City drifting into rocky waters

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

They reached out, they spent the money, the pushed the timeline, and now, things have fallen flat.

Following a recent closed meeting report at Oshawa city council, it become known that the recent process to find an operator for a public marina at Oshawa’s waterfront has been called off with both of the two proposals that were being considered being tossed in the trash.

“It is a disappointment,” says Mayor John Henry. “As someone who was born in Oshawa, grew up in Oshawa and remembers the harbour…I’ve seen the potential.”

The failure drew the ire from local resident and waterfront advocate Larry Ladd, who slammed council not only for the failure of the recent RFP process, but what, in his mind, has been a consistent failure along Oshawa’s edge of Lake Ontario.

“You failed this community on that,” Ladd said. “If a report card were given to our Oshawa council on the marina and boat launch and access to Lake Ontario issue, it would be an F, lots of talk, no action, equals failure.”

Ladd’s comments came during discussion surrounding a motion brought forward by Councillor Gail Bates during the last council meeting on Feb. 20, which asked that staff move forward with a report surrounding the possibility of constructing a public boat launch ramp at the Oshawa harbour, “thereby meeting the city’s minimum obligations under the Harbour Settlement Agreement and providing public recreational activities for the citizens of Oshawa.”

That motion was referred back to staff, much to the chagrin of Ladd and others in attendance.

For Ladd, he pointed the finger at council, calling them out for using the potential for harbour development as a political poker chip.

“We first spoke to city council in May 2002, regarding a full service marina and public boat launch ramp, including waterfront trails with access and entry and exit to Lake Ontario,” Ladd said. “Since then, over the years, a succession of candidates, many running for mayoral and council positions have been elected. Some promised or stated in their campaign literature that they agree with our position.”

Ladd continued, “Instead, it’s the same old deal, you’re going to refer it back to staff, staff is going to play along with it,” he said. “I have no doubt that some of these reports are going to come out this summer before you go into a lame duck position to make you look good.”

The most recent failed attempt at finding a marina operator followed a rocky road that included two RFPs and a $25,000 marketing campaign, something that looks like money wasted now that nothing has resulted from the efforts.

The city was previously in possession of proposals from the Oshawa Farewell Marina Consortium, a conglomerate of local business owners who had retained the Biglieri Group to create a detailed proposal, and a company by the name of Charming Panda Technology Inc.

The consortium is made up of a trio of individuals: Harold Hough, the president of the Pickering Harbour company; Barry Pettit, the CEO of Pettit Inc; and Stephen Richardson, the managing director of Richardson Workboat.

Both companies expressed interest to develop the marina originally, along with two other companies who previously backed out of the process.

However, both of those proposals have been thrown out. The full reasons for that decision are still being kept in the dark inside a confidential city report.

“I think the short version is the ask was too big, I think our waterfront would sell itself,” Mayor Henry says. “The north side of Harbour Road is zoned high density residential, you’re next to the Second Marsh and McLaughlin Bay one way, and the other way you’re next to Lakeview Park and our trail network that takes you over to Lakeview West. Developing it is key, but it has to be done, one,  in a way that is affordable to our residents. We’ve had some challenges with paying off the debt of the past and we’re getting there, and we’ve proven that in this budget.”

Along with that Mayor Henry says the city needs to focus first on completing the requirements under the Settlement Agreement with the federal government that saw them get the lands back in the first place.

“I think the key for us right now is to make sure that we meet our commitments so that we don’t have to worry about that bill, because that really is the elephant in the room, that agreement with the federal government.”

Under the federal requirements to return the land back to parkland and create other uses, the city now has an extended deadline to October of this year. If the work is not complete the city could face fines up to $4.2 million.

“Going forward, you’ll find that there is an opportunity to do something here, whether it will be us or somebody else, I can’t answer that question right now.”