The City of Barrie has sent Springwater Township packing.
As Springwater has "nothing to offer" Barrie in exchange for access to its water and wastewater services, the city has told the township it’s not interested in talking.
At Wednesday night’s township council meeting, Springwater Mayor Jennifer Coughlin told council members that township officials had a meeting with Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall to discuss the possibility of a partnership and were rebuffed.
“It was made very clear that we have nothing to offer if not land,” Coughlin said. “They are not looking for a fee-for-service or ‘a la carte’ service to their pipes, their treatment facility and their water.
“If we’re not talking about boundary adjustment, the conversation with Barrie no longer exists,” she added. “That was made very clear to us in an email and that was the intention of the email, so that it wasn't my interpretation or our interpretation of the meeting. That was provided to us directly from the City of Barrie.”
Nuttall provided BarrieToday with a copy of the email that was sent to Springwater Township councillors Wednesday, just before noon.
“The City of Barrie continues to be open to a cross-border agreement that delivers more industrial supply to Barrie and empowers Springwater to raise $8 million annually in new taxation. This has been the case since we sat down to discuss with mayor and deputy mayor and continues to be the case,” the email reads.
“I would encourage you to make a serious effort of engagement with Barrie, rather than one that merely takes the billions of dollars of Barrie infrastructure, paid for by hard-working Barrie residents and planned out by top-tier Barrie staff, and gives it to neighbouring municipalities," the email continues. "Therefore, we will not be providing any services across the boundary to Springwater without the conveyance of industrial supply to Barrie.
“Additionally, if the City of Barrie is going to take the approach of Springwater council to industrial supply seriously, we would need to understand what lands Springwater is designating for industrial purposes that are in close proximity to the municipal boundaries,” the message states.
Nuttall closed his message on an optimistic note.
“I prefer to find a local solution that benefits both municipalities as was proposed and was being negotiated prior to the ending of talks between Barrie and Springwater,” the email says. “This approach will without a doubt, deliver jobs and prosperity in a more meaningful way for residents of our area.”
Two weeks ago, Springwater council opted to reverse a Nov. 15, 2023 decision to “terminate discussions" with Barrie regarding the city’s proposal for municipal boundary adjustments and cross-border servicing.
Springwater council voted to hold talks with the Barrie officials, but only regarding cross-border servicing. Council demanded there be no discussion with Barrie about boundary expansion.
The decision divided Springwater council.
Coun. Brad Thompson tabled the reconsideration of the previous resolution from November.
“I am seeking the reconsideration in order to get our mayor, deputy mayor and CAO back to the table,” Thompson said.
“I don’t think it’s beneficial or productive for our residents and our community to not be in the room when the future of Springwater is being discussed and really feel it prudent we reconsider this,” he added.
In a recorded vote, Coun. Matt Garwood, Coun. Anita Moore and Thompson, along with Coughlin, voted in favour of the reconsideration. Deputy Mayor George Cabral, Coun. Phil Fisher and Coun. Danielle Alexander voted against it.
Moore said she supported Thompson's reconsideration motion, but wanted to see the cross-bordering servicing issue separated from the boundary expansion issue.
“We have some incredible projects that could be made so much easier for those applicants if discussion for cross-border servicing could take place,” she said.
“I don’t see how you can separate the two as they are one,” said Thompson. “My perspective of how this occurred is, in the prepared statements, I think Deputy Mayor Cabral alluded to the fact that we started the discussion with the City of Barrie by going forward and asking them for cross-border servicing.
“The city came back to us and said we’d be willing to do it, but this is how we see it. The two topics are so intertwined I don’t see how they can be separated,” Thompson added.
It appears they can’t.
