Introduction
The Transportation, Infrastructure and Assets (TIA) Committee was asked to study the
following question:
The Municipality of Lakeland Ridges has two existing possible locations for our
permanent office, the Canterbury Village Hall, and the Meductic Village Hall. Study
both facilities and report back to Council with recommendations for our permanent
office.
The location of our Municipal Office/Council Chambers was studied by a committee of the
newly formed Municipality of Lakeland Ridges in March of 2023. The recommendation at that time
was that due to the current issues with the Meductic Village Hall that the former Village Hall in
Canterbury would be used as a temporary location for both offices as well as Council chambers
and Council would decide on a permanent location in October 2023.
Council’s supervision prevented a study until September 2024 with the formation of a
Transportation, Infrastructure and Assets Committee consisting of:
Co-Chairs:
Chris Yerxa – Councillor Ward Three
Patricia Budd – Councillor Ward Two
Members:
Dusty Buckingham – Councillor Ward Four
Norman Andrews – Resident
Chris Farrell – Resident
The following is our report minus input from Chris Farrell who was unable to attend our
meeting and inspection of the facilities.
The following are areas of study and comparison the committee investigated:
(See Table previously submitted)
1. The Cost/Expense of the facility to the Municipality of Lakeland Ridges. (See handout)
The Canterbury Village Hall is used almost exclusively by Council and is our present office
building. It has two small offices, a permanent Council chamber, a kitchen and washroom.
The monthly expenses for this facility total $ 1,220.00 per month. There has been no rental
income.
The Meductic Village Hall is maintained by the Municipality of Lakeland Ridges. The building
has office space (previous Meductic Village Office), space for the community and recreation and
houses the Meductic Fire Department.
The estimated cost of the office space based on a 17% usage model is $ 585.42 per month.
There is also a rental income from this building of approximately $ 700.00 per month.
There was a discussion as to whether the division of costs for the Meductic building is
accurate based on the Meductic Fire Hall 63%, community 20% and office space 17%. The amount
of space used for office purposes will obviously change the percentage and therefore the monthly
cost listed.
As calculated, the cost to the Municipality of Lakeland Ridges is less at the Meductic
facility. Taxpayers in the municipality must maintain the building particularly because of the Fire
Hall so it remains an expense whether the office is there or not.
If we did not use the Canterbury Hall for our office, the building could be sold or gifted to
other community groups and the cost to the municipality would be removed.
2. Location of the office.
Our present office location in Canterbury was temporarily designated by the Council of
Lakeland Ridges until an assessment could be made for the best location.
The office ideally should be centrally located geographically or near the largest number of
residents to make it easily accessible.
The Canterbury Village Hall is in a geographically central location. There are however large
areas with very few residents and therefore it makes more sense for the location of the office to be
near the greatest number of residents.
Canterbury is not on the regular route of travel for most of the residents of Wards 2 and 3.
Residents in Wards 1 and 4 travel through Canterbury on their way to other major locations.
The majority of the population in Lakeland Ridges live in Wards 2 and 3. They live in Debec,
Lower Woodstock, along the St. John River including Meductic. For these residents travelling to the
present office requires a special trip, whereas the Meductic Office would be on a regular route of
travel.
Many of the people in the Municipality of Lakeland Ridges work in Woodstock, Meductic, or
Nackawic and stopping at the office in Meductic would be easier than travelling to Canterbury.
In trying to assess where our municipal population will increase it is worth noting that the
housing trend province-wide appears to be closer to urban centers and in particularly along the St.
John River. This means the most growth will likely occur in Wards 2 and 3.
3. Accessibility to the building.
Public buildings require wheelchair access and both facilities have wheelchair ramps.
The Canterbury Village Hall has a ramp at the far end of the building.
The Meductic building has two levels. The bottom level is wheelchair accessible with an
inside ramp in the auditorium. The second level is accessible through a wider door at ground level
without the use of a ramp but the inner doors, although usable, are only the standard 32-inch door
opening.
