By Chad Ingram

The following are brief reports of items discussed during an Oct. 29 meeting of Minden Hills council.

Minden Hills will pay about $15000 for removal of asbestos at Pritchard House and the Gelert Hall.
Both buildings have been closed to the public for years.
The contract will go to D&F Insulation Ltd. the only company to bid on the project.
The removal of asbestos from the Gelert Hall will cost just less than $3000 including HST the process at the Pritchard House costing approximately $12800.
“We’re going to have to get the asbestos removed from the building before we can do anything whether it stays or whether it goes” property and environmental operations manager Ivan Ingram told councillors.
The house which is located between Prince Street and Pritchard Lane near the township office is the former residence of the Pritchard family and contains asbestos tubing in the basement.
Last used by local spinners and weavers the building has sat empty for several years.
The Gelert Hall is slated for demolition and has been closed to the pubic since 2012 due to its condition.
It should come down before the end of the year Ingram said.
Councillor Jeanne Anthon wondered what happens to the asbestos.
Ingram said it is processed by a Peterborough-based company but noted that with its current certificate of approval from the province the township could bury asbestos in the landfill.

Housing project moves forward

Councillors voted to officially declare land near the S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena surplus and donate it to the Kawartha Lakes Haliburton Housing Corporation for the construction of a single-storey 12-unit affordable housing complex at the site.
The housing corporation has received $1 million in funding from the federal and provincial governments for the project and Minden Hills has agreed to pay up to $300000 in additional costs including roadwork the realignment of a hiking and snowmobile trail and the relocation of a skateboard park and township works shed.
Haliburton County has also contributed $100000 towards the project.
While the housing corporation has plans for a second phase of the project Minden Hills councillors decided not to declare land for that portion of the project at this time.
“There are others who do non-profit housing” said Councillor Pam Sayne adding that she was hesitant to jump ahead too quickly.
Reeve Brent Devolin who sits on the KLHHC board said he thought the project’s second phase would come to fruition within the next six years.
The housing corporation is planning to begin construction on Phase 1 next year with occupancy scheduled for 2017.
Councillors also voted to create a new tax class – multi-unit residential – to accommodate the building.

Tender awarded for landfill work

Council awarded the contract for remediation work at the former Lochlin landfill and Ironmine transfer station in the amount of $23000 inclusive of HST.
The work includes the removal of trees as well as the spreading and grading of permeable soil fill.
“It’s just basically housekeeping” Ingram told council.
Council awarded the contract for the removal of a retaining wall and construction of a new one at the Scotch Line landfill to Hawk River construction for approximately $17000.
“The current wall is ineffective” Ingram said. “The angles are wrong. It’s deteriorating quite a bit.”
Both winning bids were the cheapest received for the respective projects.