Wellington North Mayor Ray Tout, in an unexpected move, issued a formal apology to resident Jens Dam over the township’s handling of its recent development charges bylaw debacle.
“On my behalf I would like to apologize for the length of time this has gone on,” Tout said at Monday’s council meeting of the previous year and a half of township dealings with Dam. “I was leaning on professional advice, but it wasn’t there.”
The mayor declined to name those whose advice he feels was in question.
“Whoever advised council has something to explain,” Dam said.
Tout told reporters after the meeting council has been educated by what took place.
“We learned something out of this process,” a clearly irritated mayor told reporters. “I felt Mr. Dam was deserving of an apology. I felt very strongly about it. Mr. Dam did a lot of intense work on this.”
Dam has been fighting the township over the bylaw for over a year, winning two Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) rulings against Wellington North.
The first hearing dealt with the way council brought in the bylaw for lower development charges, which was struck down by the OMB because a proper study was not conducted prior to the bylaw being approved.
The second hearing, held in January, dealt with Dam’s contention council did not have the right to make its bylaw retroactive. The OMB ruling issued March 5 sided with Dam and ruled the township could not make the bylaw, officially passed by council on May 28, 2012, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2011. The new bylaw reduced development charges on single-family homes from $21,090 to $14,000.
Tout still contends the latest OMB ruling is a “win-win” situation for the township because the OMB only dealt with the retroactivity of the bylaw and did not rule the bylaw should be quashed.
Development charges cover the cost of additional infrastructure, such as sewer and water services, associated with new construction.
Council has acknowledged it refunded some $80,000 to contractors based on the lower charges – prior to the OMB striking down the issuing of those rebates.
Tout made the apology after Dam appeared as a delegation at the March 25 meeting. In December Dam made a Freedom of Information request about rebates and payment deferrals granted to developers. He was advised by township lawyer Robert Mullin, of Smith Valeriote, that more money than previously stated had been refunded or deferred.
“In further response to this Freedom of Information request please note that the total amount of development charges that the township did not collect from June 7, 2011 to May 28, 2012 was $229,476,” Mullin wrote in a statement handed out to councillors by Dam on Monday night. The figure, according to Tout, includes the $80,000 in rebates.
The mayor said the township will be discussing with its lawyer recovery of rebates and deferrals.
Dam reiterated that in the latest OMB case he only sought a ruling on the retroactivity of the bylaw and not the bylaw itself. He said if procedures had been properly followed, developers would have seen lower charges earlier.
“I do not believe it was a win for the township,” said Dam.
Tout conceded, “We’re not all perfect.” The mayor was also critical of councillor Dan Yake’s comments about the ruling in a March 15 article in the Advertiser.
“We lost plain and simple,” Yake said in the article. “We were wrong and we got caught.”
The mayor said the intent of council’s handling of the matter was to reduce development charges to stem new development in Wellington North. “There was no intent of doing anything wrong,” Tout said. “I have trouble with those words.” Tout added he hopes contractors, retailers and lumberyards will appreciate council’s work on lowering the charges.
Dam, speaking with reporters after the meeting, said the apology was “too little, too late.”
He contends too much time and money was spent on the township’s handling of the issue and said the mayor should issue an apology to taxpayers.
