THUNDER BAY – While confirming the committee of the whole minutes from the Sept. 16 meeting, at large Coun. Trevor Giertuga asked City Manager John Collin if there was any way to amend the resolution to recycle and store the James Whalen Tugboat.
The motion, which was passed unanimously, puts a hold on finding a future historical artifact display site until administration reports back to council about their consultations with interest groups on a feasible plan for the James Whalen.
Collin said that administration is “fully committed” to moving forward in regard to the historic tugboat.
“There are suggestions that we could have perhaps done some things differently in the past. I'm more concerned about moving forward and in the recommendation of city administration taking it apart, disposing of the majority of it while retaining a few select pieces is still our very strong recommendation,” Collin said.
“However, based on the latest info we have had from various interest groups, we're now paying very close attention to this.”
He stated there could be different options presented to council that could present an alternative recommendation whereas council could support the disposal of the tug, but retained selected piece of tug will not change.
But to answer Giertuga’s question, Collin said council could separate the “site planning and the determination of the location” from the resolution until more information is gathered.
With this motion, the estimated $150,000 cost site design and development of a historical site and the $100,000 to restore the preserved pieces has been removed from the total estimated cost.
Recycling, disposing, and storing the preserved pieces will cost $290,000.
Collin’s also noted that the estimate can still vary, positive or negative, by 30 per cent. They city will not know the exact cost until the project goes out to tender.
He said that a new report on the restoration, site design, and development of a historical site could “possibly” come back to council later next year.
