ARICHAT: Richmond Municipal Council is looking at hiring a consultant to review the condition of a former school that was downloaded to the municipality.
After it was closed a decade ago, West Richmond Education Centre in Evanston was declared surplus to the needs of the then Strait regional school board, and officially became the responsibility of the Municipality of the County of Richmond.
During the regular monthly meeting of Richmond Municipal Council on March 22 in Arichat, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Don Marchand provided an update about potential repairs to the former school site.
Marchand said director of public works Chris Boudreau provided background information on the property, including a hazardous material assessment, a phase 1 environmental site assessment, and the current condition of the facility.
“Having taken into consideration all those items, his recommendation was that we set aside money in current budget deliberations to provide council with some more accurate indications of what’s required in that building,” he told council. “It would have to be with a firm that would know exactly what needed to be done, and what needs to be done to repair it.”
District 1 Councillor Shawn Samson asked whether the building condition assessment cost – similar to what was done for the Richmond Arena – would cost between $8,000 and $12,500.
“I believe the cost associated with the arena was not quite that high, and I think that (Boudreau has) expanded it to about $12,500 because I think that the scope of the work, related to the West Richmond Education Centre, is a much bigger undertaking,” the CAO replied.
If the municipality decides to divest the property, District 3 Councillor Melanie Sampson asked whether a buyer would conduct such an analysis.
“There may be a requirement there for us to provide a Phase 2 environmental site assessment which would be a much more detailed process,” Marchand responded. “Sometimes when you’re selling a property, you may be forced to do that as well. A purchaser would probably like to request that in a purchase-sale agreement.”
Sampson referred the matter to budget deliberations, “to consider setting aside some money to get that work done.”