While Drs. Chris Cannon and Dan Pierroz announced this past summer they were looking to build a new Nor-West Animal Clinic at 1321 King’s Highway, the future of the project is in limbo right now.
“We’re still hopeful we can build it,” said Dr. Pierroz. “But everything is kind of put on hold. We’re waiting until the new council comes in.
“I’m not prepared to say anything else at this time, but we’re hopeful the new council can work it out,” he added.
Geoff Gillon, the town’s economic development officer, agreed the matter is completely up to the incoming council.
The previous council had put off a decision back in July pending the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s approval of the town’s Community Improvement Plan—and the Financial Incentive Plan included in it, which would allow the town to offer such incentives as tax breaks and so forth.
“Of course, the financial incentive plan has since been approved. And the EDC is now working on a set of protocols for financial incentives,” noted Gillon.
“These will go before council in the next three to six weeks. And after that, it will be up to the new council,” he added. “They’ll have to wait until then.”
During the summer, Gillon gave the vets the only break he possibly could at the time. “We helped them with the development fill,” he remarked, referring to the fact the town gave the pair a good price on some dirt to backfill the lot on King’s Highway.
Municipal planner Faye Flatt said there’s been no further action from the town’s end of things since the summer.
“Back on July 28, they [Drs. Cannon and Pierroz] came before council looking for concessions,” she noted. “At that time, the matter was referred to the Administration and Finance executive committee, with input from the Planning and Development executive committee, for a recommendation.
“I haven’t heard any out of that.
“The contractor had come and we’d went over the plans, as far as parking and that sort of thing,” Flatt remarked. “But beyond that, there’s been nothing. I don’t believe they’ve applied for a building permit or anything like that.”
While the lot was cleared and prepped for construction this past summer, Drs. Pierroz and Cannon appeared before council July 28 seeking a commitment from the town that they could get some tax relief for the venture before they went any further with the facility.
“Our goal is to provide a first-class veterinary clinic for our existing clients and to continue attracting cross-border clients,” Dr. Cannon had told council at that time.
“There will be increased staffing required to facilitate our expansion.
“Hopefully, a new facility will enable us to attract an additional veterinarian to help service our area and to ensure succession of the Nor-West Animal Clinic in Fort Frances,” he added.
“In conclusion, our plan would require substantial investment by us. We would like to think that we can continue to locate in a community that is also willing to invest in future growth.”
The primary grounds for requesting the tax break—which would consist of phased-in payments in increments of 20 percent of the difference between the assessed rate and the original base every year for five years—lies in the drastic increase in tax revenue for the town should the project be completed.
The vets noted the property at 400 Portage Ave.—the site of the current animal clinic—currently pays $5,600 per year in taxes while the estimated annual taxes at 1321 King’s Highway are $17,000-19,000.
This represents a 300 percent increase in revenue for the town without any rise in expense or investment. Conversely, it represents a 300 percent hike in expense to the vets for hundreds of thousands of dollars in investment.
Dr. Cannon said if it’s not feasible for them to build the new facility, their only alternative is to soon retire, sell the current property, and thereby do nothing to ensure the continuation of veterinary services for Rainy River District.
But at that July 28 meeting, several councillors noted any decision would have to wait pending approval of the town’s Community Improvement Plan.
As noted by Flatt, the matter subsequently was referred to committees for future recommendation.
Dr. Pierroz then appeared at the Aug. 25 meeting to see if council had an answer yet, but the matter once again was deferred until the financial incentive plan was approved.
As Gillon said, the financial incentive plan has since been approved by the ministry and council (in September), and town staff currently is readying to implement the financial incentives that are part of that plan.
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
