The Town of Fort Frances has entered into a new agreement with the Ministry of Natural Resources for shoreline property along the La Verendrye Parkway.
The agreement is for a 25-year term, with the MNR receiving 10 percent of gross revenues of sales generated on the land and water lots, plus a one-time payment of $1,000.
The issue of the beach management with the MNR had been unresolved since the last agreement expired in 1999.
In April, 2005, the town met with the MNR to discuss next steps to draw up a new agreement and three options were outlined at that time:
•the MNR would consider selling the Crown land, but not the water parcels, to the town (the appraised value of the land and water parcels is $731,400, so the cost of the land would be an undetermined amount less than that);
•the town could lease-to-own the land through a long-term lease agreement with the MNR at 12 percent of the market value of said lots; or
•the town could enter into a beach management agreement with the MNR at 10 percent of the gross revenue of sales generated on said land and water lots, plus a one-time payment of $1,000.
In April, 2006, the previous council approved a recommendation from Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig to pursue entering into a new beach management agreement with the MNR as per the third option.
McCaig noted the town opted to go with this instead of outright buying the land.
“We’ve had a great working relationship with the MNR, and we didn’t feel it necessary to dedicate that level of public fund towards that if we were able to work the MNR within the confines of this agreement and still utilize those properties,” he explained yesterday.
McCaig noted the 10 percent share is a fixed and standard term within such beach agreements while 25 years is the minimum length of time for such an agreement.
“It’s almost a cookie-cutter approach,” he added. “Like anywhere a municipality has a beach management agreement with the ministry, this is the standard format.
“It’s a standard template.”
While council passed the bylaw approving the agreement at Monday night’s regular meeting, McCaig noted there may an official signing ceremony between the town and the MNR next month.
Also at Monday night’s meeting, council:
•authorized staff to put out a public call for proposals for architectural/engineering services for the construction of a new library;
•passed a resolution to recognize the “Fun in the Sun” committee as a community committee responsible for undertaking the event for the benefit of and on behalf of the Town of Fort Frances (this designation enables “Fun in the Sun” to be covered under the town’s insurance policy at no extra cost);
•approved the appointment of the following to the Business Improvement Association board for a term ending Nov. 30, 2010: Doug Anderson, Richard Boileau, Dan Cousineau, Connie Cuthbertson, George Emes, Louise Kahler, Russ Ling, Marietheres Metke, and Alan Tibbetts;
•approved the 2007 BIA budget;
•agreed that in accordance with the Municipal Act, 2001, the request for an interest and penalty write-off from 1578289 Ontario Ltd. be denied;
•approved an application to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. for $500,000 for the new library; and
•approved an application to FedNor for $500,000 for the new library.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
