At the March 22, 2026 special meeting council approved the outfall location agreement with “we development” who owns the land on the west side and also granted the 4 year extension to Farsight.
At the start of the meeting during public comment a resident from Everett Amanda Reiber who lives on Dekker put forward to council questions that were extremely well researched and questioned the financial aspect of this agreement, the development and the effects on water and wastewater rates. It is residents like Amanda Reiber from Everett who we require on council as good decisions that benefit the township and the residents are only made when proper research and financial questions are asked. I was not surprised to hear Amanda Rieber from Everett raise these well researched and educated questions as this is not the first time that she has spoken up for the residents. She also raised similar questions to council when the DC (development charges) bylaw was being approved by council. Such residents who raise questions on how council decisions impact the financials of the township and its residents, why are updated approvals not in place are the type of people that this township requires on council. The few questions that she asked basically covered the entire Everett development on both sides of County road 13 (east and west). I have attached the video of her presentation below.
It was an intresting recorded vote. The councillor for ward 2 Bob Meadows voted against, the councillor for ward 4 Miklos Borsos abstained which is legally a vote against. The councillor for ward 3 Ronald O’Leary did not attend the meeting. The ones who voted in favor of the agreement amd 4 year extension were, the Mayor Scott Anderson, Deputy Mayor Julius Lachs, Councillor for ward 1 Anub Simson and councillor for ward 5 Adam Cox.
Everett west development : I have attached the council recording below for your review. During the discussion some interesting comments were made by the councillor for ward 1 Anub Simson. While discussing Everett west he stated that the application is coming and the township has been contacted since 2024 by the owners of the west property. He further stated it is a “PROVINCIAL PRIORITY PROJECT”. Could the councillor for ward 1 Anub Simson and this council please provide a copy of the letter from the province stating that Everett west has been declared a Provincial priority project? If it is a Provincial Priority Project then why did he ask the residents to write letters to the province ERO opposing this west side development? All that the province has done is identify Everett west and some land in colgan as lands for development in the provincial ERO. The commenting deadline was May 8, 2026 and to my knowledge our township council did not oppose the ERO for the Everett west and Colgan development lands before the May 8, 2026 deadline as no resolution of council exists before the deadline. While New Tecumesth council passed a resolution opposing their ERO and sent the resolution of council to the province.
The councillor for ward 1 Anub Simson also stated that the province can issue a MZO (Minister zoning order) to push the development in Everett west forward. This is a complete false statement “any MZO requires the support of the municipal council”. I have attached below the eligibility thresholds for a MZO. This is the problem I have when councillors make statements to show that they know the rules when in fact there is no truth to their statements. Such misleading statements are the cause that this township is in this situation today. An MZO requires support from the upper or lower tier municipality for the minister to consider it. The mayor of the township can use strong Mayor powers to push for an MZO. Now that Scott Anderson and Anub Simson have both put their names forward to be elected as Mayor in the next elections October 2026 and both are in support of development in Everett West and Colgan, if they are elected will they use their strong Mayor powers to push for an MZO to get Everett west and Colgan developments moving forward? The only other person who put his name forward for Mayor is Bob Meadows who has been reasonable and asked for all documents and approvals to be in place before any development moves forward. Bob Meadows has asked about commercial lands and employment for the new growth and has never spoken about a MZO. This shows which of the candidates running for Mayor will really look for well planned development that protects the township and its residents and which candidate will push development forward and approve agreements under the guise that if council does not approve it the province will issue an MZO. I have attached the MZO eligibility thresholds below.
During the discussion the councillor for ward 4 Miklos Borsos asked a question on the financials for the wastewater plant. Mayor Scott Anderson stopped the question and would not let staff answer the question. Yet the councillors who approved this agreement have stated this development will help reduce water and wastewater rates. As some on this council are so sure that this development will reduce the water and wastewater rates why not make the financials open to the residents?
Deputy Mayor Julius Lachs told the councillor for ward 2 Bob Meadows that he complained about no outfall location and now there is an outfall location and the ward 2 councillor Bob Meadows still has concerns. The ward 2 councillor Bob Meadows was absolutely right to have concerns. The lands have not yet been assessed how can you expect the ward 2 councillor Bob Meadows to approve something when he has no assessed value in front of him? This shows that the ward 2 councillor Bob Meadows makes sound financial decisions when it comes to residents tax dollars while the rest on council seem to just not care. How many residents would sign an agreement to buy a property without knowing the fair market value of the property? There should have been an assessed value provided with a clause in the agreement stating that the seller is responsible for providing the lands free of any issues or contamination and with a clear title. This is the way assessments are done as my lands went through the assessment process when my lands were expropriated.
The most important point that is not being answered is why is the township council getting involved with this agreement. The developer of Farsight homes should have purchased the property from the west side developer and we would not have to go through this process. In fact our township staff confirmed ward 2 councillor Bob Meadows comments that down the road the developer for Farsight homes could sell his lands and walk away and we the township will be left as usual holding the bag.
The only reason one can think of is the developer on the west wants his lands to be developed and the best way to do that would be to make the township sign the agreement.
