A presentation to Barrie councillors next month could sharpen the blurred lines of the city’s boundary expansion plans.
The source of the presentation is a land-needs analysis being done by Hemson Consulting.
“Dec. 11 is intended to provide an update publicly to council on the status of the discussions and preliminary findings from Hemson Consulting,” said Mayor Alex Nuttall.
“This needs to get dealt with,” said Deputy Mayor Robert Thomson. “We need more land to accommodate large manufacturing in Barrie and we’re not having that. We’re working with some big businesses that are looking to relocate to Barrie that are interested, but the sad part is we couldn’t accommodate them today.
“The premier (Doug Ford) has made it very clear that this is something that needs to get done,” Thomson added. “The province has hired a facilitator and I don’t know if that’s going to help us land manufacturing jobs or the land … in the greater Barrie area. I think the only way to achieve that is through a boundary adjustment."
This past March in Barrie, while delivering housing money to the city, Ford asked the surrounding municipalities to "work together."
“Forget about this invisible border that happens,” he said at the time. “They have the capacity, the infrastructure here in Barrie no matter if it’s water or wastewater, and the other ones don’t. They can benefit. These municipalities can benefit and I do not know why they’re not co-operating.
“I encourage you to co-operate — it’s going to benefit your community, it’s going to benefit everyone’s community and it’s going to drive prosperity,” Ford added.
Last November, Nuttall made a presentation to a provincial standing committee that included a proposal to expand Barrie’s boundaries into Oro-Medonte and Springwater townships, saying it was required because the city does not have enough employment land.
Both township councils essentially balked at Nuttall’s plan, although the three municipalities, along with the County of Simcoe, have held ongoing closed-door talks since then. These discussions have been supported by the Office of the Provincial Land and Development Facilitator, which is a provincial agency.
Nuttall said Wednesday there is a need to make the results of these discussions more transparent, and the Dec. 11 report will help.
“I think there will be a lot of light shed on what’s been happening, where it’s going, once we receive that information,” he said. “And it’s been my response to the provincial facilitator, to the other municipalities, that the moment that report is available and in our hands that it would be public so each of us can consider it and understand what’s been happening over the last, I guess it’s six or seven or eight months now at this point.”
Nuttall also said he’s concerned Barrie is missing out on new manufacturing and new jobs by not having enough industrial, or employment, land — because there is interest.
“These are good problems to have, but they’re problems,” he said of the interest. “And so at some point the rubber’s got to hit the road and at some point there’s got to be movement.”
Michael Prowse, Barrie’s chief administrative officer, said he does anticipate a presentation Dec. 11.
“We have been in discussions with our surrounding municipalities regarding the need the City of Barrie has established for additional land,” he said. “There has been work ongoing that has been confidential and will remain confidential until Dec. 11, but at the time council will be getting additional information.”
The Dec. 11 presentation on the findings of the Hemson report would be the first time Barrie councillors have publicly discussed boundary changes with the city’s neighbours.
