Wasaga Beach Tax Payers really need to pay attention

Last Updated: August 25, 2024By Mark Winegarden

Wasaga Beach

Discussion 219 of 365;

Wasaga Beach Tax Payers really need to pay attention

It’s time for Wasaga Beach Tax Payers to really pay attention and get involved. Recently there have been all kinds of distractions that have “appeared” to have been at the top of Councils priorities. I don’t think they have been. Bylaw attacks against a business who speaks out? Tents or no tents for pooping on the Beach? The building of a new Town Hall? The lack of a Lawn Sprinkler System at the new TPAL? Distractions… all distractions.

I suspect the real damage is about to be done with our Council going behind closed doors. They honestly believe that because they have had a couple of “meet the CAO sessions” and some Town Halls, that will be enough public input to simply make decisions about the 13 Million Dollar (2015 prices) Beach One Properties.

I get it, they have more public meetings planned, but… I suspect it will be to tell us what will happen, not to present options. Brian Smith ran out of time the last time he was in office and had to settle for a letter of intent that soon expired. He won’t risk running out of time again so we may get a bad deal. A really, really bad deal!

I actually do hope he does run out of time, because what they are planning is so completely inappropriate, I’m almost at a loss for words. ….. Almost!

Before I criticize the coming plans, let’s look at why they may time out again.

All of their plans, all of their negotiations are with a single developer who has a Very Long history with Mayor Smith.

The date, that I don’t know for sure is WHEN conversations started with Brian Smith and FRAM exactly.

Our current CAO was once our Economic Development Officer (RDI) during the 2014-18 term. Prior to being employed by the Town of Wasaga Beach, Andrew McNeill and FRAM had actually interacted during Andrew’s time working for the city of Mississauga. Although the encounters may have been limited, they certainly crossed paths.

So, did Andrew McNeil introduce FRAM to Wasaga Beach and Brian Smith?

Councilor Ellen Timms worked under McNeill when he was the EDO (sometime between 2014/18) She had also worked previously with the BIA in Port Credit, where FRAM was an active developer. Looking through old newspaper clippings, they appeared to collaborate on certain projects. So, perhaps it was her who introduced FRAM to Wasaga Beach and Brian Smith.

Brian Smith also had dealings with Collingwood Mayor Sandra Cooper who clearly had ongoing development projects with FRAM.

Regardless of who and exactly when, sometime during the early 2014-18 term of office, FRAM got Mayor Smiths ear and took an interest in developing properties owned by Wasaga Beach.

But despite an ongoing relationship… Wasaga Beach still has no shovel in the ground from this developer. Let’s look at why, but first… Let’s look at how long Brian Smith has worked this relationship and some key dates.

In July of 2018, after a couple of years of negotiations, Mayor Smith and his EDO Andrew McNeil announce that FRAM would be purchasing Beach area two for just under 14 Million Dollars to build a townhouse complex. Wait… WHAT? Beach area two wasn’t even one of the properties purchased by Smith at the beginning of his term. After 2 or 3 long years of negotiations… Wasaga Beach residents were shocked!

(From newspaper articles) Frank Giannone from FRAM said that construction could start in the Fall. (2019) It was an ambitious goal. It included development on Main Street as well. One phase was to build condo townhouses on a Main Street combined with a library. The ownership of that a library was never really clear to me. FRAM wanted nothing to do with an arena so the Town took that on and made crude plans that never materialized.

However, there was a problem with these big, phased in plans for FRAM group. It had taken a long time to get to this point and the local newspaper described their agreement with the town as a “Non-Binding Letter of Intent”. This agreement had deadlines and the clock was ticking. (The entire agreement was shared publicly and was widely criticized).

