January 27, 2025
Dear Members of Council:
I am not a business person, nor do I have experience constructing buildings.
I would like to understand how the Town managed to “negotiate” an agreement with the 292 Main St. developer whereby the Town allowed the developer to use sixteen public parking spots adjacent to the building site as a lay down area at no cost to the developer? I understand that the building at 292 Main St. is a multi-million dollar project. I recall hearing at one point in the early stages of the project that the cost of the building would be around $5,000,000.00. Because the building itself takes up most of the land’s footprint, the developer needed land off-site as a lay down area. That is, an area where the developer could place the office trailer and store equipment and material while the building was being built. The nearest “empty” lands to the site are owned by the Town. The grassy area just east of the building site could not be used as a lay down area due to the location of the parking lot entry way and sidewalk leading to the trail. Across the street from the project is a town park. Unoccupied portions of the park might have served as a lay down area. There is vacant land behind the Mara building that may have been suitable.
The Town would appear to have been in a very favourable bargaining position vis a vis the developer. The developer needed unoccupied land, preferably near the construction site, and the Town was the owner of the most suitable land. I was told by Town staff that “the Town agreed to this [allowing the developer to use public parking spaces as the lay down area] without compensation to mitigate construction impacts .” I do not understand how this reasoning justifies the developer paying nothing for his use of Town land.
I understand that using the parking spots for a lay down area lessened the impacts of construction to the public. However, it also likely lessened the costs to the developer.
If adverse impacts resulted from locating the lay down area somewhere other than the adjacent parking spots, who would bear the mitigation costs? The Town? Or would it be the developer?
MGA s. 51(1) and (2) states:
Sale or lease of municipal property
51 (1) Notwithstanding subsection 57(2), a municipality may sell or lease property at a price less than market value for any purpose that the council considers to be beneficial to the municipality.
(2) A resolution to sell or lease property referred to in subsection (1) at less than market value shall be passed by at least a two thirds majority of the council present and voting.
I do not know what the market value was for the leased 16 parking spots for three or four months. However, the market value was likely greater than nothing. To my knowledge the Council did not vote to approve the lease of Town property to the Developer.
The most recent information I have is that the agreement between the Town and the developer ended January 1, 2025.
If the agreement has ended and it was not renewed or replaced, I urge the Town to renegotiate an agreement/lease for the lay down area taking into account the market value of the Town land sought, and all other relevant factors.
Respectfully,
David Daniels