Not an extension

Council reiterates October 1 deadline

Council has reaffirmed the deadline by which the developer must sign its subdivision agreement. Contrary to online and social media accounts, Council has not granted Kaitlin an extension.

In fact, Council has reasserted the October 1 deadline by which the developer must sign a subdivision agreement or risk losing its security deposit and waterworks capacity allocation as required by the Development Charges Prepayment Agreements it signed in 2021 and 2022.

The original terms of those agreements gave the developer 30 days from signing the subdivision agreement to make its development charges payment. Council reaffirmed those terms, setting October 31 as the date upon which the payment must be made. This provision was always in the agreement.

To be clear, no further extension has been granted to the developer.

“The municipality remains committed to ensuring that Kaitlin fulfils their requirements by the October 1 and October 31 deadlines,” wrote Shire Hall spokesperson Mark Kerr.

The agreements signed in November 2021 and March 2022 gave the developer 18 months to come up with a subdivision agreement, at which point it would pay a portion (currently estimated to be about $12 million) of development charges payable upfront rather than when the municipality issued building permits. In exchange, the County would hold all remaining capacity allocation in the Wellington waterworks plants (representing about 321 homes or 600 multi-residential units) for the developer.

That deadline lapsed. And so have two more. The latest deadline lapsed on September 1, but was extended to October 1 at a public council meeting in Wellington last month.

MORE ONLINE CONFUSION
The province’s grant of $18.3 million, delivered by Premier Doug Ford last week, does not compel the municipality to build new water and wastewater plants in Wellington. Shire Hall has been explicit and clear that these grant funds may only be used to fund the design of a proposed regional water plant in the village. That assignment was tendered last month to EVB Engineering for $2.5 million.

When Council approved the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund (HEWSF) application in April, the County’s Chief Administrative Officer Marcia Wallace explained that typically, such grant funding is provided on a drawdown basis rather than a lump sum—that the municipality will be reimbursed when it reaches defined milestones.

Bloomfield councillor Phil Prinzen wanted to know if taking the money put County on the hook for millions of dollars of expenditures.

“Are we able to unaccept the grant?” asked Councillor Prinzen in April.

Wallace responded by saying “if you don’t keep moving on the project you don’t get the money.”

Community Programs Supervisor Emily Cowan explained Shire Hall’s experience with previous provincial funding.

“Not going forward with your plans is always an option,” said Cowan to the April Committee of the Whole meeting.

Shire Hall confirmed this week that the HEWSF money won’t come in one lump sum.

The provincial grant funding will come in three amounts upon the County reaching defined milestones— 25 per cent is subject to a formal transfer agreement, 60 per cent will come when, or if, a construction tender is awarded, and the final 15 per cent is payable when the project is complete.