I have attached below 9 documents and the audio recording of the council meeting. Above each document I have given a description of each document to enable residents understand what really happened. The past council and our current Mayor Scott Anderson is trying to play dumb that there were justified delays caused by technical issues. However, when I spoke with the township economist from Watson and associates who has been doing the DC study for years, he could not find any reason why the DC bylaw did not get approved as required on October 1, 2021 and why it got postponed to December 10, 2021 after the subdivision agreement was approved on November 9, 2021.
Below is the notice of the public meeting for September 8, 2021 as required by the law.
Below is the extract from the DC report prepared by Watson and associates with the dates. Anticipated date to pass the bylaw September 27, 2021 and the effective date of October 1, 2021. This would be before the subdivision agreement that was passed on November 1, 2021. Had the council followed the dates from this report the township would not have lost the $1.3 million in DC charges as the new DC rates would apply from October 1, 2021.
Below is the old 2016 DC bylaw showing the expiry of the bylaw as 12:01 am on October 1, 2021.
Council Agenda of meeting called on December 10, 2021 item 6.1
New DC bylaw signed by me on December 10, 2021 after the Colgan subdivision agreement was signed on November 9, 2021.
Audio recordings of the December 10, 2021 council meeting to approve the Development Charges bylaw. This is an interesting one, you can hear me state that the DC charges will be collected at the time of issuance of building permits. I knew the 4 councillors messed up in the subdivision agreement and wanted them to state that they knew the DC charges were at the time of issuance of the building permit as per the watson report approved by council. Past Councillor Annette Bays then actually states it is in the Watson report so she knew the subdivision agreement was in violation of the watson report and she still approved the subdivision agreement. Deborah Hall Chancey aka Debora I deliberately asked this question as I knew in the subdivision agreement dated November 9, 2012 Schedule T (attached below) the 4 councillors Annette Bays, Scott Anderson, Deborah Hall Chancey aka Deborah Hall and Jonathan Pita had already approved the developer to pay DC charges for 315 homes for Colgan 1 and 210 homes for Colgan 2 total 525 homes at the date of execution of the subdivision agreement and not at the time of issuance of the building permit. Hence, the township had already lost money on the 525 homes in Colgan as the 4 councillors approved the developer to pay the 2016 lower rates based on the date of the execution of the subdivision agreement. Did the 4 councillors even read the subdivision agreement before approving it? If they did, then why would they approve DC charges for total of 525 homes to be paid based on the date of the execution of the subdivision agreement and not based on the date of issuance of the building permits?
As past councillor Annette Bays confirmed that it is in the WATSON REPORT that DC charges will be at building permit stage then why did she approve the 525 DC charges to be paid at the time of execution of the subdivision agreement and not at the time of building permit issuance? Then the CAO Rhonda Bunn states that the DC bylaw got delayed due to technical issues. But the township economist gave us the exact dates to be followed, so where was the technical issues? I have attached the provincial Development Charges law below and it specifies the dates AFTER THE BYLAW IS PASSED. So, there is still no explanation as to why the DC charges bylaw was approved after the Subdivision agreement. The biggest question that needs an answer is if the council knew that DC charges were to be collected at the time of issuance of a building permit then why did the 4 councillors approve in the subdivision agreement the 525 homes to pay DC charges at the time of execution of the subdivision agreement and not at the time of issuance of the building permits?
Below is the Subdivision agreement for Colgan aka Colgan 1, Schedule T, section T.2 which states “save and except for the first 315 units which will be assessed as of the date of execution of this agreement.”
Below is the Subdivision agreement for Colgan 2, Schedule T, section T.2 which states “save and except for the first 210 units which will be assessed as of the date of execution of this agreement.”
Below is the 2016 DC study approved by council that states in section 2.3 that DC charges are payable at the time of building permit issuance. So, who gave the 4 councillor’s Deborah Hall Chancey aka Deborah Hall, Scott Anderson, Annette Bays and Jonathan Pita the legal authority to change the 2016 bylaw and permit the 525 homes to pay DC charges at the date of the execution of the Subdivision agreement?
I still cannot figure out what are the technical issues that the CAO is talking about. According to the provincial Development Charges legislation below section 13 (1) and 13 (3) all appeals are after the bylaw is passed. What were the technical issues the CAO Rhonda Bunn had in passing the by law as per the dates given by the Township economist to ensure we had a DC charges bylaw in place on October 1, 2021 to collect the full 2021 DC rates before the signing of the subdivision agreement on November 9, 2021.
Below is the scheduled dates from the 2016 township DC study approved by council for approving, passing and appeals of the Development charges Bylaw. These below timelines marked in red are similar to the current timelines attached above in the provincial legislation item 13 (1) and 13 (3) so what were the technical issues?
Below is section 3.15 of the 2016 DC Bylaw that the staff and the 4 council used to bill the developer the 2016 rates for DC charges that caused the financial loss of $1.3 million as per the township treasurer email that is under the colgan financial link. However, this could now create another problem, where is the staff report and the resolution of council that authorized staff and the 4 councillors to use section 3.15 and put the change in schedule T.2 above that the DC charged for the 525 homes (colgan 1 and colgan 2) will be paid on the date of the execution of the agreement and not on the date of the issuance of the building permits.
While some on current and past council have told residents that council delegated authority or gave permission to staff to negotiate the subdivision agreement. This is an outright lie. Staff do not need to be delegated that authority nor do they need permission getting an agreement to council, that is staffs job that they get paid to do. However, the normal process for any agreement was that staff would sit with the other party and make a draft agreement based on the studies and bylaws approved by council. That draft agreement would come to council for discussion and changes if needed. Those changes would then go back to the other party for approval and then the final agreement would come to council for approval. In the case of Colgan the DC study above section 2.3 clearly stated “Development charges are due and payable at the time of building permit issuance for the development”. There was no draft agreement that came to council for discussion and to approve the use of section 3.15 of the bylaw above. Had the proper process been followed and the 4 councillors Scott Anderson, Annette Bays, Deborah Hall Chancey aka Deborah Hall and Jonathan Pita not petitioned the council meeting to approve the subdivision agreement we would not be in this situtation today left with a loss of $1.3 million that all the residents of the township are left to pay. During my term as Mayor knowing the history of financial and regulatory problems in the township I was extremely careful on who I gave what authority. The only delegation bylaw I approved on was for minor planning matters as below.