Dufferin County council has agreed in principle to support construction of a $30-million, 45,000- square-foot building for Wellington Dufferin Guelph Health Unit, in Guelph.

Dr. Nicola Mercer, the medical officer of health, told the council the approximate cost of $30 million would represent a savings of about $3 million over 20 years, compared with the cost of leasing the same building.

At the same time, there would be a capital asset at the end of the 20-year period. That is estimated to be about $8.3-million.

Dufferin's share of the capital cost would be 21 per cent, or about $6.3 million.

The health unit and its 155 Guelph employees are now housed at three separate locations. The new building would house them under one roof, and overcome current deficiencies such as the lack of a backup generator, which Dr. Mercer said the unit cannot afford now, although it is storing "millions of dollars of vaccine."

(In an interview, a spokesperson clarified the value as representing the amount of vaccine distributed through the health unit, and said the amount in storage at any one time might be a fraction of that.)

She said the present Delhi St. location, in addition to space and other problems, must be vacated because of an asbestos problem.

As the Guelph location is meant to service Wellington County and the city of Guelph, questions arose about disposition of the Orangeville location.

Mulmur Deputy Mayor Sue Snider asked whether the health unit would be moving its Orangeville staff to the city location.

Dr. Mercer responded that there is no such intention and, furthermore, that Orangeville would require about 15,000 square feet.

Would this mean that the health unit will be back for more money to fund Orangeville, asked Ms. Snider.

Dr. Mercer responded that the presentation was "about owning," by comparison with leasing.

Deputy Mayors Warren Maycock of Orangeville and Bill Hill of Melancthon then brought a motion of "support in principle," which was adopted after Dr. Mercer confirmed that Wellington County had passed a similar one.

Shelburne Mayor Ed Crewson asked whether the doctor was satisfied with that type of motion.

Dr. Mercer responded, "I'm pleased that the county would work with us. I couldn't in good faith (ask for all-out support) without the precise figures."

The council is expected to conduct a lot of research before making a positive commitment to the project.

CLD auctioning chairs

As its major fundraising event of 2009, Community Living Dufferin (CLD) is holding an ARTirondack Chairity Fundraising Event raffle.

Tickets for one of the, one-of-a kind, hand-crafted and painted Muskoka chairs are available for $2 each or three for $5.

The top prize, for which 1,000 tickets have been printed, is a Tropical Adult chair, hand-painted front and back, with a retail value of $400.

Contact Karen or Ardele at 519-941-8971 to purchase your tickets. Draws to be held next Tuesday, July 28.