Now WHY had it taken Brian Smith so long to negotiate this contract? Well, quite simply, he let Ego’s slow him down. He wasted thousands of hours of staff time and unknown tens of thousands of dollars trying to convince taxpayers to sell our distribution company. He wasted town resources and hundreds and hundreds of hours fighting a losing battle known as “Cowardgate” when he improperly kicked Sylvia Bray out of her elected seat. Guess what… he lost all of those battles, but the damage was done. He had wasted so much time that his clock ran out.

WDI, Cowardgate and Beach Two condos were enough to end his rule. The electorate kicked him to the curb and a new Mayor with an extremely experienced Council took office.

What happened next is extremely important to note.

As the duly elected Council (of 2018-22) started their activities, for their four year term from, three very important things shaped their progress.

The public did not want the Townhouses at Beach Two. This Council allowed the letter of intent with FRAM to time-out. There are mixed versions of how/why. Regardless of which version you want to believe, Frank Gianone took to Facebook to end his relationship with our Town and Council. It was a very public departure, but apparently he still wanted things his way. He spent a great deal of time debating every day residents on Facebook at that time.

Then… On the 18th of March, 2019, the “Wasaga Business Association” hosted a public meeting. There were three men who shared the microphone that night and they invited the media. The three men were Mark Crowe (Stonebridge), Frank Gianone(FRAM) and Brian Smith (Rejected Mayor). They proceeded to criticize the sitting Council and encourage the audience to organize against Council. Brian Smith actually called upon the crowd to grab their pitchforks and hatchets.

The sitting Council endured a very organized opposition to everything they did. Despite this mobilized pitchforks and hatchets gang, the new Council was able to build a new Twin Pad Arena / Library Complex while at the same time, working a slow, methodical, careful approach to designing and securing a new developer for Beach One lands. (FRAM chose not to be part of these plans)

It was obvious that FRAM, STONEBRIDGE and Citizen Brian Smith had ongoing relationships after Brian lost his seat as Mayor.

In fact, in September of 2019 a photo circulated on Facebook showing a large group of people celebrating at a dinner table in an Italian hotel apparently owned by developer Frank Gianone of FRAM. Present in this photo were Councilor Belanger, Councilor White, Mayor Smith, and their partners. There were other Wasaga Beach people in the photo as well. They appeared to be travelling together.

The only one sitting on Council at the time of the photo was Joe Belanger.

In 2022, Brian Smith defended criticizm about this trip that was leveled by another Mayoral Candidate. He defended his trip to Italy saying that vacation packages donated by the developer were purchased by him and others as charitable acts. He went on to say that he and the others had purchased their vacations at a charity auction. He also confirmed in his letter that their host was Frank Gianone and his sister.

Was this vacation proper? Was it improper? I don’t really care. I simply want to demonstrate that there was an ongoing relationship between our sitting Mayor, two members of our present Council and the developer (FRAM), who they have awarded the opportunity to develop prime Wasaga Beach Municipally owned Property. It’s all got to do with timing.

Next, the 2022 election took place. The pitchforks and hatchets gang celebrated their victories. Brian Smith was returned to office along with all 6 members who placed their signs alongside his.

Moving forward quickly, the work of the 2018/22 Council regarding development of Beach One, was shelved in favour of Smith and his new Council starting over.

Now, the new Council hired McNeill back as CAO, Council had three of the Italy photo subjects now sitting in Council positions and a fourth Councilor Ellen Timms was also elected.

So now, there were four Council Members and our CAO that already had a relationship with FRAM. They soon launched what I consider a very limited, restricted selection process to select a new developer to move the Town forward. I forget how many Ontario Developers were invited, but I think there were only three.

FRAM was soon selected as the developer.

So… Here we are August 2024. Mayor Smith and others have worked with FRAM now (off and on) for at least 6-8 years. Where are we as a community?

Well, FRAM made a presentation several weeks ago, along with the Town and a Hotel Company. Using a Power Point presentation, they showed what may be coming.

Tomorrow, we will look at that plan, but for now, I want to stay with the timeline.

