roadway leading past the OPP building to Wellington Road 18.
Cousins responded the road was considered during initial plans to develop the property to provide access to the property.
However, officials at the county level were not happy at the prospect.
He said such an approach would be costly as the road would be over a former landfill site.
In addition, Cousins said “we didn’t think another road crossing of the Elora-Cataract Trail would be very popular.
“And, from the county point of view, (an improved Garafraxa Street in conjunction with the new road) would be viewed as a bypass from Fergus and generate a lot of traffic.
“We were trying to create a campus, not a major through route.”
While public opinion was mixed, Cousins believed the public generally did not support a Garafraxa Street connection.
“But it is there as a long-term possibility if it is ever needed.”
It was also stressed by staff that the intent is for Beatty Line to remain open throughout the development of the new streets into Wellington Place.
