Many residents have contacted our office to share feedback on a council decision at the Budget Committee meeting on Dec 1st. During that meeting, council approved a motion by a 6 to 5 vote to allocate $500,000 in 2022 and another $500,000 in 2023 pay to for the construction of a heritage barn at the Historic Bovaird House site in Ward 1 & 5.
UPDATE: Feb 7, 2022 – City staff has released a troubling report identifying lack of accountability and transparency with the current arrangements with the Historic Bovaird House Property. Read the report.
You can read more about the decision in the media:
Councillor Vicente and Councillor Santos did not support the motion at this time because city engineers are working on a report to provide options for constructing the barn and to provide an accurate estimate of the cost. In addition, the city is also working to develop a partnership agreement with Friends of Bovaird House, the local charity that stewards the property and initiated the heritage barn construction project. Allocating funding prior to these important steps and without any public consultation is not in the best interests of tax payers.
Heritage preservation is very important for Brampton and we look forward to working with Friends of Bovaird house to ensure the Historic Bovaird House property continues to provide residents and visitors with access to explore our history.a
A clip of the audio from Councillor Vicente and Councillor Santos during the budget meeting is available below. The full discussion was over two hours in duration. Please let us know if you have any concerns about this decision.
