Niagara-on-the-Lake council is moving ahead with the recommended next steps for the former hospital on Wellington Street, but not without some debate over whether the town is moving either carefully or too slowly on deciding what to do with the old building — particularly, some say, with an election coming down the pike later this year.
A new town staff report on the property’s future was presented to council Tuesday. It was approved, with Couns. Wendy Cheropita and Sandra O’Connor voting against it.
The report recommends the town, which owns the former hospital at 176 Wellington St., focus on a use for the site that serves the community — and do more work to better understand what kinds of community uses the property could realistically support.
It allocates up to $12,000 for an external architectural consultant to prepare conceptual plans and recommends further analysis of the site before a request for proposals is issued, announcing and laying out the details of the former hospital’s alteration for contractors.
The report does not propose any change to ownership. The town approved no final design, project or partner.
Chief administrative officer Nick Ruller stressed repeatedly that council was not being asked to approve a final concept or move ahead with a specific proposal.
“This information that we would gather would inform what we would put in the (request for proposals),” Ruller said, calling it a “starting point.”
He said a past request for information on the hospital site was too broad in its scope, meaning the town couldn’t move forward with concrete ideas for the project — the current report is meant to provide more clear direction upfront.
Before any decision is made on when to issue a request for proposals, staff must provide the further information that, Ruller said, could be complete within four to six weeks, depending on consultant availability.
He said if staff are able to return to council by February and receive direction, the goal would be to draft a request for proposals and issue it several weeks later.
The decision exposed a split over how quickly councillors think the town should move toward outside proposals.
The debate followed a delegation earlier in the meeting from Jim Burton, chair of the James A. Burton & Family Foundation, who urged council to move faster and warned against delays that could push decisions on this project into the election cycle. Municipal elections are being held this year on Oct. 26.
The foundation has outlined its vision to turn the site into a hub for the arts, culture and education, and says it is prepared to respond to a request for proposals with a plan reflecting public feedback and the direction of the staff report.
“We appreciate the staff report was in line with what we had heard for the last three years,” Burton told The Lake Report after the meeting.
At the meeting, Burton called on the town to return with a clear procurement approach and timeline, including a request for proposals, within 45 days.
“Let me start off by saying clearly, I am not a developer,” he told councillors. “I have no commercial ties, directly or indirectly, with 176 Wellington.”
“Before you get back into another election cycle — which is going to take over everything that people think about — I would wish for you to be able to have a win.”
He said the foundation’s concern is that “the delay will not be helpful to the process,” adding that the focus now should be on progress.
“We have solutions — as an example, even to parking. But we haven’t shown you,” Burton said.
Some councillors said that quick pace raised concerns.
Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa cautioned against rushing the process, saying council needs “to get the facts clear on the community benefit portion” before moving toward outside proposals.
“I think it shows that we’re trying to be prudent with the leadership of this property,” Zalepa added, “before we go to market on what could be some very exciting opportunities with third parties.”
Coun. Maria Mavridis said she understands the push but is also not comfortable moving faster.
“I don’t agree with the comment that it is a failure of leadership not to do so,” she added.
Mavridis said council should stay the course and follow proper procurement rules on what she described as one of the biggest projects this council is dealing with.
Coun. Gary Burroughs supported the staff report but said the town should be careful not to repeat years of inaction tied to the site. He asked whether a request for proposals could move forward more quickly “or in conjunction with some of the other studies” staff wish to complete.
Ruller responded that clearer guidance from council first would help avoid issuing an overly broad request for proposals.
Cheropita said she supports what she called an “excellent report,” but worried the reference to a two-storey parking structure — and early design work — could limit ideas before the town hears from outside proponents.
“I think we should be moving to a (request for proposals) process,” said Cheropita.
She said the strongest concepts often come through those proposals and cautioned against “boxing ourselves in” too early in the process.
Ruller said the two-storey reference was illustrative only and intended to help inform, not predetermine, a future request for proposals.
“Simply to highlight the fact that we’re not looking to do a six storey, you know, poured concrete (structure),” he said.
“Because as soon as someone hears parking garage, there are these negative connotations to it.”
O’Connor said she agrees with keeping the site for community benefit but questioned whether parking should be emphasized at this stage, noting that parks and open space ranked higher as an option in public consultation.
The town-commissioned public consultation survey results showed parks and open space were selected more often (186 times) than parking (149 times) as a desired use for the former hospital.
“I’m not saying parking is not an issue,” O’Connor said. “I’m just saying it doesn’t have to predetermine what we do with this particular property.”
Burton said although parking is included in the foundation’s concept, he worried it was being emphasized too heavily before broader ideas are tested through a request for proposals.
O’Connor questioned whether staff were shaping outcomes too tightly before hearing broader ideas through a request for proposals and said the report presented too few options for council to consider.
Ruller said the report reflects staff’s interpretation of the public consultation carried out by NPG Planning Solutions Inc., and said if council has concerns about the range of options, the time to raise them is now.
