The election strategy of many successful Midland council candidates, to ‘pause and rethink’ the Midland Bay Landing development, echoed at last night’s meeting.
Following direction from an April council meeting where acting CAO Andy Campbell was tasked with making a recommendation report on the background and future of Midland Bay Landing, that development update landed on the committee of the whole agenda on Wednesday.
However, sensing a late night, Mayor Bill Gordon proposed an amendment to the staff recommendations before the ten-page report was fully addressed – to receive the report as information without any decision on the project.
“We expect to have a new CAO to announce to the world with a start date of the middle of July,” stated Gordon.
“I think it would be wholly unfair of us knowing how important this hire is for our top staffer to make a decision on this, of this magnitude, that’s going to stretch through this term and beyond without their input.”
Midland Bay Landing, a brownfield site roughly 16.5 hectares in size contaminated from years of heavy industry, was nearly sold until a proposed developer opted out of purchasing the property in February.
Several council members promised to ‘pause and rethink’ the project as their election campaign platforms in the 2022 municipal election.
The estimated potential loss of roughly $25-million into town revenue – as stated by Campbell during the 2023 budget discussions – had cost the town $500,000 in deposit fees to the developer, and resulted in the MBL Development Corporation board to dissolve after having its operating budget reduced from over $350,000 last year to just $50,000 in 2023.
Coun. Beth Prost appreciated the pause and pointed out that public consultation was a key component needing to be additionally addressed.
“We’ve done so much this far and we can’t just go full speed ahead without doing this right, because this can’t be done again,” said Prost. “I’m glad for the hold – not just for our new CAO, but for our public, for our taxpayers; it’s their land.”
Agreeing with Prost was Coun. Jamie-Lee Ball who added that if a short-term return to the matter was imminent, then a public survey at the least would help hear the voice of the people.
Gordon thanked council for their approval on the pause, and for bringing up the public consultation aspect.
“That is part of the rationale,” said Gordon, “because as the new CAO gets up to speed on this, part of getting up to speed will be learning about the commitments we all made leading up to the election, and how we intend to honour them and have been thus far.”
Noting that the public could have varied input over what could happen to the property outside “working within the realistic confines” of expectations, Gordon shared that the report would be a key component in providing information.
“This report that Mr. Campbell prepared with six options,” said Gordon, “likely will form the basis for the public consultation where people will understand what the costs are, the drawbacks, the risks, the benefits.”
Wrapping up his comments, Gordon made a promise to express the critical public engagement component to the incoming CAO during their initial interactions, stating that it could delay action on the project until the final months of this year.
“The land isn’t going anywhere; arguably, there is interest from developers right now but I think the community’s input needs to trump that,” Gordon added.
The committee of the whole unanimously voted to receive the report as information.
The Midland Bay Landing development update report, along with site map and recommendations, is available in full in the council agenda on the Town of Midland website.
Council meetings are held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, and can be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53, or through the livestream on the Rogers TV website. Archives of council meetings are available through Rogers TV and on the Town of Midland’s YouTube channel.
