The development of a 760-acre parcel of land in Seguin Township is moving forward.
On July 2, council officially gave staff permission to spend nearly $900,000 to create a master plan for the property, which will guide development of water and wastewater servicing, and map out a road network.
According to Michelle Fraser, the township’s chief financial officer, the municipality will front the costs and then recover the spending from developers.
“We will front the dollars for these studies, and it is not going to be all at once, it’s going to be over the next 12 to 16 to 18 to 24 months. We will front those dollars and then when we collect the development charges it will offset those dollars,” she said.
A comprehensive memo outlining the township’s development charge bylaw provided to council was able to appease concerns raised during a meeting last month.
On June 17, council opted to defer their decision on the master plan due to the price tag and some uncertainties around recouping those funds.
Jason Inwood, the town’s chief administrative officer, reiterated the project’s importance during the latest meeting, which swayed councillors to vote in favour of proceeding.
“What we would be faced with if we didn’t do this, is we would have disjointed development in the future as subsequent plans of subdivisions come together without a connecting transportation, without a fulsome understanding of how to manage the water and wastewater needs,” he said. “This is pretty fundamental in the development process to ensure there is a longer-term vision.”
