Municipal councils must respect the wishes of those who elected them, despite personal agendas
To the Expositor:
I am very disappointed in our Central Manitoulin council. The Old School in Mindemoya which, next year, will have educated and moulded the lives of its students within the last 100 years has been the subject of controversy in the township for some time now. The Mindemoya Old School Repurposing Committee had requested a five-year extension of time to find a viable repurposing plan for the building. The request was denied at the last council meeting.
The committee had been given two criteria to follow, which right from the beginning doomed their efforts to failure. If the building were to survive, it was firstly to stand on its own financially, and secondly to be non-competitive with any other business currently found within the community. None of the many public buildings in Central Manitoulin is presently self-sustaining financially, and the preclusion of most possible business opportunities made grant money impossible to find. Despite the more than generous offer of $50,000 from Manitoulin Transport to put a new roof on the Old School and to keep prospects of repurposing alive for five more years, in their last meeting the council voted to reject the offer.
The cost of keeping the Old School until all means of repurposing were exhausted was to be $10,000 per year for insurance. The committee had offered to fundraise to assist with this if need be. The new roof would have cost $25,000, leaving a good bankroll to work with from the $50,000 offered. Plans originally were to find a grant that would encompass reconstruction to include some or all of a venue for both seniors and youths, for sports, for fitness, for arts and culture and for historical collections. Any of these would be an attraction to the township and would benefit its population.
A petition of over 800 names signed in favour of keeping the building from destruction was presented to the finance committee of the council. A substantial donation offer was made immediately following the finance meeting to begin the fundraising. Heritage grants are expected to become accessible when the Old School reaches its 100th birthday in the upcoming year. The cost of demolishing the building has been estimated by Tulloch Engineering to approximate $150,000. Notwithstanding, the council has seen fit to disband the MOSRC committee by November 30, claiming that they have had enough time with their two years of existence to fill their mandate.
A municipal council must be cognisant of the wishes of those who voted them into office, and willing to act on their behalf regardless of personal agenda. They must give every support to those trying to preserve richness of life. It must be willing to use, when necessary, at least a pittance of the financial resources under its control to give every opportunity to preserve things of value within the community, rather than attempting to hasten the destruction of such things. It may not be possible to find a satisfactory repurposing solution to the Old School problem, but there are still many paths to explore before that final bridge should be crossed. As the saying goes, “Once it’s gone, it’s gone!” I urge Central Manitoulin Council to think again.
Jim Smith
Mindemoya
