The Muskoka Montessori School, long-term tenant of the Brunel Community Hall, has approached the Town of Huntsville with an offer to purchase the building for the sum of two dollars. Included in the offer is the suggestion to incorporate a reversionary agreement that would see the ownership revert to the Town if or when the school ceases to use the facility. A public meeting will be held before any changes are made to the ownership model of the hall.
A public meeting will be held on Monday, May 30 at 6:30 pm at the Active Living Centre
Executive Director of Community Services Kari Lambe says Council recognizes the importance each hall plays in each community and for that reason Town staff have been meeting with the various hall boards to determine an operating model and terms of reference that are agreeable to both parties. As a result of one of those meetings, the Muskoka Montessori School proposed assuming ownership of the Brunel Community Hall.
The concept of ownership under a reversionary agreement is not new to the Town. The Town is in the process of finalizing the legal documents to transfer title of Chaffey Hall to the Huntsville Lions Club.
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The Muskoka Montessori School pays $22,248 annually for the Brunel Hall. While that revenue more than covers the hall’s operational costs there has been a shortfall due to unbudgeted capital repairs. 2014 saw hefty bills totaling $79,905 for extensive repairs due to water damage. The unbudgeted capital expenditure left the capital reserve for the hall with a negative balance of $55,698. Further repairs are needed.
Prior to 2014, surpluses in the Brunel Hall budget were spent on projects in the Brunel community or transferred to general reserves, leaving the building without a contingency fund. In addressing the lack of funds for repairs, Chair of the Board of Directors for the school, Lela Shepley-Gamble, said she brought her concerns to the hall board. “I said, please take some of this revenue and create an account so that when there are problems with this building you will have the money to pay for those repairs. We know that our rents have gone to things like cleaning up the Brunel Locks, which is wonderful, but we asked also to please put money aside for repairs to the building.”
One of the Montessori classrooms
It is the concern over on-going capital repair costs, but also Montessori’s positive contribution to the hall, that has Town Council considering all its options. They will no doubt circle back to these staff recommendations following the public meeting.
Not offered as a listed option, but mentioned in the report, is the option to sell the hall to the Muskoka Montessori School for a set price agreement that would not necessarily need to be a reversionary agreement.
The Muskoka Montessori School has been operating from the Brunel Hall location since 1999. The school provides a preschool program and education for Grades 1 through 8. According to the school’s principal Timo Bijl there are presently 75 students enrolled, which is ideal for the Montessori program they want to deliver. Bijl said the school would like to offer a toddler program, something sorely needed in the community, and hopes to add a small addition to the building to house that. The 3.4 acre property is presently assessed at $238,000.
A public meeting will be held on Monday, May 30 at 6:30 pm at the Active Living Centre.
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Although I am totally in favour of the current uses of both the Brunel and the Chaffey Halls, I am categorically opposed to the use of reversionary codicils in both instances. Any time in the future when a cost-prohibitive capital repair is foreseen, either of the two (temporary) owners may just walk away from what presumably will revert to a vacant lot (after demolition and cleanup costs).
I would suggest, therefore, either no reversionary agreements; or acquisition costs commensurate with vacant land values (including demolition and cleanup costs).
Thank you for this excellent article. To set the record completely straight, please note that the Town of Huntsville approached the Muskoka Montessori School with the possibility of buying the building for $2.00 with a reversionary agreement. This offer is similar to the agreement that the Town is working on with the Lions Club and Chaffey Hall. (The Town is trying to divest itself of the responsibility of looking after these capital assets.) We took that offer from the Town to our Board of Directors and said that we would be interested in pursuing such an arrangement. We would never have assumed to pay $2.00 for the building if it had not been offered to us by the Town of Huntsville.