“A step to improve the gateway of our town,” in the words of Mayor Jamie Hahn, was made by council at its regular  meeting last Tuesday evening.
Council approved a site plan agreement presented by the Kirkton Veterinary Clinic for a new facility on Water Street South, just south of the fields that serve as parking for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, on the west side of the street.
Kirkton Veterinary Clinic purchased the St. Marys clinic in 2006; the plan is to move the current St. Marys facility, on Jones Street West, to the new, larger location.
In response to concerns from nearby residents over pets being walked -- and not picked up after -- the site will be fenced in, with cedar hedges, so that pets can have “a final health break” before entering the facility, explained chief building official Grant Brouwer.
It is hoped that construction will begin later this year -- and that more businesses settle on the five other lots available in the same area.
No more Christmas break at town hall
Due to the increasing importance of municipal services, St. Marys town hall will no longer be closed the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. A staff report listed a number of activities that continue during the holiday, including snow removal, garbage pickup, Pyramid Centre activities, the Early Years’ Learning Centre and the library.
Outgoing CAO Bruce Grant noted that some staff will still be able to take holidays during this time of year, “but that they’ll have to juggle” how to do it with their respective department heads.
Designation decisions
Council decided to approve a heritage designation for the McDonald Cottage, located at the south end of Water Street, just north of the cement plant.
The small cottage was build in the early 1850s by local stonemason Alexander McDonald, who also build the Junction State, the original Victoria Bridge and the London rail bridge, to name a few of his contributions. The building is currently in the possession of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
While this designation process was met with little opposition, Heritage St. Marys’ request to designate the house on the Ardmore Park property -- which is currently in the initial stages of being redeveloped, potentially, into a 72-unit condo development -- was turned down completely.
While the developers are open to the idea of designation, Coun. Bill Mustard commented that “it might appear that this committee (Heritage St. Marys) is getting rather aggressive” in regards to what it chooses to designate, since nothing has been finalized, and the house has not been officially severed from the rest of the property.
Coun. Bill Osborne, who brought forth the  matter, agreed with Coun. Mustard to a degree, saying that he “has trouble telling people what to do ...(designation) could get out of hand in St. Marys.”
Coun. Don Van Galen, who also sits on the planning advisory committee (which is reviewing the development application), told council that he “doesn’t know if this is helpful” at this point in the process. He added that since the developers were already in talks with Heritage St. Marys, he doesn’t want council to make any “pre-emptive” decisions.
Coun. Marg Luna noted that the Ardmore designation wasn’t new on the town’s radar; if the prior development had been passed in the early 2000s, the home would have been designated already.
 Coun. Osborne offered to bring Heritage St. Marys to the Sept. 9 council meeting with the idea to discuss the matter, but instead, the matter was tabled for further discussion at the Administration and Finance Committee.
There will be a public meeting to discuss the Ardmore Park development on Monday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Municipal Operations Centre.
Road work reviewed
Residents of Tracy, George and Victoria streets attended last Tuesday’s council meeting to hear the town’s plans for annual road work. Since public works committee chair Coun. Van Galen had a conflict of interest in the matter, Coun. Osborne explained the town’s plans to upgrade roads next week.
Osborne noted that “the Emily Street project is holding us up,” in that, while money has was earmarked by the town a few years ago to install sidewalks and curbs, the town is hesitant to begin work because of a subdivision development that has been in the works.
Rather than begin the work on Emily Street -- only to likely have it ripped apart by the developer in a few years -- public works is recommending that portions of Tracy, George and Victoria streets be improved instead. The approximately $600,000 in reserves for Emily Street will be transferred to the new project.
Mayor Jamie Hahn noted that, while the town likes to do major road work every year, he regrets that none will be done this year.
Osborne told council that the area is a unique part of St. Marys, “a little enclave like Wortley Village (in London), but on a smaller scale,” and that proper sidewalks and landscaping could only improve it.
Public works director Kevin Luckhardt added that, while work does need to be done on Elizabeth Street (between Huron and Brock), the “very very severe” sidewalk elevation issues and stormwater collection problems in the Tracy area are requiring more immediate attention.
Hahn added that the Tracy street area was also important because at the end of the street, there is another potential 15 to 20 acres of residential development.
No plans of the work are available as of yet; there will likely be an open house for residents in October or November, according to Luckhardt, so plans and disruptions can be seen. He added that there will probably be some water main improvements done alongside the road work, and that other utility providers may want to do work as well.
Farewell to Grant
As required by the Municipal Act, council approved Rob Brindley as the town’s new clerk; assistant Lizet Scott was approved as deputy clerk for six months, when a review will take place.
Brindley was also approved by council as the town’s new CAO; Coun. Van Galen requested a recorded vote -- with 100 per cent of support from council -- at the end of council to release Bruce Grant from his duties.
After the vote, Grant, who has worked with six different councils, said that he “always found council supportive of the effort he and staff have put forth,” adding that, thanks to this good relationship “a tremendous amount of good work has been done” in the town.
Hahn, on council’s behalf, thanked Grant for his 17 years of service to the town, both in the public works department and as CAO, saying  that “it amazes us what a well informed officer (of the town) you have been.”