At a special meeting Tuesday, Wellington North Council decided not to up their contribution to a cost-sharing plan with Crombie Property Holdings Limited, the company developing the new Sobey’s site.
Part of the new building project will include a realignment of Mount Forest Drive, to allow for left-turn lanes, and to align with the new entrance for Sobey’s.
Originally, the proposed budget for the project was $928,000. At that time, the Township agreed to split the cost of the intersection work, along with a contribution from Canadian Tire. Wellington North Chief Building Officer Darren Jones, said the Township took the total budget, subtracted Canadian Tire’s contribution, and agreed to pay half of the balance, or $402,500.
But Crombie says the projected budget has increased to over $1.3 million, and they’d like the Township to kick in $605,884 instead, or just over $203,000 more.
Councillor Sherry Burke said, “I can’t support going over budget.”
Councillor Steve McCabe said, “We’re asking the taxpayers to foot the bill for the increase for a private corporation?”
Mayor Andy Lennox put two motions to council; one option was to pass the original amount, with option two being to agree to the extra funding.
Councillor Burke moved the first motion, which passed 5-0.
Spokespeople for Crombie said the matter will have to go back to their Director of Development to decide what the next step might be.
Wellington North Council has decided not to increase their contribution to re-building the intersection at Mount Forest Drive and Highway 6, as part of the new Sobey’s construction project
