Councillors were in all favour of funding a new woodworking and makerspace in downtown Barrie last week. But last night at city hall, it was a completely different story. When the dust settled, council voted down the funding.
The Barrie Region Innovation Exchange (BRIX) — a not-for-profit umbrella organization which includes the former Barrie Community Woodshop — has requested funding to open a space that could be shared by several groups in a leased location at 59 Maple Ave.
BRIX member Al Cavendar called it "the perfect place" for what they want to do. "We've got the building, we've got the talent, we've got the people," he said in a deputation to council prior to the funding being denied. "We need a place. If we can get in there and get it done, it will be fantastic."
As part of the proposal, the city would've increased its BRIX subsidy to $35,000 in 2020 and $20,000 in 2021 to secure the new space, but if a $300,000 one-time grant funding was also approved, there'd be no further subsidy between 2022 to 2032.
Coun. Mike McCann said "something's just not right" with the proposal, citing concerns such as financial sustainability and lack of a clear business plan.
"I'm not seeing this rhythm that I can buy into," McCann said. "For me to buy into this, I need more information. The information we have right now is not on paper and is not clear. There's no business plan here. I'm not investing $300,000 of (taxpayer) money on something that I'm not clear of."
Last week at general committee, council members gave the initial approval to a one-time $300,000 grant to help the group open a space in downtown Barrie, provided BRIX could also fundraise a substantial portion toward the project.
Deputy Mayor Barry Ward told council that they were essentially only voting on the annual subsidy for the next two years, while the $300,000 grant would be contingent on other factors, such as BRIX fundraising and grant applications.
"If it doesn't work, we're not giving them the $300,000. It's that simple," Ward said. "I don't understand what we're afraid of."
"This will be great for the city and especially the downtown, an area that needs some life injected into it," said Coun. Keenan Aylwin, who represents the downtown.
However, other councillors around the table viewed it differently and were reluctant to sign off on the proposal due to the $300,000 figure.
Mayor Jeff Lehman said he was "a little confused" over the change in tone from councillors after only one week.
"This was a unanimous vote last week with the same material in front of us," said Lehman. "Respectfully, what happened?"
McCann said he believed the mayor was out of line in questioning fellow councillors on their reluctance to approve the funding.
"I don't think it's a big secret, Mayor Lehman, that you and I don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues," McCann said.
Couns. McCann, Gary Harvey, Jim Harris and Natalie Harris voted against the funding. A tie results in a motion being lost.
With the proposal being defeated, the BRIX group can't come back to the city for at least six months.
Coun. Sergio Morales urged BRIX members to come back with a more thorough business plan.
"This needs to succeed. We cannot being throwing taxpayers' money at wishful projects that feel good, that have great narratives," Morales said. "I want projects that feel good and have great narratives, but we also need to have accountability."
In an interview with BarrieToday on Tuesday morning, Cavendar called council's decision "confusing."
"Earlier in the day, I had received a phone call from Mike McCann saying that BRIX was going to drop us (the woodworkers) and go off on their own without a woodshop," he said. "I said that's not true, we're all the way in. ... I talked to Mike and I thought I had him pacified about where we were coming from."
Cavendar said the confusion seems to be in the two-part funding, including the annual subsidy and the one-time grant.
The annual sudsidy would allow BRIX to get into the Maple Avenue building and begin to phase in the project, but Cavendar worries that delays will make them lose the space.
"This should be happening and it needs to happen. A couple of councillors that supported our side were missing (from last night's meeting)," he said.
In the meantime, Cavendar says BRIX will forge ahead.
"I would imagine today there's a lot of texting, phoning and meetings going on down at city hall, beating it around to see how this can be changed slightly so they can vote on it again," he said. "We still have a good feeling about it."
According to BRIX, several community groups have indicated interest in sharing the Maple Avenue space for things such as rehearsals and meetings. In their proposal, they also included several letters of support from community groups, including Georgian College, Redwood Park Communities and the Down Syndrome Society of Simcoe County.
"There's just a mindless amount of stuff out there that could happen" with the space, which is currently sitting empty, Cavendar said.
City funding would allow BRIX to lease space for a ‘light’ workshop, followed by a complete woodshop build-out within the next two years. The downtown site has significant frontage on Maple Avenue and includes opportunity for expansion of a full woodshop into an adjacent unit.
Base capital costs to outfit a woodshop with the appropriate ventilation, etc., are estimated at between $590,000 to $753,000.
The BRIX group has said it can raise about half of that with support from community partners.
BRIX has more than 120 members and is growing, including four more people in the last week.
The group has been without a permanent location for several months. In December 2016, the former Barrie Community Woodshop Program closed its doors in Victoria Village, where it had been operating since 2004, after an inspection revealed building and fire code violations.
During a deputation to council earlier in Mondayt night's meeting, prior to council during down the request, Cavendar spoke about the group and what it brings to the city.
"We're in all the way," said Cavendar, a retired shop teacher. "I believe in everything we do. We can cut, we can fix, we can repair or build almost everything. And we love to reach out to help people."
Many woodshop members are seniors, and there's participation from people with physical disabilities. Members have contributed more than 4,500 volunteer hours and built special projects for numerous groups. They've also built planters for city parks.
Fellow BRIX member Brian McGillis also outlined some of the good things about the proposal.
"Our group feels that the BRIX Makerspace could be an amazing and impactful part of our community," he said. "Humans are inherently creative beings, all the way back to when we figured out how to use wheels and fire."
The internet has spurred invention, innovation, fabrication and creation, McGillis added.
"It might be cliche to say that BRIX will make people's dreams come true, but it is true that it will be a place where people can be able to try to transform their ideas into reality," he said.