4. Parking/Size of Lot/Ability to Expand
The amount of parking for the Municipality Office is an important measure. A regular
meeting requires only enough parking for the 8 Councillors and Mayor plus staff with some extra
space needed for presenters and the public who wish to attend (approximately less than 15
vehicles). Larger meetings would probably need at least 30 parking spaces and possibly a lot more
space if more residents were interested in attending.
The Canterbury Office has limited space at present. The lot is large enough to expand the
parking area for a few more vehicles with some construction costs, hauling of fill and removing the
Municipality of Lakeland Ridges shed that is presently on the lot. An estimated cost for this work is
under $ 5,000.
If there was a need for expansion in the future, there is essentially no room to expand the
parking area due to the size of the lot.
Parking space at the Meductic Hall is much larger than at the present office. There are 3
large containers on the lot that are scheduled for removal that will increase the space available.
There is more space behind the building and the lot is approximately 9 acres which allows
for expansion of the existing building or the addition of new buildings and parking space.
5. Septic and Water
The water in the Canterbury Office is on town water and is therefore tested daily for
bacterial content.
The washroom is a one room toilet and sink with lots of turn around room and is adequate
and serves the existing building well.
The septic system was pumped recently. There is a large steel tank under the “driveway” at
the back of the building with the leach field further back and out of the line of traffic.
In the past the system had one freezing issue, and it is hoped that adding more fill in the
appropriate place and not plowing that area will prevent anymore freezing problems.
The washroom, septic and water are adequate at the Canterbury Hall based on the two staff
members and the Council meetings that are held there.
The septic system has been updated and inspected within the last 3-5 years at the Meductic
Village Hall. It appears to be more than adequate for large crowds and meetings. There is a
washroom on the main floor with lots of room and a co-ed or a one gender at a time 3 stall
washroom in the basement across from the kitchen. Councillor Buckingham stated that the runoff
from the septic system goes directly into the Eel River, a fact that needs to be verified and corrected
if found to be true.
6. Building – Size, suitability for office space, use for Council chambers, room for
expansion, health issues and repairs
The Canterbury Village Hall served adequately for the former Village of Canterbury as their
office. It was decided after the transition that the Municipality of Lakeland Ridges would use the
Canterbury Village Hall as our temporary office until a decision was made on a permanent location.
The Canterbury Hall is clean and neat and in good repair. The two office spaces however are
very small and not really adequate to hold more filing cabinets for storage of information. They are
also too small to allow 2 or more people to work in the office space at the same time.
The space for the meetings for Council and desks can be left in place as the sole use for the
building is Council chambers and office space. There is room for a small group of people to attend
meetings but if there were a large turnout (more than 30 people) it would be crowded.
This building is only used for Municipality of Lakeland Ridges office and Council chambers.
If the office were moved to another building the expenses to maintain this building could be
eliminated. The costs were calculated by the Treasurer at $ 1,220 per month, so there would be
significant savings if Municipality of Lakeland Ridges did not have this asset to maintain.
The Meductic Village Hall is a much larger building than the present office location. It is
however an older building and in need of repairs and improvements.
The Municipality of Lakeland Ridges maintains the building even if we do not use the office
space because EMO and the Meductic Fire Department use the building.
There is potential for rental income at this location. At present we do have two renters and
with expansion or renovations there might be opportunity for another business to rent space.
The expense for the Municipality of Lakeland Ridges office space is $ 585.42 per month
based on the 17% use of the building. This may not be an accurate percentage number and will
need to be looked at should the office move there. That amount is however significantly less than
the monthly expense for the Canterbury office.
The old village office for Meductic can provide adequate space but there would need to be a
wall built to allow the two staff members to work individually. There are however other options to
consider for more office space.
Council now sits in a single use area where it is not necessary to move the tables and chairs
between meetings. Council could sit in the auditorium at the Meductic building which would mean
that tables and chairs would be set up each time or those using the facility would be responsible to
put them back in place. The stage area might also be an option that would not require the moving of
furniture each time Council sits.
There are some concerns regarding the Meductic building. The Committee recommends
testing the air quality and looking for mold issues because of the roof leak that occurred after the
roof was repaired.
There also may be an issue with asbestos in the furnace room so that needs to be
investigated as well for the safety of the people using the building.
