‘Best land in the county’
It’s only natural that city should want to annex 4,140 acres from the township, mayor says
MILLBROOK -- There’s a good reason why the city is interested in an annexation deal with Cavan Monaghan Township, said the township’s mayor at a public meeting.
“Because we have the best land in the County of Peterborough – plain and simple,” said Scott McFadden.
There were about 40 people packed into council chambers at the municipal office in Millbrook on Wednesday evening for council’s quarterly town hall meeting.
The format was informal Q & A: McFadden stood at the front of the room and took questions from citizens.
Talk of a stalled annexation deal between the city and the township dominated the session.
Negotiations between the city and the township have been taking place on and off for 20 years with no agreement. But then in March, a deal was reached between staff members from the city, township and the county.
The city would get 4,140 acres of township land on the southwest border, including Peterborough Airport. Some of that land could be used for future industrial purposes while other land is intended for future new housing.
In exchange, the city would pay the township $2.5 million a year for the next 25 years.
But the city wanted to pay less annually in the early years, and increase the payments later. The township said no.
On Monday, city council voted to have the province step into the stalemate and sort it out. The city also wants the province to review the price; city councillors think it’s too expensive.
Citizens asked McFadden at the town hall meeting whether the price was appropriate, particularly given that a new link of Highway 407 is soon to be built (meaning easier access to the Greater Toronto Area).
That’s why they want $2.5 million annually, McFadden said: this is the best land in the county, and its value will only increase over time.
McFadden also said he thinks the province will consider this when it decides whether the cost to the city is fair.
Citizens also wanted to know how soon annexation can happen, if it’s left up to the province. McFadden said it was unclear.
“It depends - how quickly does the province respond to requests?” he said.
When The Examiner asked the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing about this, a spokesman said the city hasn’t actually called on the province for help yet.
That’s likely because the plan must be voted on a final time by city council on Monday.
Geoffroi Bouchard, a spokesman for the ministry, wrote that the province encourages municipalities to arrive at their own solutions.
“We always encourage municipalities to look for opportunities to work together and we support locally developed solutions that are mutually beneficial,” he wrote.
The province doesn’t often sort out annexation stalemates: the last time it happened was in 2009, when the City of Barrie absorbed land from the neighbouring Township of Innisfil.
McFadden told the citizens he’d spoken with the mayor of Innisfil on Wednesday.
He said the land so desperately needed by Barrie for industrial development hasn’t been developed yet, eight years later.
“Nothing has been done with that area, to this day,” McFadden said.
On Monday, township council will also be addressing the issue again: they will discuss a letter from local lawyer Richard Taylor.
Taylor has a client who owns property at Airport Rd. and Brown Line.
The client would like to invest $50 million to develop the property, Taylor writes, but no construction can happen until the annexation stalemate is resolved.
Taylor wrote to city, township and county officials, as well as to Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal, to urge an agreement.
“Hopefully, it will be recognized that it is mutually beneficial for all three municipalities to achieve resolution on this urgent matter,” Taylor writes.