At Harrington Lake residence, $158 to remove wasp nest
Anyone with a lakeside retreat in the Gatineau Hills knows the expensive struggles with peeling paint, aging plumbing and mice.
So it goes at Harrington Lake, where the National Capital Commission continues to spend more than $200,000 a year in repairs and maintenance of the official residence, including the staff and RCMP buildings as well as the main house. Like an old family cottage, the grand old building always needs something fixed.
The latest figures, obtained through access to information, show the NCC spent $249,742 in maintenance and repairs during the 11-month period ending in February of this year, which is up about $35,000 from the previous year.
Overall the big white house
from the 1920s is far less expensive to maintain than 24 Sussex Drive (which needs millions of dollars’ worth of renovation), but more costly than Rideau Cottage, where the prime minister lives. This money isn’t going into major renovations on Harrington Lake. It’s a steady drip of dozens of smaller expenses.
Only one major expense stands out: removing contaminated soil. The garden area has petroleumbased chemicals, and the remediation of the site cost $51,478 in the past year. There have been other cleanup costs in previous years, including $34,000 in 2015-2016 for “hazardous materials abatement.”
The house often needs electrical work of varying kinds. Generator maintenance and repair is a constant feature of life at Harrington Lake, and wiring needs updating. In the past year generator repairs cost about $3,600, which is on top of $4,000 the year before, plus $503 for a generator service contract, $190 to tune the portable generator, and $500 to troubleshoot a problem in the generator storage hut.
Maintenance on the front gates cost $7,788.
A new cedar deck cost $11,490, installed.
The RCMP trailer received a new roof ($10,288) and refurbishing ($13,375), plus a $2,100 paint job.
Cottages and country homes have mice and other wild species. A pest control company has had a busy time.
First there are the scheduled visits — $1,574 for the six months ending in March of this year.
But despite this, it was a year of unwanted wildlife. There was a wasp nest, which the NCC paid $183 to remove. Worse, the main cottage attic had pest trouble. The type isn’t specified, but cleanup cost $15,486.
And someone is trying to keep nature outside the buildings. The NCC managers approved $10,472 for “wildlife proofing,” including more cleanup work.
There was a further wildlife expense: $6,031 for a survey of bats. Little, brown bats used to be common but are now endangered because of disease. In late October there was a $3,097 bill to remove bats from the roofs of Harrington Lake buildings. It’s unclear whether these were endangered bats or their healthier cousins, big brown bats.
The house may need a new dishwasher soon. The current one has needed repairs twice, for $708 and $1,028. (It’s a Hobart — an expensive brand for commercial use.)
Other work included general cleaning, spring and fall window washing, chimney cleaning, removing the old roof from a garage, and more than $6,000 in “urgent” electrical repairs to an outbuilding.
Ken Rubin, an Ottawa researcher who specializes in access to information, has been gathering information on expenses at Harrington Lake for years, and he says the old house and outbuildings have been a money pit for a long time.
“It goes on and on. It has been a gold mine (for contractors) for a long time,” he said.