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Cassellholme rebuild up for council vote tonight

The capital expenditure is expected to be about $64 million
cassellholme

City council will be asked to support a motion at tonight's meeting to financially support the redevelopment of Cassellholme and 248 beds.

Councillor  Chris Mayne told BayToday all five remaining municipalities are being asked to reconfirm their support.

In December Cassellholme got the ability to borrow money.

"The Province, as of last Friday, has received all the changes to regulations to support that legislation so now we're ready to move forward. The Province wanted to reconfirm that everybody is aware of the changes and supports it. If we get these motions in from municipalities within the next two weeks, we send that off to the province and we're hoping they'll sign the redevelopment agreement and we go off to tender," explained Mayne.

The capital expenditure is expected to be about $64 million.

"The municipalities are paying about 22 million dollars and North Bay is about an 80 per cent share, so it will be about 16 million dollars over an amortization period of 25 years. That calculates to about 1.25 million dollars per year."

That money is over and above the city's current budget.

"Right now the city pays a levy of 2.2 million dollars per year towards the operating costs of Cassellholme, which are expected to stay the same, but the capital levy is new. The construction costs of about 1.25 million dollars per year is something the city now needs to finance, either within the existing budget, and that will be a challenge because we have pressures potentially from a police station to a library and other projects in the community. 

"So the challenge in the budget this year will be to find that, otherwise, it will put pressure on increasing the budget. At the end of the day, the municipalities are responsible for about 15 per cent of long-term care in their regions. It's a formula the Province isn't interested in changing so if we want to see Cassellholme redeveloped, which has been mandated by the Province, we do have to step forward and find that financing as a community."

The meeting starts at 6:30.


Jeff Turl

About the Author: Jeff Turl

Jeff is a veteran of the news biz. He's spent a lengthy career in TV, radio, print and online, covering both news and sports. He enjoys free time riding motorcycles and spoiling grandchildren.
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