The Town of Petrolia may pay up to $37,000 to Developer Horst Ritcher to continue renting 395 Fletcher St.
Council reviewed a report by Dave Menzies, director of facilities and community services, which outlined the possible options for storing things such as props and sets from Victoria Playhouse Petrolia to parks and recreation equipment. The report concludes it would be too expensive to build a new storage facility but recommends once the waste water treatment plant is complete, some of the old outbuildings might be used for storage. That won’t happen until halfway through 2018.
So, council gave staff permission to negotiate a lease for the controversial building once owned by former CAO Manny Baron for up to 10 months at $3,700 per month. That figure was based on the average cost of storage space in the region.
That is also more than council had been paying originally. Staff told council in October the building was costing the town about $25,000 a year to rent.
While council approved the idea of striking a deal, it will still have the final say on the agreement.
Councillor Tim Brown says the waste water treatment plant storage area seems like a good option.
“The quicker we can distance ourselves from 395 Fletcher, in my opinion, the better,” says Brown.