Belleville Council has approved the last piece of funding for the renovations of the council chambers at City Hall.
Councillors had previously given the go-ahead to pay Tom Belch and Sons $266,576 to completely renovate the council chambers, along with $48,000 to replace aging chairs and other furniture.
On Monday, council also approved to pay tech firm AVIAS up to $84,750 for upgrades to the room’s digital infrastructure, bringing the grand total for the modernization close to $400,000.
CAO Rod Bovay says the tech improvements specifically will bring the council chambers up to current standards and set it up for the future as well.
“It will set us up for allowing electronic voting at council meetings, some of the equipment that will be in front of each councillor at the new table and the work that we’re doing will set the council chamber up to be user friendly for many years down the road.”
Bovay tells Quinte News he’s expecting the cost to come in lower than what’s been budgeted for and that the work should be finished by late April or early May.
While some residents may balk at the costs, Councillor Chris Malette felt the expense is well worth it, especially because of the impact the renovations will have for city staff.
“We have senior staff members sitting in the gallery with laptop computers on their laps. In any municipality, modern municipality, that isn’t acceptable. Three decades on since the work was done in that chambers, look at your own houses, I would suggest and tell me if some aspect of your 30-year-old kitchen doesn’t need an upgrade.”
After being declined funding through a federal grant program, council also decided to move $130,000 from the Capital Levy reserve to help pay for the project.
