Renfrew’s Public Works Garage is no longer in poor shape.
It would be better and more accurate to say that the garage, the hub for Renfrew’s fleet of public works vehicles and staff, is in catastrophic shape. And it has been for years.
This building has been in bad need of work, repairs, and interventions since the turn of the century, which is a hell of a thing to say given the fact that we’re already a quarter of the way through that century. Yet council after council has sacrificed this municipal property on the altar of budget deficits, shunting it aside as less a priority than the other things that have been funded for over these past twenty-five years.
But now the problems appear to coming home to roost. Now it appears that a kid throwing a rock at the building may well put the structure in an existential calamity, since the whole place could come crumbling down with as much as an unduly harsh look, never mind a child’s rock.
And all of this against the backdrop of the biggest budget crisis in the town’s history, a crisis that will linger for decades. And as these things go, the Public Works Garage, ignored for all of these years as money was thrown into things like Ma-Te-Way and office furniture for the Town Hall, remains not only in crisis, but also as a danger to the employees and the equipment headquartered there.
It appears it can’t be ignored any longer. And right at a time we can least afford to do anything about it. Funny, not funny, how these things go.
Director of infrastructure, Public Works and Engineering Andrea Bishop is set to deliver a report, or at least an impressive sheaf of papers, when she provides commentary on the dilapidated state of this service-delivery infrastructure. Ms. Bishop’s information comes on the heels of another commentary delivered to Council a couple of meetings back by Chief Administrative Officer Gloria Raybone, who had just toured a number of town-owned buildings and came away wth the impression that some of them, many of them, were in pretty bad shape.
The Public Works Garage is more than likely to be the one that’s in the most absolute worse shape, which is saying something because the Town of Renfrew seems keen to collect buildings that were on their last legs sometime around Confederation.
Ms. Bishop’s tendering is procedurally offered as what is called “information,” as in no action is mandated, only recommended. In other words, it costs nothing to be informed of the disaster represented by the garage, but it’ll cost Council many hundreds of thousands of dollars, even low millions, to fix it.
Not the best of news, even on a really good day.
So after the town spent over $4 million to make sure that all the bureaucrats were comfortably seated and out-fitted, the boys and girls in the safety vests have to play a form of Russian roulette with their safety every day they show up for work.
This is not just a storage facility, or a parking facility, or a place where stuff is put when no other place can be found. This is also a repair depot, where all the king’s horses and all the kings men work to put all the stuff together again. And it’s literally falling down, literally crumbling around them. If something isn’t done, and done soon, the building is at threat of being completely condemned should a health and safety inspector ever happen by. I’m actually surprised the place is still in operation.
This town is in bad shape financially and there’s no need here to regurgitate the reasons why. But this is our public works force, and our public work force. We may be having trouble making the rent, but by God the streets are cleared and the work of the municipality gets done, despite the fact that their home base has been horribly compromised through disrepair, neglect, and financial priorities that reduce the place to a forgotten shell out there on Lisgar Street, something the average citizen never sees unless they happen to be heading down that section of Highway 132 to get somewhere. Out of sight, and out of mind.
Until now.
It seems more than apparent that action will have to be taken on this file, as the luxury of putting things off is no longer a luxury, but rather a liability. In short, this thing can’t be ignored any longer. It must be considered to be at least on par with other important capital projects, both planned and thought of. It must take precedence over other budget items that may be considered to be “window dressing.” This is structural, foundational, both literally and figuratively.
It represents another tough decision for the people who have to face tough decisions after tough decisions after tough decisions. It’s like they never stop.
For years, this sleepy little Ottawa Valley town has been run as if it were in rural Louisiana, where the good old boys nudge-nudged and winked-winked their way through everything without anyone saying a peep.
That state of affairs has finally caught up with us, unfortunately on many fronts simultaneously. But we simply can’t be paying for Ma-Te-Way and office furniture while our critical infrastructure falls down around us due to historical neglect.
I really don’t think this can be put off any longer.
NEWSMAGRENFREW 