By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
The possibility of purchasing the former George Hamilton Public School at 3100 County Rd. 10 in Welcome was the subject of a staff report at the Nov. 17 committee-of-the-whole meeting at Port Hope council. Since the school closed several years back, no subsequent use of the property has been established – though the staff report noted that its acquisition could be of significant benefit to the municipality in its pursuit of objectives set out in the Strategic Plan of 2019-2022.
Council will consider a resolution at its Dec. 1 meeting to direct staff to submit an offer of purchase to the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, and to bring forward the offer in the form of a bylaw for authorization by council at a future meeting.
Another staff recommendation brought forward was to approve in principle Cameco’s proposal to cancel the Choate Street extension on the condition that a satisfactory negotiation of remaining expenses and previous commitments incurred by the municipality takes place.
The municipality had issued a media release in August announcing that Cameco had approached the municipality with a proposal to alter their Vision In Motion project to exclude the construction of the Choate Street extension – a road that was planned to support the Waterfront Master Plan as well as the Cameco VIM project.
Subsequent discussions between Cameco staff and the municipality have identified key areas of concern that require further dialogue, such as storm water improvements on Eldorado Place, water main replacement on Eldorado Place and Marsh Street, waterfront access and property ownership.
The impacts of each of the proposed changes will require further investigation and negotiation, prior to formal acceptance by the municipality in the form of future bylaw amendments. Council will therefore consider a resolution on Dec. 1 to approve in principle the acceptance of the proposed changes to the Vision in Motion Project as presented by Cameco – including the cancellation of the proposed Choate Street Extension conditional, in part, on the satisfactory negotiation of remaining anticipated expenses and previous commitments incurred by the municipality to date.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