FRAM has said shovels will be in the ground next fall with sales in the spring. (Yes, similar to the words used years earlier) At the same meeting, I think it was the Town that said demolition would start this fall. Originally they said the Dard would be safe, but then they also said something about saving parts of it to use in the new structures.

But still… no FIRM plans are shown to the public. Sure, there were pretty pictures (for some) but no announcement of another “letter of intent” or a contract, or a land purchase agreement.

These are all details that are being hammered out during private Council meetings. These are the ones known as “in camera” where they turn off all recording devices so there is no record of the discussions, except their agreed upon minutes. To date… none of the specific plans have been shared.

But wait… There was to be an important Town Hall meeting with details of the FRAM development being discussed this month. Suddenly, the meeting was postponed.

Why was that meeting cancelled? Are there delays in them agreeing on what to present?

The same week the delay was announced, people started to hear that the Town of Wasaga Beach may be looking for a new Chief Building Official. This is a VERY important position in a municipality considering big changes. Is it possible the top position in the planning department is vacant?

Regarding the overall timing, bear in mind that Brian Smith has dropped the ball on this before, … based entirely on timing. Will he allow this new lucrative real estate development to time out? I don’t think he will. I think he will force through any deal that locks the town in, to move forward even if all seven members of Council get the boot over it.

I suspect that REGARDLESS of what the public may or may not want at Beach One or Two, it will be tied up in a pretty little contract before this Council is thrown into Lame Duck. Time will tell.

( Lame Duck is a period that MAY exist where a Council cannot make major decisions. It’s possible, that period could start mid August 2026. )

So… they have 24 months to lock in their big plans.

Despite their claims of open and transparent government, consider;

Council has virtually eliminated public input at Council meetings. The question and comment sections have been removed from their agenda.

Council has made it possible to introduce, pass and create bylaws supporting their decisions, all on one day. This eliminates even the media reporting an issue between introducing, passing it at a committee and voting on it at a Council meeting.

Council has demonstrated no regard for rules as they know they can simply pass an immediate motion to set aside their own rules. (They have actually done this)

How do these actions impact Beach One developments? Well quite simply, if they agree behind closed doors to go a specific direction, it will be done… possibly the same day. WE…. will have no further say when they decide their clock has run out.

If that means all of Beach One and Beach Two will be handed to FRAM to build private condominiums, so be it. Brian does as he pleases. If it means that demolition will tear up most remaining structures and MILLIONS of tax payer dollars will prepare the lands for a developer, so be it. Brian will have his way. If it means that ALL Beach parking used by locals and tourists at Beach One/Two will be sold off, fenced off and guarded with “private property” signs, then so be it. Some Brian Smith supporters and one close friend (in social media posts) have said they are prepared to purchase these properties. If it’s what he wants… it will move forward.

What will slow any of this down? Well, real estate has experienced a provincial slow down. Our Treasurer commented that the slowed building industry is responsible for a massive reduction of development charges. FRAM does not have a history of buying these lands and sitting on them. I suspect the deal they seek will be to get approval to purchase and lock up a “phase one.”

Whatever lands those are, unless they sell… any further deal to close on phase two will be put on hold until FRAM has made their millions and is ready to move on. The same triggers will likely exist for as many phases as they split this up into.

These are just some of my observations. PLEASE get Google on you side and search for some of these key moments.

I guess we will all see how they move forward during their presentation to the public on September 19, 2024.

Isn’t it interesting however, that such an important meeting presenting the Towns Future is scheduled to occur AFTER seasonal residents have closed up their cottages and gone home?

Why would such an important meeting be moved to a night when the Chamber of Commerce is hosting their Business Awards Gala? Wouldn’t the Town want the business community to ask questions and comment?

We can only guess at reasons for such decisions, but what we can do on the night they do hold this public meeting is SHOW UP!

More about that in a couple of days. For now… reflect upon how long it is taking to share final plans with the public, when you consider how long the existing Council and Staff have worked with this developer.