Council here is considering a recommendation from the town’s economic development committee to set a fee of $221 for water, sewer and servicing fees on infill lots.
The committee also recommended a fee of $500 per infill lot as a parkland dedication fee, but it was the $221 figure that raised some questions around the council table during the Dec. 18 meeting.
Councillor Mary Lou Colwell explained the committee felt the parkland charges were comparable to those on infill lots in other communities.
However, she said the committee felt the servicing fee of $422 suggested in an engineering report was “quite severe.”
“We didn’t have any rationale to support those numbers, so we felt that 50 per cent of what the engineers had suggested would be somewhat comparable with other municipalities,” said Colwell. “We felt the four-forty-three was just too high so we cut it in half, that was the rationale behind it.”
Councillor Ron Elliott, who also sits on the economic development committee, said he was uncomfortable with the committee’s decision to arbitrarily set the fee at $221.
“We just sort of reached up and thought that half price is good,” said Elliott, who added he questioned whether the decision would stand up to any challenges.
“I think we have to have someone do a study to rationalize where we’re at. I’m not saying $221 is the wrong thing, I’m just saying we have to have some sort of rationale to get there,” said Elliott.
“But our rationale (the engineer’s recommendation) is at $442,” Colwell pointed out.
“I was uncomfortable with the figure that first came forward. I felt it was punitive. I’m more comfortable with this figure,” said CAO Bill White. “I’m worried that it’s going to be a deterrent to infill development and we don’t want to do that,” he added.
Councillor Rick Hembly said, “I personally, would like to see a little bit lower prices in our community so that if the choice is between us and the next town over, hopefully they purchase the lot here.”
However, White pointed out council would have a chance to hear from developers on the issue because the proposed fee increases can’t be implemented without a public meeting.
Mayor George Bridge said the new fees would address an existing inequity in which only large scale developers are charged fees to compensate for town infrastructure services.
“They’ve been free on infill lots and that’s sort of an unfair playing field for the ones that have been out there doing the subdivision agreements and they have to pay for them.
“I’m not sure you buy that infill lot cheaper than you buy the one that’s out there (in the subdivision). I haven’t seen much difference in price, so the public isn’t receiving any benefit,” the mayor noted.
Said White, “Obviously you’re going to have a challenge ahead, depending on the input that you receive, as to whether you want to go ahead or not.”
