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Simcoe County is considering strategies – including giving Innisfil a long-term loan – to help bring jobs to the Innisfil Heights area.
The county’s economic development committee will discuss how to assist Innisfil in getting the strategic employment lands online, said Debbie Korolnek, the county’s engineering, planning and environment general manager.
“We’re looking at this as an economic development opportunity. Those lands are close to Hwy. 400 and central to the county and serviced industrial land is in demand,” she told Barrie Today.
Innisfil Heights is one of four strategic employment areas in the county. Others are in Bradford West Gwillimbury along Hwy. 400 between Lines 5 and 9, lands around the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport in Oro-Medonte and Rama Road.
Servicing costs stand in the way of further developing the Innisfil lands, however.
“There are two phases to that project – about $58 million to construct the initial infrastructure necessary to service that area with water and wastewater, then later on, there’s an expansion. The total price tag over 20 tears is $213 million. It’s a lot of money for sure,” Korolnek explained.
Innisfil has been working on servicing the lands for years, according to Innsifil CAO Jason Reynar.
In March, he turned to the county for help, asking for either an interest-free loan (with terms repayable based on the collection of development charges) or offering the county shares in its new InnServices Utilities Inc.
Korolnek said taking shares in InnServices – a corporation Innisfil set up to implement its water and wastewater plans since the town itself doesn’t have adequate debt capacity – is a longer-term option.
“I’m not sure if the county wants to get into the business of long-term loans,” she said, adding the county does want to see Innisfil Heights be developed.
Warden Gerry Marshall said council is “wrestling” with the Innisfil issue and he expects there’ll be a more thorough discussion of options to assist Innisfil at the economic development subcommittee May 10.
“(Those lands) are key to the County of Simcoe. They complement the lands in Bradford West Gwillimbury. They’ll let Ontario know we’re serious about the 400 link,” he said.
“There’s an opportunity to migrate business to Innisfil, which is 35 minutes from anywhere in the county. Everybody benefits.”
In the strategic employment lands just to the south in Bradford West Gwillimbury, developers are working with the town to get the lands online sooner, said Korolnek.
“Bradford is very lucky to have a very cohesive development group that’s willing to front-end the water and wastewater projects,” she added.
The county is pitching in to help build an interchange at Line 5, she added.
Innisfil is anxious to get the lands online sooner than later, Reynar noted. The town would like to have the lands linked to water and sewer by the end of 2018, which means a design-build contract would be awarded this year, if funding were in place.
