It’s not often a mayor threatens legal action against his own municipality, but that’s exactly what transpired here last week.
Though he removed himself from the mayor’s chair and appeared as a citizen delegation, Lou Maieron said if he is forced to pay over $30,000 in tax arrears in relation to a 17-acre property that was granted to him in 2006, he may pursue other legal avenues.
“I shouldn’t have to pay someone else’s taxes,” Maieron told council on Aug. 15.
With help from his lawyer Kevin Sherkin, Maieron explained the lot was given to him “free and clear” after an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing on the nearby Erinbrook Estates residential development (he actually paid a sum of $2 in 2005 for the deed transfer).
But Maieron and Sherkin argued the deed was never officially registered because the terms of an easement on the property were not followed by the developer or the municipality.
“My client shouldn’t be saddled with the obligation at this point because nobody’s delivered to him what he’s asked for over and over again,” Sherkin told council.
Specifically, the delegation argued a portion of the development’s storm water management system is located on the lot – and that is not consistent with the OMB decision, which states an easement on the property was for monitoring purposes only.
Maieron also says the storm water system has malfunctioned, causing “50 spills” over the last nine years that “threaten to destroy our livelihood.” He added the lot granted to him was to “act as a buffer, not a conduit to sewage.”
In a report to council, Maieron and his lawyer also stated that fencing requirements on the lot have “been changed without modification of the subdivision agreement [and] without proper notice,” which they say is also contrary to the OMB decision.
On Nov. 1, 2011 the town approved a resolution waiving fencing requirements around the subdivision’s stormwater management ponds after several nearby residents spoke against the erection of a fence around the ponds.
“The town has changed the rules on my client once again,” Sherkin said.
Maieron said fencing is “paramount” when an agricultural property such as his aquaculture operation abuts a residential development. The lack thereof, he added, has invited “trespass, theft and mischief” into his property.
Maieron’s wife Karen Jeffrey told council the entire ordeal has had “an emotional impact” on the couple.
“I don’t think that you people realize what you’ve put us into … and no one seems to want to help,” Jeffrey told council.
Added Sherkin, “We’re seeking an order for compliance; we’re not here asking for money.”
Yet Sherkin also said if not the previous developer, then the municipality should absorb the unpaid tax bills totalling over $30,000. He concluded that he hopes the issue can be resolved “without everyone having to spend a lot of money.”
Councillor John Brennan, who took over the mayor’s chair after Maieron declared a conflict of interest, said the town will have to seek advice from its lawyer.
“We will not be able to indulge in any [public] discussion,” Brennan said.
