Councillors explain why they voted in favour of reconsidering council’s prior approval of the New Main Branch Library plans

Garneau, Kyle and Coleman release open letter to the community

To the Editor:

Our colleague, Councillor John Bell, recently took the brave step of putting his name behind the motion to reconsider the proposed New Main Library branch project. A motion to reconsider a decision is a special motion that does not allow for the typical discussion and debate that takes place with other motions under normal circumstances. As a result, procedure took away our ability to speak to our motives for supporting the resolution and next steps at the Special Council Meeting on February 1st. We are taking that opportunity now in this open letter to our community.

While the project was approved by Council in principle to move to the detailed design and tender stage, the project has not yet been given the green light to proceed to construction This decision will be made once the tendered costs are received and presented to Council. For us, voting in favour of reconsidering Council’s June 2023 decision was not a vote against the County of Brant Library, nor to sell the Bawcutt Centre Rather, we saw this as an opportunity to revisit the scope of the project to make sure Council brought forward a project that stood a stronger chance of receiving final approval.

Since June, Council received the draft Long-Term Financial Plan, Asset Management Plan, and information about our debt capacity. While the project as currently proposed does not directly draw on the 2024 property tax levy, it will affect the County’s ability to borrow money for other projects If grants and donations fall short of targets, the property tax levy will have to make up the difference.

We all contribute to and reap the benefits of the services, infrastructure, programs, facilities, culture, heritage, and spectacular landscape across the County The three of us also come from the farming community and rural parts of the County, and we know rural infrastructure needs reinvestment, community programs and recreation facilities are at capacity, and the broader community needs a modern hospital Our job as Councillors is to balance these competing priorities, and we take the responsibility of allocating your tax dollars seriously.

We want to see the Bawcutt Centre restored in ways that best benefit the community We also want to see that the County of Brant Library has the facilities needed to meet the needs of our growing municipality. We believe there are multiple ways to facilitate this, but without reconsidering prior decisions, these conversations cannot happen now Instead, the County will incur more costs to complete detailed drawings that will allow contractors to quote construction costs. We remain concerned Council will not be able to approve the New Main Library branch construction contract due to cost, especially since Council does not have an approved budget for this project

With that said, we do respect Council’s democratic process and will continue working together with our fellow Councillors for the betterment of the County of Brant.

Sincerely,

Christine Garneau (Ward 5), Jennifer Kyle (Ward 1) & Brian Coleman (Ward 5), County of Brant Councillors