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Friday, January 23, 2009 THE PARRY SOUND BEACONHSTAR

Seguin council gives oversized sign the OKBY EvAN FRENCH Beacon Star Staff

If all goes according to plan, you won’t be able to miss it. The installation of a huge 96-square-foot sign built for the Ontario Camp of the Deaf was OK’d by Seguin Township council after some heated discussion Monday night.

The old sign, which spanned 80 square feet, was “getting tired” and when a piece of it was stolen the camp owners saw it as a chance to replace it.

The new sign, which will be placed further to the right, near the camp’s entrance on Blackstone and Crane Lake Road, is almost three times the allowable size according to the town-ship’s sign bylaw, and councillors were quick to ask why it needed to be so large.

Jennine Loewen, facility manager for the camp, told coun-cil it’s a matter of accessibility. She said campers deserve to be able to see the welcome sign, and for those with vision impairments the old sign just wasn’t good enough.

“We’ve received numerous complaints about the sign,” she said. “For campers that come to us, this is one of the only places where they aren’t abnormal.”

She said it’s not just hearing impaired kids coming to the camp. Children with all kinds of physical and mental disabili-ties deserve to be able to read the sign, she said.

In a recorded vote, councillors were split down the middle on the issue. Mayor David Conn was called on to break the tie, which he did by allowing the installation to go ahead.

Councillor Doug Sainsbury said the new sign is only slightly larger than the old sign, so all council was doing was allowing

a continuance on the sign’s legal non-complying status. Councillor Brian Sturgeon said although he didn’t object to

the sign going in, it seems much too large in his opinion. “It seems excessively large for the purpose,” he said. During the break, councillor Alex Chidley said a number

of other signs have been turned down by council in the past - because they were too large - and he couldn’t see why this sign was allowed.

Deaf Camp manager Derek Rumball, whose father Bob founded the camp in 1960, said he was quite happy with the result of the meeting.

“I think in general the right decision has been made,” he said. “I was a little surprised when it went to a recorded vote, with the mayor having to break the tie, but the outcome is the right outcome.”

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This little extra could cost the town an additional $500,000, a cost they hope to offset by applying for up to $1.5 million in fund-ing from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) — funding they wouldn’t have been eligible for without part-nering with the three agencies.

“It forms a good partnership, with better customer service and more effective use of space and better use of taxpayers’ dollars,” said Parry Sound chief administrative officer Rob Mens.

It’s also a strong approach for business, economic and tourism development, he said.

“That’s our approach to this major funding application.”

The town is applying for four other grants, said Mens, though the NOHFC grant is by far the biggest.

Bill Spinney, general manager for the Parry Sound Area Community Business and Development Centre said the arrangement is a positive one because it will reduce costs. “It will make sense to co-ordinate the town with the CBDC, GBC, and BC to be situated there and in common spaces.”

The organizations will also pay rent to the town, a rate that has yet to be determined. A lease agreement will be negotiated in upcom-ing weeks.

Discussion surrounding the resolution was brief, with only councillor Bonnie Keith rais-ing concerns.

“I think it’s wise to put this on hold and see if others (businesses) plan to rent the third storey, so that there aren’t any more changes to the architectural plans.”

Proposed renovations to the 75-year-old building – which will cost in the $2.5 million range — include a 2,500-square-foot addi-tion to the south side of the building, street level access, on-site council chambers and an elevator.

Barrie’s Davenport Architectural is design-ing the building and with the changes, con-struction will be delayed by two or three months. It was supposed to start in April and will likely begin in June.

There is a public meeting on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Bobby Orr Community Centre to discuss the renovations along with water-front development, railway issues and Parry Sound Power.

Town hall, heritage designation?

The Parry Sound Municipal Heritage Committee says they believe the 75-year-old town hall building has heritage significance and would like the town to grant the building “interim heritage status.”

A letter with the request was written to council and was summarized at Tuesday’s council meeting.

Stephen Wohleber, member and past chair of the Municipal Heritage Committee said the committee is primarily concerned with the Seguin Street entrance to the building.

Though the building is not extremely old, the group says it does have significant civic value.

“The two little lamps, the stone steps … maintaining as much as possible of the origi-

nal façade,” he said. The interim heritage status would give

the heritage committee time to do proper research on the building to look into whether or not they want to designate the building.

This includes looking at the town’s and their architect’s plans — which are not yet finalized — and to make comments on them.

The final decision on a designation, if one comes, rests with council.

Almost 20 locations in Parry Sound are designated historical status.

These include the recently designated Bel-vedere lookout point, the CN and CP stations and the Oddfellows building on James Street. Designation doesn’t always refer to an entire building; a portion of the building such as a façade can be designated.

Construction will be pushed back two months

Pipe workGalcon Marine has been hired to replace an aging Parry Sound sewer piper and a forced water main under the Seguin River. Crews were floating the pipe across the river before installing it Wednesday afternoon. Construction is expected to be completed in about a month.

Cody Storm Cooper/Beacon Star