Future Wasaga Beachfront a Secret

First of all, I have to say… I think I misread something. I was under the (mistaken?) impression that Thursday nights meeting was going to be started with a detailed update about our Beachfront development. When the “postponed” the original meeting, did the agenda change?

Anyhow…. It was obvious by those who asked some questions, and the audience reactions that people are frustrated with all of the secrecy.

Apparently, the town is far enough along in the process of negotiations with FRAM that they are committing to major

Despite this… whatever we are going to get stuck with is all a big secret. One man had a very valid concern that we are showing everyone that we are tearing down what is left BEFORE showing those who visit us what it is all being replaced with. These are serious questions articulated by people who obviously care about our future. But the answers were simply to continue with the secrecy. Basically, until it is too late to object to any of this, it is none of our business.

Brian Smith said in a public presentation last year that he had learned his lessons in going slow. He was going to do things so fast that it would be done before we realized what was happening. (I’m paraphrasing- not taking the time to look up his actual words) He is holding true to his word on that.

Compare this to when they (the same three- Smith/ FRAM/ McNeill) presented the original plan for condo townhouses on Beach Two , several years earlier. In that case, the letter of intent was voted on in public and a copy of it was in the agenda. Nobody wanted what was being sold, except a few, so it helped them lose an election.

Today… there will be none of that sharing publicly until it’s too late for the public to object. Sign the contracts, tell us what we are getting and cross your fingers that they get enough of it moved forward to avoid any new Council that may replace them from stopping any significant movement. It’s just wrong, but not one Council member has the experience or the courage to stand up and object.

Is the Dard being demolished or isn’t it? Well I guess it depends on who you ask, as I’m pretty sure we have not seen the specifics of their demolition/ site preparation plan voted on publicly.

The images shared on screen showed a hotel site, but one lady asked specifically about parking for that hotel and was given a non-answer that simply said they would have the required number according to the planning act. Of course… they don’t mention they can vote to accept cash in lieu. So…. We may get a big hotel, with a fence to protect their customer parking. How will THAT affect tourism in regards to the beach?

None of this is being thought out properly. If it is, we (the taxpayers who own the property) are not being shared any of these decisions. It’s obviously none of our business.

But it was important to listen carefully when they were trying to not say things as well. For instance… they emphasized that they have to raise the road five feet in order to start this project. I have heard some alarming numbers regarding this! Apparently the infrastructure improvements and site preparation conducted by the Town could run the tax payers between $26,000,000.00 and $43,000,000.00. But in what world should a community pay for site prep for a developer?

Development should pay for development! My understanding is that many of these costs are already committed to.

This brings up another comment/ question made by a resident. It was clearly asked if there were financial issues with the developer. The Mayor simply responded no, and we were moving along.

But when these things were being said, I couldn’t get the image shown on the screen at the beginning out of my head. It was the same very basic plan we saw at the last public meeting. In it a massive townhouse complex eliminated second street and consumed about half of Beach One with private townhouses. These are 100% going to benefit the developer and the new home owners exclusively. So… WHY are taxpayers fronting any up front costs for raising the road or improving services for that area?

Pointing out relationships our Council may have had in the past would just meet with being silenced by the Mayor or the crowd supporting him. Only one person dared to raise the issue. He was the first speaker and was basically boo’d out of the building. How shameful when “respect” was thrown around by the mayor early as though he was going to enforce it.

I do not fear the taunts or the boo’s so I will continue the line of questioning started by Mr. Mammoliti.

Our developer apparently spent a couple of days showing a group of 20 or so people around Italy when they stayed in a hotel owned by he and his sister. Although they purchased their tickets at auctions, they were donated to the charities generously by Frank from FRAM.

In that group of twenty or so people were Mayor Smith, Councilor White, Councilor Belanger and their partners. They claim nothing was wrong as they all paid their own way. Still…. The developer did eventually get a lucrative contract voted on by these three. Mayor Smith was very committed to saying he would do it again today if given the opportunity.

It is important for anyone not familiar with the history of this line of questioning to understand that there are ties between staff, council members and FRAM that precede the issuing of the RFP that only FRAM and two other Developers were eligible to apply for.

I hope explaining this helps clarify the motivation Mr. Mammoliti had in asking his question. Like his politics or not, he is an experienced politician who must understand what is meant when people say something doesn’t pass the sniff test.

Still… too late now. We simply wait for the secrets to be released so we can finally see WHAT the future holds for our Main End!! Maybe next time.

Before I move on, I wanted t0 point out that I think that some of the slides used to fill the presentation were actually from the Streetscape Study completed by the last Council. That’s right… the plan Smith shelved. Lol.

Anyhow, the other issue about our main beach development is the relationship with the Province of Ontario. That is a diverse enough issue to warrant its own discussion.