May 29, 2009 - 08:43 AM
Scott Howard
Township council has formed a task force to examine the possible move of the Cannington Library to the town hall.
That decision came at Monday's committee of the whole session, just days after near-unanimous support for the move at a public meeting.
Mayor Larry O'Connor cited the response from the public in suggesting the formation of a task force.
"The people who came out wanted action -- quick action," he said.
"This is a reasonable way to move things forward in an acceptable timeframe."
But that's not to say council has signed off on the town hall as the future site of the library. Mayor O'Connor pointed out that many options -- including the Cannington Community Centre and the yet-to-built Community Health Centre -- still remain on the table.
Instead, the mandate of the task force will be to collect information the best way to accommodate the move and revitalize the town hall.
Mayor O'Connor termed it as a "fact-finding mission" with the expectation that council will receive a full report on the issue prior to summer recess, which begins June 22.
"We want to pull together all of the information so council can make a good decision," he said.
According to Mayor O'Connor, all options will be considered -- including the Township transferring management of the facility to a non-profit corporation, which could possibly open the door to more funding opportunities.
"We're definitely going into some new territory," he said.
Ward 5 councillor Ted Smith seemed to be in support of such a move.
"I have some concerns over our ability to finance a new library in Cannington," he said.
"This would put more of an onus on the village of Cannington to help move the process along."
While other members of the task force are still being sought, regional councillor John Grant will join Mayor O'Connor as a representative of council.
In an interview, Coun. Grant said that Cannington residents gave a clear signal of what they expect from council at the public meeting.
"I was impressed with the turnout. It shows that the community is engaged," he said.
"There didn't seem to be many people there promoting any location other than the town hall."
The formation of the task force was unanimously approved by council, but Cannington councillor Anthony Woodruff was not in attendance.
Mayor O'Connor mentioned that Coun. Woodruff had raised some reservations about the task force in a private conversation prior to Monday's meeting.
Coun. Woodruff could not be reached for comment.
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