Councillors Catherine MacDonald and Bill Meridis were quite interested in when the selection process could begin for Midland Bay Landing development, with Mayor Bill Gordon joining their enthusiasm.
A report to council at the recent committee of the whole meeting stated that consultants KPMG LLP would be selected for a cost of $197,750 including HST as phase one of a two-phase effort to create a larger request for proposal for the 40-acre waterfront property.
Questions raised to staff by MacDonald and Meridis attempted to pry when the final date a developer could be chosen by KPMG, and if there were any penalties should a developer not be selected.
Steve Farquharson, the town's community and growth executive director, attempted to temper expectations by reiterating that with phase one complete, a goal of early 2026 would be set.
“It’s a target for us to get to,” said Farquharson, “but there is no penalty if we’re not able to get it. The plan is to get a developer on board before this council goes into lame duck for elections. That way we’re moving the project forward even when the new council comes on board.”
Farquharson further added: “There's lots of opportunity to make sure we get input from everybody, to make sure that when we do form that phase two of this RFP to attract a developer, we do it right.
“We make sure we get everybody's input, and then we frame it a certain way so that we can attract as many developers and potential to develop this, as Coun. MacDonald said,’ very important piece of property on our waterfront’,” added Farquharson.
Meridis backpedalled on his enthusiasm, saying,” I’m not trying to rush anything; we need to get this right.”
Mayor Bill Gordon was the most enthusiastic about the project, stating his happiness several times.
“I feel like we're about nine months behind what my plan was for timelines and quite frankly that’s because we lost two of our council members (deceased Jim Downer and Jack Contin) which was a setback, not only because we lost (them)... but then we needed to go through the process of filling those seats," said Gordon.
"And it’s hard to just keep all the plates spinning, or the chainsaws as it were, while also doing that.”
He added, “Midland Bay Landing, being so critical, wasn't one of the things we wanted to take a risk with. That's why it's a little bit more delayed; the timeline now is pretty impressive because we have about a year and a half left until we go ‘rubber chicken’ and can't make any decisions.”
Gordon reiterated that public engagement would be the biggest component in the process, and reminded council of a $5 million pledge if the east side of the project were kept “parkified.”
Caution was made that if council were to tinker with the process that the deal could fail, to which Gordon made reference to a recently withdrawn development of the Wasaga Beach boardwalk. He also took time to chide the former Midland Bay Landing Development Corporation for several reasons, including transparency issues and perceived lack of public engagement.
On the selection of KPMG, Gordon noted: “Hopefully when we bait the hook and put it out for RFP… we get a school of fish that are interested in our amazing, one-of-a-kind waterfront, 40-acre development.”
The Midland Bay Landing consultant phase one report is available in the council agenda on the town of Midland website.
Council meetings are held every third Wednesday, and can be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53 when available, or through the livestream on the Rogers TV website. Archives of council meetings are available through Rogers TV and on the Town of Midland’s YouTube channel.
