The city will enter into negotiations with the Catholic school board for the sale of property to build a new secondary school.
A resolution introduced by Coun. Dan McCreary at a recent planning and administration committee meeting directed city staff to begin negotiations with the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board for the sale of 10 to 15 acres of city-owned land off of Powerline Road.
City staff are to report back to council with an agreement of purchase and sale by or before the fourth quarter of the year.
The resolution also called for city staff to come back to council with a “roadmap to expedite the planning and development” of the new school, “taking into consideration the block planning process, development application and servicing requirements,” and the school board’s request to begin construction by 2024.
“One of the hurdles with this project is construction can’t begin until the services are there but what we need to understand is this construction isn’t going to be a few months,” said Coun. Greg Martin. “This is going to be a fairly long construction process and for it to have to wait until the services are in place just adds more years to it when construction could be going at the same time the services are being installed.”
Martin said city planning staff needs to find a way to allow the construction to start before services, such as roads and sewers, are finished “knowing they will be there in time for completion of this project.”
“It’s something I’m confident our staff can find a work-around for,” he said.
Minister of Education Stephen Lecce came to Brantford in April to announce $45.7 million in provincial funding for Brantford’s first new high school in 30 years.
There will be an emphasis on the 1,100-student facility being a skilled trades center that will also accommodate 128 licensed childcare spots.
At the time, Rick Petrella, chair of the Catholic school board, said they were “busting at the seams,” with both of their city high schools – St. John’s College and Assumption College – operating well beyond capacity.
Lecce said the Brantford school was the “single largest investment” Ontario would make in the province this year as part of its capital building program, calling the build its “most pressing priority” out of all the projects identified.
In October, Lecce announced a $16.2-million investment in a new elementary school for the Grand Erie District School Board in the southwest area of the city where existing schools also are overcapacity. That project will include a library and community center.
count. Brian VanTilborg asked that city staff provide information at the July 26 council meeting about what would be required to have services installed and construction of the school happen concurrently. Final approval of the resolution is required by council.
“The timelines they’re looking for of 2024 does seem very quick to me,” said VanTilborg.