Daycare delivers strong message to council

The Queens County Daycare had a strong message for Region of Queens council on Nov. 14 – leaving the building means the daycare will close.

Operating costs of the municipally owned building were growing too much for the Region of Queens, so in 2017 it was decided to sell the building instead. Tenants were given two years to find a new space.

After looking at buildings all over the county, Donna Dexter, board chair of the daycare says none were able to meet the stringent provincial regulations.

“We have to have 30 square feet of unobstructed play space for each child in the room,” says Dexter. For our licensed capacity we would need a building with 1260 square feet, and that’s just for the classroom space.”

However a new option has come forward. In September the building was put up for sale through a sealed bidding process, which closes on Nov. 16. The bids will then go to municipal council for decision at one of their regular public meetings.

The daycare is putting their own bid in to purchase the building. Dexter added they have partnered with a local developer who has agreed to do repairs to the building along with covering costs that go beyond their budget.

Meanwhile several parents and board members came to council to voice their support for the daycare.

Scott Christian, says the daycare was part of the reason they moved here, child in daycare, spoke in favour of keeping it open.

“I think think there are promising signs of new people moving here,” he says. “I can tell you its a massive impediment and detriment to anyone relocating here if there is no licensed daycare.”

Those comments were echoed by other parents and supporters of the daycare.