Plans for the waterfront will be front and centre at Collingwood’s council meeting on Monday.
Staff are presenting a plan to council to collaborate with the United Steelworkers Union (USW) to build an Indigenous Gathering Space as was outlined in the Waterfront Master Plan.
According to the staff report, the USW is planning a triennial district-wide convention at Blue Mountain in September. Part of their mandate in hosting these gatherings is to reach out to the community to collaborate on a large-scale project.
USW represents members at Pilkington Glass in Collingwood, and was the established union of the Collingwood shipyards until their closure in 1986.
Town staff have already met with USW representatives; the waterfront master plan architect; and Elephant Thoughts, who will be helping connect the town with Indigenous people for consultation on the project.
Staff are asking for a “budget envelope” of $600,000 from the Waterfront Master Plan Reserve to complete this project by Sept. 6. Staff is also asking council to allow a specialized procurement policy to expedite the process.
“It is requested that council allow for a specific procurement procedure that will ensure transparency while not incurring delays due to process,” states the staff report.
“Staff request that procurement of materials and services, related only to the construction of the Gathering Circle project, be allowed to proceed within the requested budget envelope, with direct reporting to council at each meeting of committee and council being the substitute for our normal council-approved processes.”
Council will receive this report from staff and be asked to vote on it at the regular council meeting March 26 starting at 5 p.m.
“With council approval, each expenditure will be publicly presented in an information report complete with rationale for the purchasing decision, how the pricing was established, if competitive comparators were available to assist with the decision-making, and the consensus of the project group as well as any dissension among group members, should it occur,” states the report.
The Gathering Circle project is part of phase one of the Waterfront Master Plan. According to a council presentation on November 14, 2016 of the final plan, phase one includes $20.6 million in projects to be completed from 2017 to 2022 at Harbourview Park, Heritage Drive, the Collingwood pier, Eastern Fens boardwalk and an Enviropark.
