Argyle’s municipal shed to be back in operation in May
The previous ‘new’ Municipal Shed was destroyed during an uncharacteristically harsh summer storm in July of 2022, that caused the roof to collapse rendering the building unusable.
The damage and destruction done to the building was fortunately covered by insurance and very soon after the initial contact with insurance adjusters, engineers were brought in to assist in ascertaining what was salvageable. Although this stage was a long and drawn out process it was necessary to complete before the next phase could begin.
In early 2023 the tendering process began with Rolly Grenier Construction being chosen as the successful bidder.
Rolly and his crew started work on the build in November of 2023 and the end result is quickly coming to fruition with the entire building already being closed in – the completion date is slated for May 2024.
We spoke with the RM of Argyle Reeve, Mike Everett, about the work currently being done.
“It’s an updated version of the exact building that was there. A few updates are required due to changes in the building code as well as the process of building a pole shed around an existing slab. Slab and floor heat pipes have been salvaged to replace the shed as cost effectively as possible.
“This building is a huge part of the municipality’s day to day operations. This is where our public works department operates out of. It has the capacity to house our graders, trucks and a variety of equipment for the RM as well as the LUD. It also allows us the space to service or repair equipment as required. As well as providing the RM an emergency centre as it’s also completely backed up by a generator and has its own well, washroom with shower and laundry facilities.
“It should be mentioned that although the collapse created some hardships to our staff, we were quite fortunate to avoid massive equipment loss.
“ Although some graders required lights and windows, and sustained some minor water damage they were able to be put back to work maintaining roads without much delay. The service truck was under the wreckage for a period of time while we worked to find the safest route to recover it – miraculously, when it was pulled out, it was found to be damage free!”
If you had seen damage of the collapsed roof you would fully understand how shocking it would be to see that truck was removed unscathed.
The Reeve went on to say, “I think the other thing that is worth mentioning is that through this lengthy process we were also able to negotiate repairs to the “old” RM shed, making it a more energy efficient building with the installation of new overhead doors and spray foam insulation. As well as having engineered plans to reinforce the roof and making it a stable temporary space to keep our day to day operations rolling.”
The Reeve also took this time to share his appreciation of all of the RM of Argyle staff for their incredible level of support going on to say, “I’d like to give a quick plug to the staff of the RM and make sure people are aware of the impact this had on everyone. From public works showing up to clean up and move equipment, tools and whatever else they could salvage from the destroyed building, to the office staff for all the extra hours they put into this experience. We often forget the everyday workload doesn’t go away when we have these extraordinary situations arise. We are extremely fortunate to have great people working to make Argyle a great place to live!
PHOTO CAPTION: The RM of Argyle’s “new” municipal shed is getting closer to being back in operation, following the extreme weather event in 2022 that damaged the first version of the shed beyond repair. PHOTO BY SUZANNE PADDOCK
