$134,800 bill for new lights
Switch to LED at Hastings Field House will save energy, replace outmoded technology
Trent Hills council has approved spending $134,800 to replace the lights in the 10-year-old Hastings Field House.
A staff report said that a decade ago the 45 1,000-watt metal halide fixtures installed to illuminate the dome were the best technology. But that system has become outdated and expensive to operate. In recent years the municipality has had trouble replacing the ballast resistors needed to keep the lights on.
Council agreed to spend the money to install LED lights that should provide as much light as the halide system did originally.
“The LED lighting should be equal to or greater than the existing metal halide,” said Peter Burnett, Director of Community Services.
Burnett’s report said that the LED system will reduce the amount of energy needed for lighting by 66 per cent.
A report last summer said that from an energy perspective the field house was the most inefficient building that the municipality owns, due to the cost of operating the lights and the need to run blowers 24/7 simply to keep the dome’s roof inflated.
The dome was cheaper to build but much more expensive to maintain and operate, something the council of the day was told when it was purchased.
Seeking money for Tanner repairs
Council agreed to apply for $4.1 million from the provincial “Health and Safety Water Stream Fund for the rehabilitation of water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure on Tanner Road, Parkview Boulevard, Gair Street and Ibey Court in Campbellford.”
A report by Tanya Redden, Manager of Capital Works and Asset Management, a new municipal employee, said the province announced the new funding in January and the repairs needed on these roads seem to meet the criteria.
Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Phillips said details of the program are scant and the municipality cannot apply until today (Feb.12). “This appears to be a fit,” she added.
Redden said that under the program the province would pay 73 per cent of the cost, $3 million, and the municipality the rest.
Councillor Dennis Savery noted that the municipality failed twice in the past when it applied for provincial funding under a similar program to finance work in Hastings.
Redden replied that the Hastings request was to assist new development while the current project is for an existing neighbourhood.
Councillor Rob Pope asked how the municipality will pay its share since there is no money in the 2025 budget allotted to this project.
“We’ll have to come back with a break down, if we succeed in getting provincial money,” said Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Phillips.
“There is some money earmarked for this project, but we will be able to get some from the waste water funds and some will be covered by taxation.”
As I wrote last May, the Tanner subdivision was built in the 1970s and the infrastructure was expected to last several more decades but for some reason the ductile cast iron pipes were corroding and damaging the roadway.
Homeowners have been pushing for repairs, but had been told the municipality had no money in its budget and would have to wait for provincial funding.
More homes approved for Haven on the Trent
Council has approved an agreement with Sifton Properties Ltd. for phase four of its Haven on the Trent subdivision that will permit an additional 41 homes.
Sifton’s original plan for the property was submitted in 2013 and the initial subdivision agreement for three phases was passed on Sept. 1, 2015.
In addition to the homes, there is a block set aside for an interior trail system that will improve pedestrian access, said a report by Planner Cameron Law.
Law told council the trails won’t be built until phase six of the development, planned for the top of the hill on the west side of the property, and will link with trails in the adjacent Seymour Conservation Area.
Councillor Savery asked who will pay the infrastructure costs for phase four.
Law said the cost will be paid by the developer.
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It is great to see the request being submitted for funding for Trent Island. It was leakage from the water pipes at first but the last three have been blown out so it shows the breaks are getting worse. One fear is that the sewer pipes may be having leaks as well and if they are are sewage could be entering the river approximately 150 feet away. Keep our fingers crossed.