A new acronym appeared in the Penetanguishene committee of the whole at the recent meeting when the multi-use recreation centre, or MURC, was brought as a recreation department staff report about its 10-year timeline and partnerships.
The MURC label replaces the designation of its past as the property at 51 Dunlop St., known as the former location for Penetanguishene Secondary School before its sale and demolition.
It was further discussed at the previous meeting of council as a potential partnership location between Burkevale Protestant Separate School through the Protestant Secondary School Board, the town, and the County of Simcoe.
Ultimately, Penetanguishene council chose the location in March as the site of a future MURC that was estimated to cost between $35 million and $50 million in a 2021 arena and recreation centre study.
Committee members discussed the report which outlined the dynamic timeline that begins with a project vision in the first year, moving to planning, design, construction, and finally operation in the future.
Coun. George Vadeboncoeur called the report excellent.
“I know the financial component is discussed later in the report, but when I was reading the report and I saw ‘capital planning, workload, and partnerships’, and then I didn’t see financial planning (until a later section)... That is going to be critical in terms of our ability to be able to afford this new facility," said Vadeboncoeur.
Mayor Doug Rawson followed Vadeboncoeur’s line of reasoning, stating that much work needed to be done to pull the plan together for its finished product.
“I wonder what the plan is for long-term financial planning for the new proposed multi-use recreation centre, and our other assets,” said Rawson. “I think the goal of the 10 years is great, but it might be 15 years, it might be seven years. We don’t know, and I don’t think anyone knows (yet) what the financial impacts are in the entire organization.”
In response, director of finance/treasurer Carrie Robillard explained the long-term financial plan would be packaged within the town’s corporate plan, and addressed in the 2024 budget process.
Vadeboncoeur asked if there would be a complete list of potential long-term projects and their funding presented for budget consideration.
“We just came from a town dock feasibility meeting earlier – just prior to the council meeting – and were talking about that project,” said Vadeboncoeur, “and how that could potentially be a multi-million dollar project, and there might be other multi-million dollar projects.”
Robillard explained the long-term financial plan to: “... include everything that’s currently in the 10-year-plus capital plan we have documented.
“It’s going to be a living, breathing document when it is completed, so it will be adjusted any time there’s any changes to: our operating budget, 10-year capital plan, 10-year development charges background study, all of the utility rate, financial plans that go out in 10 years. It will all be incorporated into one document," said Robillard.
“I don’t want a PDF document sitting on the shelf; I want something that’s interactive and in a format that we can change and move with in the next 10 years,” Robillard added.
The MURC timeline report was further praised by Coun. Suzanne Marchand who stated that 10 years might seem like a long time, but was common with such large projects.
“This is a really great opportunity to fundraise ... and look to grant opportunities and partnerships which is really going to be key to this,” said Marchand. “Being bold. This is a big change. There’s a lot of change happening in our small but mighty town and this is one of the things that will help with the attraction as we continue to develop.”
Committee members approved staff recommendations to explore development charges as a funding source, to set an approximate timeline for opening, and to start soliciting proposals in 2024 for potential partnerships.
The MURC timelines and partnerships report can be located on the agenda page of the Town of Penetanguishene website.
Meetings of Penetanguishene council are held on the second Wednesday of each month, and can be watched live on Rogers TV cable 53, or on the Rogers TV website.
Archives of council meetings are located on the Town of Penetanguishene YouTube channel.
