“Blurred visions” causing problems at Oshawa waterfront

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

It may be calm, but is it before or after the storm?

Following an explosive annual general meeting on June 4, city officials say they have heard nothing further from the Port Authority, despite a follow-up request to meet and discuss the future of Oshawa’s waterfront.

“We haven’t heard anything,” says Mayor John Henry.

“The only dialogue that we’ve seen from the port authority since their general meeting is the stuff that they post on their website. If they really want to have a conversation about what’s going on down there, then maybe they can contact us.”

The release the mayor refers to was posted a few weeks following the meeting on the port’s website, which states that the city is not considering all of its options at the waterfront and that, by being fixated on residential homes near the port, is missing other opportunities.

“It seems remiss not to consider all of the options,” the release states.

“If the city is truly serious about moving forward with waterfront development, it should be encouraged to share proposals and provide some assurance to taxpayers that it has the money to make it happen without raising property taxes, which are already among the highest in Canada.”

While the online version of the release is unauthorized, a letter to the editor by Gary Valcour, the chair of the Port Authority board of directors, published in The Oshawa Express contains paragraphs that appear in the release verbatim.

For Oshawa’s mayor, he says it is clear who authored the release and is unsure whether it is the position of the entire port authority board.

“I think the board of the port authority is grateful for all the work that we have done to help advance the port on the regional, provincial and world stage,” Henry says.

“It’s too bad that the chair of the port authority continues to battle us. It’s a shame.”

The sentiment was shared by Councillor Nester Pidwerbecki.

“I think there are members on that board that understand what the vision is for Oshawa,” he says.

“I think the only person that’s offside on this thing, coming back and looking at it, is Chair Valcour. He has very blurred visions of what the city’s vision is for the waterfront. I don’t think he understands.”

When The Express attempted to contact the port authority for further comment, spokesperson Danna O’Brien said that, aside from the release, “there isn’t anything to add beyond that.”

The issue of ethanol

During the annual general meeting in June, it became public that the port authority and FarmTech Energy, the company given the go-ahead to build the ethanol plant, are currently in arbitration.

However, what the issue is, how long it has been going on and when it will be resolved have gone unanswered by the port authority.

Repeated attempts by The Express to contact Todd Storms, a lawyer with Templeman-Menninga LLP, which is representing the port in the arbitration, were not returned as of press time.

According to both Henry and Pidwerbecki, the city has heard nothing further since the early June AGM.

Pidwerbecki, a vocal advocate during that meeting, says he has many questions which need to be answered.

“How did it ever get to arbitration or where is it at this point in time?” he says.

“My information is that the timeframe had already lapsed in terms of developing the ethanol plant”

It has consistently been the city’s position that with the ethanol plant still looming over the city’s waterfront, no developers will be interested in that land.

It is something the port’s release tries to counter, claiming Oshawa has large swaths of waterfront to build on, and the city should not focus exclusively on the harbour lands.

“The city has a vast stretch of waterfront that could be developed. Why focus exclusively on building homes beside a port that supports a variety of industry,” the release reads.

However, the mayor says this is not true. The “vast stretch” the release refers to is actually parkland in the form of Lakeview Park East and West. According to Henry, the only land left for development is that on Harbour Road.

“I really think that he’s (Valcour) lacking a vision for the redevelopment of our waterfront,” he says.

“And it’s not theirs, it’s ours.”

Moving forward, Henry says he hopes the port will be willing to meet to discuss the future of the waterfront.

“We should sit down at the table again, talk about what we’re going to do, what they’re going to do, what their visions are and work together,” he says.

“But there’s no talking here…We never received a comment and they never contacted us. Arguing back and forth in the media just doesn’t make sense.”