GUELPH — County councillor Campbell Cork wants a meeting to discuss the possibility of the County of Wellington relocating its administrative offices out of Guelph or splitting its offices between Guelph and Aboyne.
Cork outlined the issue at the county council meeting last week. He will present his motion on the issue at the February meeting calling for a special meeting to understand the situation.
“And I just want to have a special meeting to sort this all out and make it clear to all members of this council and to the public exactly what we’re doing with office space, parking space and land purchases,” Cork said.
According to Cork, there are those who do not clearly know what stage the potential move of the administrative offices out of Guelph is at.
“And frankly I don’t know what we’re doing and what justification there is for it, for what our plan is, or if we even have a plan. And I don’t think I’m alone around this table in feeling that way.”
There are several potential changes of relevance to Cork’s motion.
“I don’t know what the county plan is for staying in Downtown Guelph. We’ve heard of several locations for a parking garage and we have heard it may also include more offices. And we have heard some departments may be moved around.”
So Cork is calling for the council to understand the issue and make a decision on it.
“I think it’s time this council got the facts and this council made that decision because the project is upon us.”
There has been talk of the county building a garage on county-owned property in Guelph.
If council allows the parking garage to be built, it will be making the decision to stay in Guelph, whether or not that is the right thing to do, Cork said.
“I think we’re at a critical decision point.
“And if we proceed with building our $28 million parking garage in downtown Guelph, we will in fact be committed to staying in the city for the foreseeable future.”
Council does not have an accurate understanding of the garage cost.
“And we know the $28 million estimate is out of date ... I’ve heard we might be or might not be buying more land in Guelph.”
Jesse Gault is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
