Despite the difficulties it has had in the past with a development charges bylaw, Wellington North Council will proceed with work to update it and put in place a new bylaw.
But the question of whether or not council should shop around for a different consulting firm to do the study was raised at council’s March 25 meeting.
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Lori Heinbuch prepared a report on the need to replace the current bylaw which expires mid-June. Development charge bylaws are in place for five-years before being replaced. Heinbuch said the township has received a proposal on doing the study from Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. which has done previous studies since development charges were first introduced in 2008.
Heinbuch estimated doing a similar study now would cost about $25,000.
“The proposal to continue using the consulting services of Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. includes the previous development charge update completed last year at a cost of $6,000, and completing the development charges study update and bylaw at a cost this year of $15,000. Should council decide to continue with the consulting services of Watson & Associates this will result in a cost saving of approximately $8,000,” Heinbuch said in her report. “This would also allow the study to proceed in a timely manner. Watson & Associates are familiar with the operations of Wellington North, bringing in a new firm would undoubtedly require more time for completion of the project.”
The firm, Heinbuch noted, has also been involved as a consultant in determining water and sewer rates for the township which will require a new five-year update in 2014.
The firm had to update the previous development charge bylaw when an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) ruling found an updated bylaw was done without a proper study. It forced the township to conduct a study and reintroduce a new bylaw lowering charges which was challenged by resident Jen Dam because council wanted to make it retroactive to an earlier date to make refunds to developers. That decision was also ruled against by the OMB, which forced the township to make its revised bylaw applicable to May last year.
Councillor Andy Lennox suggested the township should look to see whether there are any other firms available to do similar work, “because of what we’ve just gone through.”
“I find it hard to fully endorse this and move ahead without another option,” Lennox said, referring to the CAO’s recommendation.
“Is there anybody else that does this kind of work?” Councillor Dan Yake questioned.
The discussion also focused around ownership of information contained in previous studies conducted by Watson & Associates and whether that information could be used by another firm should council decide not to continue with its current consultant.
“The data related to this situation is ours, we’ve bought and paid for it,” Lennox added.
Council decided to defer the matter until Heinbuch explores whether there are other firms and the status of the information.
