Let people have say: Mayor
Cavan Monaghan mayor would rather see public meetings on annexation than a ruling from the province
The mayor of Cavan Monaghan Township isn’t pleased that city council is about to ask the provincial government to step into the stalemate over proposed annexation between the township and the City of Peterborough.
Scott McFadden, the mayor of Cavan Monaghan Township, doesn’t think it’s any way to do business.
If the province makes the decision, McFadden says, it means citizens won’t get to weigh in on the matter.
Otherwise there would have been a series of public meetings to ask citizens how they feel about a plan to have the city absorb 4,140 acres of township land to the southwest of Peterborough.
Not so if the province steps in, McFadden said. Then there will be no public meetings – just a ruling from the province.
“Our position is, hopefully the province will agree that the public process is an important part of it,” McFadden said.
City officials had reached a deal to pay the township $2.5 million a year over 25 years for the annexation of the land.
But city council wanted to be able to pay less upfront while gradually increasing payments. Township council rejected the idea and refused to negotiate further, placing the deal firmly in limbo.
Under a motion passed by city council Monday night, the city will tell the province the deal was too expensive – and it will ask the province to make a ruling.
McFadden points out that it’s been 20 years that the city and the township have been negotiating, off and on. This is the first time they’ve arrived at a prospective agreement. “And now city councillors want to totally throw it out and go to the province,” he said.
On Wednesday night in Millbrook, McFadden will be holding a town hall meeting where citizens can discuss any topic of interest.
The meeting is happening from 7 to 9 p.m. at the township offices in Millbrook, and annexation may be mentioned.
Meanwhile, township council hasn’t had time to talk about how it might respond to this new plan from city council.
Township council meets next on Monday, and McFadden said there may be a discussion about annexation on the agenda.
Last week, township council voted to start a discussion with Peterborough County planning staff about developing a township industrial park on the lands that might’ve been annexed.
Township planning staff was going to speak about it with county planning staff – and McFadden said that can still happen.
Nothing about that was mentioned at City Hall when council voted to ask the province to step in.
City council’s vote to ask the province for help was 7-3; councillors Lesley Parnell, Henry Clarke and Dan McWilliams were against having the province rule.
It was unclear on Tuesday how long it might take the province to sort out the stalemate.
It doesn’t happen often that the province steps in and does this: the last case was in 2009, when the City of Barrie absorbed lands from the neighbouring township of Innisfil.
Calls to the provincial government about the matter weren’t returned on Tuesday.