Township buys land for new operations centre
FERGUS – Centre Wellington Township has purchased a 20-acre parcel of land for a new operations centre.
CAO Andy Goldie reported the purchase of land, at 965 Gartshore in Fergus, at the Oct. 25 council meeting.
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The purchase comes in at $3.95 million. The township will get a loan to cover the purchase and payments will come from development charges.
Council approved the option of a new operations centre in June and approved the land purchase at a closed meeting on Sept. 20.
Goldie said the deal closes on Nov. 30 but the landowner, a farmer, can continue to farm the land in 2022.
The new operations centre will be built in two phases and will house parks and recreation, water services, public works, and IT departments. The building, once constructed, will be 54,000 square feet with offices, meeting rooms, locker rooms for staff, a mechanics area for vehicle maintenance, and storage for road salt and sand.
When completed, township staff expects to close some of the smaller operations sites and either sell or repurpose those properties.
The new operations centre, including land and construction, is expected to ring in at $27 million.
