GORDON/BARRIE ISLAND—Gordon/Barrie Island council held its first meeting of the new year, in new council chambers, part of the overall major additions to the community hall.
Reeve Lee Hayden said that the new council office room is great and said “tonight (January 8, 2018) we are holding our first council meeting in the new council chambers.”
He explained that the new council office chambers “makes the building compliant for accessibility, and tonight there are a group of ladies (the Gordon Women’s Institute) that are holding a meeting in another part of the hall, and we are not disrupting them with our meeting.”
The new council chamber room is off the main office in the municipal hall. It provides lots of room for council and a large table and two new rooms, one for Terri-Lynn Leighton, municipal economic development officer, and an office for township roads superintendent Arran Campbell. The council chambers also has its own entrance from the outside of the building into the council chambers.
The major renovations on the building are being carried out by David Deeg and Lakeside Building.
Gordon/Barrie Island council had accepted the tender last June for the major addition to the garage building on the same property the township hall currently stands; and for additional office space and council chambers added on to the building.
Up until now, council meetings were held on the main floor of the community hall, and when other groups are using the space at the same time, council held its meeting in the upstairs area of the building. The township had received funding from the Enabling Accessibility Fund to make the building (office space-council meeting quarters, which were added on to the west side of the current building), accessible to everyone.
As well, two bays are being added to the (new) garage building. The addition, which has not yet been completed, will benefit the municipality as it will be able to store its snowplow and other vehicles in the garage, saving on wear and tear from weather.
