Wellesley to explore options for Lobsinger Line property

CITING POTENTIAL TOWNSHIP USES, WELLESLEY

councillors rejected a plan to sell off a two-acre piece of land between St. Clements and Heidelberg.

Located on the north side of Lobsinger Line, the parcel was severed from the surrounding farm in 2011 to be the site of a new fire hall for the St. Clements detachment. That didn’t happen, however, as the new station was built on the site of the former facility.

Wellesley recently received a request from the farm’s owner to repurchase the land sold to the township more than a dozen years ago for $120,000.

Because the land was severed for municipal use, it cannot be sold for any other purpose without going through a public process.

Because farmland currently sells for around $35,000 an acre staff are recommending that the township sell the land for no less than $100,000.

Chief administrative officer Rik Louwagie told councillors meeting Tuesday night that if the land was sold for residential use it could be worth up to $500,000.

Coun. Derek Brick said that if the land is sold it should be to Bauman and not to somebody else. However, he pointed out that land is getting both more expensive and difficult to acquire.

“I look at a parcel like this that’s been paid for and has some value to us. There’s obviously income in terms of rental back.

And just thinking about the future that maybe there’s not a fire hall need now, but you never know what the future brings.”

There could be other uses for the land such as an EMS station or a tree nursery, like the one in Woolwich, Brick said.

“I know it’s money now, but I think that there are opportunities to do better or more things with it than just to let it go at this point,” he added.

Coun. Shelley Wagner asked if there is any interest at the regional level to develop the land for a library or an EMS station, but Louwagie noted there’s been no discussion about such uses.

“I fully agree that there’s an old saying once you own land you don’t sell, but it comes down to what is in the best interest of the township. This was a very difficult one to make a recommendation to sell,” said Louwagie, noting that the proposal is based on the fact that the parcel is relatively small. Previous councils determined that it is not a good location for a library because it is outside any settlement area.

Coun. Claude Hergott pointed to the possibility of community garden, while Mayor Joe Nowak suggested staff look into possible uses for the land.

“There are certainly

100 options to do on that land. It comes down to resources, so anything that we do on that land will require staff, volunteers and/or financial resources,” Louwagie said.

Council voted unanimously to reject the recommendation to sell at this point.