County of Kings buys adjacent Coldbrook property for new public works garage

The new County of Kings public works garage won’t be in a location separate from the new municipal complex in Coldbrook after all.

In November, chief administrative officer (CAO) Scott Conrod reported that staff had been instructed by council in a July closed session to “purchase a neighbouring property adjacent to the administration building” on Coldbrook Village Park Drive.

Council had reviewed four properties and, after applying selection criteria, decided on a 20,000 square-foot parcel that belonged to neighbouring Coldbrook Electric. This represents approximately one-third of the Coldbrook Electric property. The company would maintain ownership of the remaining two-thirds.

The land cost the municipality $52,752 plus HST. Conrod said it would be $300,000 less expensive overall to develop the public works garage on the Coldbrook Electric property than the second-place selection, which was not identified.

Conrod said the proposed public works building would increase by 750 square feet over what had previously been designed in 2016. This would be to accommodate additional work stations for public works employees — who would move from the new municipal complex — and additional space for long-term file storage. The municipality currently rents file storage space off site.

Council also instructed that energy efficiency be given more emphasis than it had in the 2016 design.

At the December session, Kings County council rescinded a motion made in June 2017 to locate the new public works building on a site separate from the municipal administration building.

The Coldbrook Electric property purchase was acknowledged. Council authorized the CAO to revise the 2016 design to reflect the increased square footage, from 6,032 square feet to a minimum of 6,782 square feet.

The CAO was also authorized to explore any opportunities related to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Green Municipal Fund and the energy efficiency of the building to conduct a net zero feasibility study; and to issue tenders for design and construction.

With the approval of the 20192020 budget, council approved a temporary borrowing resolution that included $1.8 million for the new public works building. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the county will borrow the money, but it positions the municipality to be able to do so if necessary.

DESIGN CONCERNS

Several councillors, including Martha Armstrong, Pauline Raven and Bob Best, expressed concern over tendering the building design again.

“So, we’re not going to use the design we already bought and paid for?” Armstrong asked following a November presentation on the project from Conrod and Engineering and Public Works, Lands and Parks Services director Scott Quinn.

Quinn said the design would have to be revisited because of the increased footprint and the possible impact on systems such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning and electrical. Also, energy efficiency wasn’t contemplated as part of the original design.

Quinn said the tender would call for two design comparisons, one sticking to budget that looks at enhanced energy efficiency and one exploring whether so-called

“net zero” energy usage could be achieved.

With regard to geothermal heating, Conrod said they would have to determine if there is enough capacity from existing wells or if new wells are needed for the public works garage.

He said staff has made the commitment to look for as much third-party energy efficiency funding as possible when it comes to the design and build. Quinn said the FCM has funding available to explore whether or not net zero is feasible.

Raven said she wants to see the municipality spend as little of its own money as possible in exploring energy efficiency. She said talking to the FCM first “might get us to a point where we’d tender something different.”

Mayor Peter Muttart said they are considering net zero because “it’s the right thing to do” and they’re looking at external funding sources to see if the municipality can afford to do it.

Best said there aren’t very many buildings in Nova Scotia that have achieved net zero and “you want to have deep pockets” if that is the goal.