Region of Queens Council listens to public comment in Brooklyn during the Jan 24 meeting. Screen shot from Region of Queens YouTube video.

Region of Queens council took the show on the road, holding the last meeting in January at the Brooklyn Community Hall.

A large number of residents came out to voice their support during the public comment section for building an indoor pool instead of the outdoor pool currently in the planning stages.

The proposal was made to take the money donated by an anonymous benefactor and combine it with the money the municipality has earmarked for the construction of a new library.

The proponents expected that would account for almost $6 million.

The group would like to see the province and federal governments each contribute matching funding to bring the total amount to $18 million and build the new library and pool at Queens Place.

At this point there is no formal plan or budget to determine if $18 million is even enough to get the desired outcome.

They’ll be more on this story in the coming days.

Once the meeting commenced there were two recommendations for council to consider.

First, council approved a $236,000 grant to the Liverpool Curling Club for the installation of solar panels and the construction of an accessible entrance.

The cost of the grant will be covered by a recent donation made to the Region by the J & W Murphy Foundation for the purpose of directing it towards civic improvement projects.

Mayor Darlene Norman says the club has invested approximately $750,000 in upgrades over the past year without any ask from the Region.

Considering the community benefit the club brings for events extending far beyond curling council was glad to provide them with the help they’ve requested.

“The curling club has proven their ability to move forward on their projects,” said Norman. “They’re very successful, dedicated, hard group of workers. And of the many projects that are within Queens County this place has a definite positive impact on our Main Street Liverpool. You know it’s three-minute walk from there, this is the type of thing that we can support at no burden to the taxpayer and at the same time be helping that Main Street area as well as social, physical, forwardness from our people.”

Council also approved the second recommendation to install a new uninterruptible power supply (UPS) in the Liverpool Business Development Centre, home to the area’s largest call centre.

The new unit will replace one that has been in operation for 20 years but has reached its end of life.

Council awarded a tender to Universal Power Solutions to install the new UPS at a cost of $114,950 plus HST.

Council then heard an update from Public Works detailing the projects they are currently involved in across the municipality before turning their discussion once again to the subject of a pool.

Deputy Mayor Jack Fancy spoke as a member of the pool committee to ask that council review the recommendations previously brought forward by the committee.

The committee has proposed a site at Queens Place, the use of solar power, a pool design that features a gradual sloped entrance or “zero entry” accessible side and six lane and they’re asking to be able to apply for grants on the Region’s behalf to secure more outside funding.

The committee’s recommendations will come before council at a future meeting for discussion and a vote.

Council will return to chambers for the next meeting to be held on Valentines Day, February 14 beginning at 9:00am.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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Photo Ed Halverson

Region of Queens council took their last meeting on the road to the Pleasant River Community Hall.

The highlight of the agenda was council’s decision to invest almost $2 million to repair the failing air conditioning unit at the Liverpool Business Development Centre.

The meeting opened with the public comment section.

A couple of residents spoke asking council to put a pause on the permits to a controversial house being built on Eagle Head Beach while a third inquired about the possibility of adding more bylaw enforcement officers.

After that council went about approving the job descriptions for workers at Hillsview Acres long-term care facility.

The Region is mandated by the province to review the positions every four years.

From there, council voted to go ahead with the $1.9 million plan to install a new four-zone cooling system at the Liverpool Call centre.

Council then moved into the discussion phase of their meeting.

First up was a conversation around installing an accessible ramp at the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre in Liverpool.

Provincial law requires all government owned buildings to be accessible by 2030.

Council deliberated on the placement of the ramp and how it is to be enclosed.

The preferred option seems to be along the side of the building adjacent to the Royal Bank that leads from the rear parking lot.

The plan will be evaluated and brought before council in greater detail at a future meeting.

The last piece of business was a lively discussion on whether or not to form a pool committee.

The Queens Community Aquatic Society recently received a $3 million private donation towards the construction of a new pool and are looking for the region to begin construction as soon as possible.

The conversation revolved around who will make up the committee, what responsibility it will have and what will be asked of staff.

In the end, council decided to form a committee but what it will look like and what role it will play in the construction of a new pool has yet to be determined.

Council will hold a special council meeting Tuesday July 5 to discuss the location of the new library.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.

Thomas H Raddall Library. Photo Ed Halverson

Regional council has rejected the idea of building a library at Queens Place.

The library steering committee put forward their unanimous recommendation to build the new library at the recreation hub at the last council meeting.

The committee had a list of eight publicly and privately owned sites to choose from and determined the Queens Place location to be the best based on their criteria.

They were looking for a centrally located site with access to sidewalks that offered space to build a 6,000 square foot library and 24 parking spaces, easy emergency access, good exterior lighting, outdoor space, and no known flooding.

District 3 councillor Maddie Charlton is concerned moving the library to Queens Place will make it inaccessible for low-income families in the downtown core.

“The poverty in our community is a huge concern and the low-income housing is not on that side of town. I spoke with one teacher who said that many of her low-income parents, during COVID, walked to the library so they could access internet for their children with their school work,” said Charlton. “There’s no transportation for the preschool age or the daycare age and just to put into perspective, there’s about to be, once the expansion happens at the Queens Daycare, 100 children at Queens Daycare. Think of the exposure they could have to the library if they could access it.”

Councillor for District 1 Kevin Muise agreed.

“People that walk there now are not going to walk across that bridge. They going to have to get cars and drive there. Low-income families who are in my district, they’re not going to walk across that bridge and go [to the library]. The other council, we was [sic] always arguing about putting stuff on that side of the bridge. Why don’t we have stuff on this side of the bridge. I just feel the library should stay on this side of the bridge,” said Muise.

Mayor Darlene Norman responded that everyone in the community finds access to the two major grocery stores located around the corner from the library.

The mayor expressed concern that perhaps council wasn’t fully considering all the services a library offers.

“I would think that our goal is to expand library use in Queens,” said Norman. “Library is a much larger service than books. It’s education programming, safety programming, it’s government, a way to reach different levels of government.”

Further complicating the discussion is the idea of combining the construction of the new library with a new pool, an idea put forward by the Queens Community Aquatic Society.

District 6 Councillor David Brown says plans to develop a library were already in motion before that idea was put forward and the two resources aren’t compatible.

“If council had wanted the two projects together, the terms of reference, I think, would’ve reflected that. We got terms of reference for a library and that’s what the committee has looked at,” said Brown. “The committee has also looked at the possibility of combining with the swimming pool. There’s nothing against that idea. The problem that we’ve got is the majority of the land that we have won’t support the two projects together. The area we selected as a committee is not big enough for the pool and a library together.”

In a five to three decision, council voted down the proposed Queens Place location for a new library.

Mayor Norman says a special meeting will be called in July for council to refine the parameters of a new library before sending it back to the library steering committee to come up with a second recommendation.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.