These repairs as well as others are necessary whether the office is located there or not. The
Municipality of Lakeland Ridges must maintain this building unless other facilities can be built.
7. Generator
When power outages occur, there should be a generator at our Municipality of Lakeland Ridges
office. Meductic Village Hall presently has one for the building as the fire hall requires one. The
Canterbury Village Hall does not have one in the building, but one can be brought from another
location in Canterbury.
8. Repairs
The present Municipality of Lakeland Ridges office in Canterbury has had some upgrades
recently with painting, maintenance and mini splits added for heat. There does not appear to be any
obvious repair needs at this time unless enlarging the office is required.
The Meductic Village Hall has had the roof repaired twice and it needs to be determined if it still
needs repairs to prevent the leaks that occurred the first time.
Another concern is the possible need to remove the asbestos in the furnace room or at least
have a qualified person look at the situation and give us a recommendation on the need for repairs.
An older building is continually in need of repairs and improvements which are difficult to
determine at this time.
9. Communication
Communication for a municipal office is important. At present in Canterbury we have two land
lines, one for each office and Starlink for internet service as other providers did not give adequate
service.
The Starlink satellite communication system can be moved to the Meductic location, or any
other location should we relocate the office.
Cell phone service at the Canterbury Village Hall is not very good and only spotty at best within
Canterbury.
The Meductic Village Hall can have land lines, cell phones are functional and Starlink can be
made available on the current contract. There is also radio communications there between the
Meductic Fire Department and the Woodstock Fire Department should all other methods of
communication fail.
In the event of a disaster or event where EMO is needed Council would sit in the same building
making communication much more efficient than trying to contact the Canterbury office.
Conclusion
The conclusion of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Assets (TIA) Committee although
not unanimous are based on the following findings.
The Canterbury Village Hall is a more modern and up to date building with adequate
meeting space for small groups. It also has good water; adequate washroom facilities and the
septic system is good.
The office spaces in the Canterbury building are too small and the parking space is not big
enough. There is no generator at the location and cell phone service is not very good.
This building is expensive to maintain and is used solely as a municipal office. If the office is
moved the building could be sold or gifted, preferable to the old Village of Canterbury for
community use and would then be a zero cost to the Municipality of Lakeland Ridges.
The Meductic Village Hall is an old building that the Municipality of Lakeland Ridges is
required to maintain until such time as a newer facility might be built.
At present there are two rental businesses, the community of Meductic has some space
and the Meductic Fire Department uses the rest of the building. There is therefore some rental
income from the facility at present.
There is a formula for expenses that was used to calculate the office space expenses at
17% of the total. This may be argued as not accurate and is of course subject to change with any
change in the amount of space used by the municipal office whether more or less space is needed
in the future.
The lot that the Meductic Village Hall is on is approximately nine acres and leaves plenty of
room for expansion or a new building and improving parking. The building itself could provide more
office space.
The building in Meductic is significantly older than the Canterbury Hall and needs some
updates and repairs. As long as the building is being used by others such as the fire department the
Municipality of Lakeland Ridges will be required to do upkeep to maintain the building.
Other measures have been discussed in the report. Parking space is larger at the Meductic
Hall, and communication options are better in Meductic. Air quality studies and attention to a
possible asbestos issue are of concern. As well there may still be an issue with the roof repairs that
were done.
Lastly the possible move to Meductic should be looked at in terms of the Municipality of
Lakeland Ridges long term 3–5-year strategic plans. If it is determined that the municipality could
afford a new facility at a determined location, then a short-term move may not be necessary or
desirable.
The Transportation, Infrastructure and Assets (TIA) Committee has not reached a
unanimous recommendation.
The majority feel it would be best to move to the Meductic Village Hall if the following concerns
were addressed,
1. Meductic Village Hall – air quality, asbestos and possible mold from roof leak are
investigated.
2. Municipality of Lakeland Ridges expenses can be reduced by removing the Canterbury
Village Hall from our assets and thereby reducing the cost to zero for Municipality of
Lakeland Ridges taxpayers.
3. Developing our 3–5-year strategic plan to determine if a new facility is possible.
November 4, 2024
