Saugeen Shores council has settled on a final design to redevelop Southampton's major downtown street.
Council approved a design for High Street by R.J Burnside, with some final amendments made to the plan that will increase accessibility in the area.
There were a few sticking points on the redesign, including a proposed reduction in parking and changes to the cenotaph.
One delegate at Monday's meeting, Terrie Boileau, asked why the redevelopment was even necessary.
CAO Kara Van Myall said the redesign would coincide with crucial infrastructure work.
"The project starts with a need for the infrastructure replacement and so it's an infrastructure replacement project and when we do that, we're looking at how we put things back and we're doing them in an improved way to improve the downtown atmosphere," she said.
The final changes will result in a reduction of about 10 parking spaces, but will provide better accessibility, including 1.8-metre-wide sidewalks.
Mayor Luke Charbonneau said its been decades since High Street was redeveloped, and thanks to all the input received, this crucial project could soon get underway.
"That infrastructure upgrade has been languishing for a decade waiting for us to get to it, and now it really has to be done," he said. "If you talk to downtown business owners in Southampton, some of that infrastructure that goes into their stores — electrical, telephone, internet — is woefully lacking and that work has to be done to support a thriving downtown business community as well as a great place for residents to be and visit."
Charbonneau said the redesign will be in place for decades to come.
But while there was agreement on a final design after debating points like the removal of EV spots and whether angle parking was necessary at the end of the street, the future of the cenotaph is still unsettled.
The a survey conducted by RJ Burnside showed that keeping the existing design in tact was the most popular option, despite council siding with a two column design proposed by the Legion earlier.
Vice Deputy Mayor Mike Myatt suggested they need an ad hoc committee to finalize the decision.
"We're caught in a bind here, because we made a decision and now it's undone so to speak with the consultants report," he said. "I think we've got to fix it somehow. I'd like to think we should set up a short-term ad hoc committee, with appointees by the Striking Committee: six, seven, eight people in our community with maybe outside opinions from Legion regional?"
Council approved the idea. The committee will need reach a decision by June 2025 in order to be included in the project.
A construction cost estimate will be brought back to council, with the project possibly getting phased in over two years in 2025 and 2026.
To learn more about the High Street redevelopment, visit the Saugeen Shores website.