Image

Petrolia pays $80k for Y backyard consulting

September 30, 2022

The engineering firm which compiled the four-phase plan Backyard Plan at the Petrolia Y will receive $80,000 for it services. That’s part of the agreement the Town of Petrolia signed with Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario for $699,000 in funding for the project.

According to a report by Dave Menzies, the director and facilities for the town, MIG Engineering had been working with the town staff for seven months before council approved the concept and signed the grant papers in May. At that point, the plans MIG had designed had not been revealed publicly nor had the four-phase plan been approved by the municipal council. Town staff applied for the grant without seeking that approval.

Menzies May 9 report says “Once council approves the signing authorities, the agreement, banking information and associated paperwork will be returned to our project support manager at FedDev. The Clerk will produce a cover letter to indicate council’s approval.”

After the grant was received and the town was committed to putting up $233,000 for the project which had received no direct public input. Mayor Brad Loosley told The Independent he encouraged town staff to apply for grants without first clearing the projects through council.

CAO Rick Charlebois says construction of the soccer pitches beside the Y facility is now well underway and they will be ready for use in the new year. He expects the 100-space parking lot should be complete next summer. Originally, the town was to have completed the work by Feb. 2023, according to the contract signed with the federal agency, however Charlebois says the town has received verbal approval to complete the project by Feb. 2024 because of the issues surrounding construction materials in supply chains.

It’s not clear when, or if, the engineering firm which will consult throughout the project, will hold an open public session to lay out all the details, as Menzies suggested in his report in May. Council received the plan at its final council meeting Sept. 12.

Share This

Image
Front Page

‘I’ve been silent far too long,’ says Pinsonneault

May 17, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Steve Pinsonneault took to social media Friday night to reassure his constituents he still opposes the York1 Environmental project. Pinsonneault has been keeping a low profile since the Ford Government reneged on the promised Environmental Assessment for the project at the derelict dump just outside of Dresden. He released a statement expressing his disappointment when

Read More

Image
Front Page

Fraud pilot project in Lambton saves $160,000 in six months

May 16, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent A unique program in Lambton is saving seniors from telephone scammers and catching the eye ofbanks in Canada. Lambton OPP Inspec. Chris Avery told Petrolia councillors Monday an anti-fraud program has stopped scammers from pocketing about $160,000 from Lambton residents in the last six months. Frauds are big business in Canada. Over $638 million was stolen in

Read More

Image
Front Page

Five LCCVI athletes win at Day Two of LK Track and Field meet

May 16, 2025

Five LCCVI athletes were at the top of the podium at the Lambton-Kent Track Meet . Meagan Munro, Kole Chapman, Jamison Helps, Jayden Davis-Lumley and James Grant all placed first in their events Wednesday at Great Lakes Secondary School. Munro won the 300M Junior Women’s Hurdles in 44 seconds. She had already won in the 80M Hurdles and second in

Read More

Image
Front Page

One person seriously injured in accident near Rutherford

May 15, 2025

One person was taken to hospital by air ambulance after an accident near Rutherford. Lambton OPP were called to Lambton Line near Pantry School Road just before 4 pm Thursday for a collision between a large fertilizer truck and a farm tractor towing a wagon with a water tank. Ornge air ambulance was called to the scene to take one

Read More