Sarnia City Hall (BlackburnNews.com photo by Melanie Irwin)Sarnia City Hall (BlackburnNews.com photo by Melanie Irwin)
Sarnia

Sarnia council briefs

The cost of upgrading the restaurant at Andrew S. Brandt Marina to make it functional year-round, would be about $2.7 million dollars.

The staff estimate, for the building at Sarnia Bay, was included in a report to council Monday.

The building was constructed for milder weather, so it has a concrete floor and minimal insulation.

City staff said the renovation cost is likely comparable to the cost of a new building.

They've projected a rebuild would be $2.1 million, with an additional $600,000 in architecture and demolition costs.

The report, received and filed Monday, was requested in the fall after council supported a motion by councillor Nathan Colquhoun.

He claimed the restaurant at the marina, is the "best restaurant location in the entire city and they are required to close each winter because of the seasonal nature of the building."

Colquhoun said in the interest of investing in the city's waterfront and encouraging growth, there would be a lot to gain by having the restaurant operate year-round.

-------------------------------------

Recruitment is underway for Sarnia's airport action committee.

Council has received the committee's work plan.

It's hoped the group's first meeting will be held in March and feedback will be provided to council in April.

--------------------------------------

Work is underway to set up reloadable smart cards that Sarnia Transit riders can use to pay their fares.

The $217,000 initiative is being paid for by the Safe Restart Agreement Public Transit Funding stream.

The provincial and federal governments are providing the funding to assist transit agencies with budget pressures related to COVID-19.

Paying electronically would help limit contact with drivers.

-----------------------------

Council has approved spending $30,000 on upgrading technology in the council chambers.

Hosting electronic meetings with members preset in chamber has not been a possibility because of audio and video limitations of the existing system.

Councillors will use the existing microphone and camera setup, but be able to connect that audio and video to the Zoom platform.

It's hoped renovations will be complete before council returns to chambers.

-----------------------

Council has directed staff to add new coding to the practice of tracking and reporting annual attendance statistics.

Codes identifying a reason for a councillor's absence from a meeting, like vacation (V), technical (T), illness (I) or unidentified (U), will now be added.

--------------------------

Council has approved a $225,000 increase to pay for unforeseen expenses during the Sarnia Library HVAC and Electrical replacement.

When the project started last year, the need for additional asbestos abatement was discovered.

That resulted in additional costs for the demolition, as well as the need for additional equipment that was part of the original HVAC system.

Some additional duct work was also required that was not included in the original project.

-----------------------------

Bullock and Sons Roofing has been awarded the second of three phases to replace the roof at Progressive Auto Sales Arena and replace a rear section at Clearwater Arena.

The south end at PASA was successfully completed in the first phase last year, the second phase will see the roof replaced over the suite level and restaurant, and the third phase, over the main ice surface, in being planned in 2022.

The portion of the roof at Clearwater that needs to be replaced is currently leaking.

Bullock and Sons submitted the lowest of ten bids at $650,000.

--------------------------------------

A plan has been approved to re-home endangered Butler's garter snakes from Point Edward to Canatara Park.

The city was approached by the owner of Venetian 1600 Inc. last fall and asked to consider the translocation from the development area of a proposed condominium complex at the north end of Venetian Boulevard.

The Ministry of Natural Resources recommended Canatara Park as the relocation site because it's publicly owned and already supports a population of the snakes.

----------------------------

City staff have been directed to report back on the possibility of including a fully protected left turn on the traffic light at the intersection of Modeland Road and Berger Road.

Resident Raymundo Mendez proposed the addition after he was involved in a motorcycle collision at the site last June.

-------------------------------

Van Bree Drainage and Bulldozing Limited has been awarded a $3.2 million contract from the city.

The company has been hired to install the watermain and sanitary force main related to The Rapids Parkway extension.

Van Bree submitted the lowest of six acceptable proposals.

Read More Local Stories

Rogers Centre in Toronto before a game between the Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles, August 7, 2024. Photo by Mark Brown/WindsorNewsToday.ca

Scoreboard, May 13

The Toronto Blue Jays lost 7-6 in 10 innings to Tampa Bay. The Kitchener Rangers are OHL champions.