Written By Jan Sims
MIDDLESEX CENTRE - Council held its first regularly-scheduled meeting in the newly-renovated municipal building on May 7th.
“Although we didn’t get here in the shortest timeline possible that we were going for, I know that everyone who has visited our renovated and new building agrees that this has been worth every moment of the time it took to get here,” said Mayor Aina DeViet.
The Coldstream building was closed in October 2023 while extensive renovations were carried out. They include new council chambers, redesigned office space, landscaping, as well as improvements to the adjacent community centre. “This new and improved building is an investment, and it’s going to meet the needs of not only staff, but residents across all of Middlesex Centre including service clubs, fitness classes and family celebration events,” said DeViet.
The project was initially budgeted at $5.7 million, however a final total will be presented to council at a future meeting.
During the renovations, municipal staff had been working at other locations, including the Komoka Wellness Centre. DeViet acknowledged that there were some “hiccups” along the way. “It was just chaos for a while, but it was organized chaos and everyone grew into those spaces, and the roles that they had were made to work with the spaces they had.”
Residents also had to adjust to having services delivered from the remote locations.
“The important point is services were delivered. The team spirit was maintained. Council meetings were held. Absolutely everyone did their best to ensure the business of municipal government and service was delivered as efficiently and effectively as possible,” said DeViet.
Middlesex Centre will be hosting an open house and town hall meeting at the Coldstream offices on May 20th from 4 to 7 p.m.
The May 7th council meeting also included Middlesex Centre’s new Municipal Clerk. Brianna Hammer-Keidel had been with Strathroy-Caradoc, where she served as the Director of Legal & Legislative Services.
