By David Thielen
The direction was clear; council wants all staff out of the town office as soon as possible.
“I want to move everybody out now,” said Ponoka Mayor Rick Bonnett at the July 14, regular meeting of town council. “I don’t think we should make staff work in conditions that we ourselves (town council) are not prepared to work in.”
Council has been meeting at the Hudson’s Green Community Activity Centre since a report said that council chambers had poor air quality and was contaminated by mold. The basement of the town office has been closed off because of the presence of methane gas, said Donna Brinkworth, communications officer for the town in a discussion after the meeting.
The main floor of the building is fine, as long as the windows are open for ventilation, said Brinkworth.
Chief Administrative Officer Rachel Kunz said at the meeting, that she was waiting for the final numbers on what it would cost to do the renovations to the town office, and looking at alternative locations to move the offices to, mentioning both the Hudson’s Green Community Activity Centre, and the Kinsmen building.
Kunz also suggested that it might be possible to continue working in the current office while renovations were completed.
Mayor Bonnett restated his position that he was not prepared to have town staff working in a place where he was not prepared to work.
After some discussion on how to word it, Councillor Marc Yaworski, made a motion that would have administration start planning the move to a new location, with the intent being to allow for a nice orderly move that would not interrupt services to the town.