Last week councillors got an update on the Wellington Main Street property that was purchased back in June 2015 to facilitate the Lane Creek diversion project.

Back in late September councillors requested regular updates on the project, including a breakdown on what’s been spent simply maintaining the building to this point.

At the Nov. 30 committee-of-the-whole meeting, County chief administrative officer James Hepburn said most of the incurred costs can be attributed to electricity and heat. In 2015, the municipality spent $674 to maintain the building at 282 Wellington Main Street. In 2016 that rose to $3,056 and, so far in 2017, a total of $5,174 has been spent.

A municipal news release issued following the building’s acquisition back in 2015 said the $620,000-purchase would help alleviate traffic disruption. The release said removing the building would allow Lane Creek to remain in its current location and would reduce road work on Wharf Street. The purchase was also expected to reduce the cost of the diversion project by about $200,000 from about $1.6 million to about $1.4 million.

Following residents’ opposition to removing the building, council decided to embark on a public consultation process to explore opportunities at the site.

In September, municipal staff advised that they were hoping to host a public information session before the end of the year which was required under the ongoing environmental assessment. Hepburn said at last week’s meeting the County still hadn’t received the information needed to proceed.

“We hoped to hold a meeting in December, but it’s becoming less and less likely that it’s going to take place,” he said.

He said it would likely be pushed to January.