At Monday’s meeting, Huntsville councillors voted in favour of purchasing two properties owned by Uponor Infra Ltd., and currently leased to Infra Pipe Solutions, for the sum of $1,000.
The properties, where Huntsville’s tannery was once located as well as pipe manufacturer KWH Pipe, comprise 37 Centre Street North and 25 North Dufferin Street.
Council has been discussing the possible purchase in closed sessions for about the past 18 months, explained Huntsville Mayor Karin Terziano after the meeting. She said Uponor approached the Town to let officials know that they’d be divesting themselves of all North American holdings including their Huntsville property and wondered if the municipality would be interested in taking it over.
“It’s a piece of property that’s all basically waterfront and now gives the Town control of the waterfront from way past Avery Beach right to Centre Street and also gives us control over anything that’s potentially buried there. We don’t have any concerns right now. We’ve checked the environmental studies that have been done in the past and we did a subsequent one this year and we don’t have any concerns,” she said. “We hope that the company that’s there stays in their lease for a long time,” she added.
Terziano said she could not divulge what the company is paying to lease the land but said the money will be going into a dedicated environmental reserve. “So that at such time when the property is no longer leased by this company, if there’s any remediation that needs to be done, which will only be for a change of use or something, that we would have a fund to do that with,” she explained and noted the importance of the jobs the company has created. “We don’t want to see it go anywhere. It’s another reason we do want to make sure that there is a good landowner for this company to continue to lease from.”
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The whole area is perhaps a contaminated mess which will be owned by the town of Huntsville
and any expensive cleanup will be at taxpayers expense?
Should the past/present owners be responsible for any cleanups?
Dreaming I know!
Been a while since I worked at Wiik& Hoeglund (1969/1978) but I do remember driving behind the plant on one occasion. One second it was a sunny day and the next, our new 1970 Ford pick-up was going ass first into a big, black, smelly hole. The truck hung up on the frame and wasn’t swallowed up. We dumped a lot of fill in there and it was a while before I drove across that yard without keeping the door ajar–just in case.
Thank-you , Brian….finally someone with common sense!
So, the factory sitting on old industrial land with who knows what buried under it and all the supporting infrastructure is going to go we know not where and all the historic infrastructure of and surrounding the Pioneer Village that we have built over the last 60 years are going to move? And in the middle of the industrial lands is the main CN rail line and switch yard for Huntsville that essentially cannot move at all.
I’m a little confused here. This is not something like a shopping cart in an online store that you can move with a few clicks of a mouse.
We need as much industrial base in Huntsville as we can get and keep due to the steady income to the area and the technology spin off from each and every factory. Despite the attempts in tourist areas in the US of A I think it is hard to live financially off some tourist oriented fudge shops. (you can always tell when you are in a tourist area in the USA because the number of fudge shops increases)
I’m with Doug about not discounting any new ideas but I have to wonder about the logistics here or maybe the article has not made it clear enough about exactly what lands are involved.
Hmmm, Interesting comments Gail. The village, logistically, might be a nightmare to move but… ?
I say, never discount a new idea.
Im just curious . A Town of Huntsville councilor made a statement a while back that The Town Of Huntsville was not pursuing the Train Station because of the amount of monies needed for possible remediation relating to mold / water damage etc. They gave it away . Good for them to have done this on the Uponor property but I would guess they are hoping that the current tenant NEVER moves and it turn, a shovel will never have to go into that ground that the buildings currently sit. I was actually surprised that they ” dont have any concerns”. If that entire property is completely environmentally sound for future use , then I say Congratulations.
Wonderful…..step forward
I have been eagerly awaiting this news for many years, ever since the town passed up the opportunity years ago to buy it. I think it will make a great place to put the Pioneer Village and the old train station. We’d have both train stations, the village and maybe do a pioneer fire hall next to the new one. Then a new larger, more inclusive museum. Perhaps even an art gallery. It’s too bad it needs to be rented out but I think once this tenant is gone that my idea is what we should be moving towards. Putting the pioneer village and train there also means we don’t have to disturb the ground very much in order to develop it. And it gets the village away from all the new development going on around it and frees up the property the train is on for parking.
Great work Kids & Brian !