Bruce County council is getting involved in the Bluewater District School Board's latest accommodation review in the county.
Council has voted to spend up to $20,000 to conduct an independent peer review of a 2014 report by Watson and Associates, which outlines recommendations on how the board should deal with excess space in its schools.
The board is currently conducting an accommodation review in Arran-Elderslie and Saugeen Shores, which could see Paisley Central School close, while Chesley District Community School could be reduced to a kindergarten to Grade 8 school.
Warden Mitch Twolan says the board is basing its initial recommendations on the Watson report, which he describes as flawed, pointing out it does not take into consideration looming economic boosts in the county.
"The Bruce Power refurbishment program was not included in the Watson report, so that's just one, there are others, but that's the one we really want to have a look at," says Twolan.
Twolan says the economic spin-offs of possibly hosting two deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste in Bruce County should also be captured, though he points out it's far from a guarantee that either proposed DGR project will move ahead.
Arran-Elderslie Mayor Paul Eagleson says the pending arrival of natural gas in Paisley and Chesley is also a factor the Watson report does not consider.
While the initial recommendation from county staff was to provide funds to allow the school board to update the Watson report, Eagleson says he feels more comfortable having a county-led independent review of the document.
