On May 17th
of this year the township held an information meeting and provided documents as
an overview for the Midhurst Secondary Plan titled Midhurst 20/20. There was
also a public open house on the Midhurst Secondary Plan EA process on May 29th.
In
September the township published its response to the questions posed and held a
special council meeting on September 17th with a hired lawyer to
outline the township’s position. I am not sure why the mayor, as head of
council, did not disseminate the information rather than having a $300 to $400
an hour hired help do it for her. The report and answers and meeting are
on-line so check for yourself.
Over the
next number of months, I will outline some of the inconsistencies and what I
believe was outright misleading information that was provided at that September
17th meeting and some of the distortions the published report
contains. There were 84 responses to questions so I will deal with a few in
each article. The ones I have no issue with, I will make no comment.
Question 1: Who will pay for the new Highway
400 Interchange?
Township answer: It is the responsibility of
the developers.
My Opinion:
Nothing has been signed signifying the developer will pay for all of these
costs. If you read the ALTUS Report paid for by the Midhurst Landowners Group
it suggests roads will be $17M. The Township’s director of public works
provided a document in March of this year that the Midhurst Landwowners Group are
responsible for $79M of road improvements. There appears to be a $62M minor
discrepancy. I have got varied answers on this subject so I encourage you to
ask your councilor who is paying for what and when.
Question 3: Will the Township rescind the
Midhurst Secondary Plan if the financial analysis shows a significant increases
in taxes?
Township Answer: No Infrastructure will be
approved that has a detrimental financial impact on the Municipality.
My Opinion:
The council at the end of the meeting passed a motion not to revisit or
consider modifications to the Midhurst Secondary Plan. If they won’t consider
rescinding it how can they make such a comment? I am also curious what is meant
by “significant increases in tax”. This suggests they are willing to have you
and I pay part of the cost of this council’s thirst for unneeded and unwanted
growth.
Question 5 : What will the cost of
infrastructure be for the first phase of development? and Question 7: The Altus
Report does not seem to indicate that the developers would pay for all the
infrastructure upgrades.
Township Answer: Q 5The costs are projected at
approximately $100M. These costs will be fully covered by the developers. Q 7
The Statement is not correct.
My Opinion:
At a public information session on May 29th when the township
consultants were present I asked one of the engineers what the cost for the
first phase would be. It was stated the costs could be as much as 70% of the
total buildout costs since the main infrastructure must be put in place to
service the first phase and has to be designed for the full development. The
Hemson Report in 2008 suggested the servicing costs would be about $172M for
the full buildout. 70% of that is about $120M. Out of the gate there seems to
be a $20M gap. If you read the Altus Report paid for by the Midhurst Landowners
Group in 2009 they projected the costs at around $100M for scenario 4 and the
report also suggests they will pay about $64M in development fees over the life
of the first phase. They will pay $25M for front end costs to get things
underway (which to my understanding is part of and not additional to the
$64M that will be collected over the life of phase 1). That puts anywhere from
a $36M to $56M debt risk on us the taxpayer if the numbers and reports are
valid. Our Deputy Mayor says agreements have been signed to pay for all
infrastructure. I suggest they produce those documents as I have not seen any
signed agreements except for the EA’s which total $300K or .3% of the total
cost. The letters that are referred to in the township’s answer to Q7 from the
Landowners Group trustee are not signed letters of intent and therefore not
binding. To make matters worse all the numbers are from 2008 and 2009 and I
would think costs have not declined in that 5 year period.
Even though
our council says the Midhurst Plan could result in $100M in lawsuits if
cancelled, they must do more than stick their head in the sand and ignore the
real plight they are bringing to our wonderful township. They agreed to serve
us. If the job is too tough or if they lack the courage, step aside and let
someone with some guts move our township in a progressive and well planned
manner. The current council is rudderless and we are moving into the storm of
the century unlike anything the township has ever experienced. We the
electorate need to speak up and put real pressure on 5 of our council members.
Only Hanna and Ritchie seem to take their responsibilities seriously and appear
to be willing to take the heat to do what is right. The rest seem to like the
profile but not the responsibilities that go with the job. As Ritchie said, “if
you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen”.
I think
that is enough for this article and I encourage you to ask questions and get
your own answers from our elected representatives. I am of the opinion that
there needs to be more diligence as the township proceeds with the most
unwanted and most costly venture it has ever encountered. The Midhurst mega
developments have the potential of saddling the next few generations of
Springwater-ites with the highest taxes imaginable. Most of this council seem
to be of the same mindset as the provincial and federal governments who are now
faced with the reality that the debt they have accumulated will never be paid.
