Photo: Lucille Frith, President of the Huntsville Train Station Society, sells T-shirts to help raise funds for the storage and preservation of train station artifacts. She was selling the shirts at the Port Sydney Community Hall, where Huntsville Council held its Aug. 29 meeting, finalizing the sale of the station for a token $2.
The Huntsville Council’s intention to sell the CN Rail Station to a private group is still receiving fierce opposition from community members. Huntsville Council held its August 29 meeting at the Port Sydney Community Hall, as several members of the Huntsville Train Station Society, Huntsville and Area Historical Society, and their supporters gathered at the village to make their opposition to the sale known.
Following a notice to the public of its intent to sell the station, council received 12 letters opposing the decision, many expressing concerns with losing a valuable heritage building to private hands. The letters were brought forward by Director of Community Services Kari Lambe in a report to council.
Commenting on those letters, Huntsville Councillor Nancy Alcock said: “There is so much concern that by going through with this transaction that we will allow the building to fall into a state of disrepair, if that’s what the new owners decide to do.” Alcock asked Director of Community Services Kari Lambe to once more respond to those concerns.
Lambe said staff met onsite with members of the Ontario Heritage Trust. “The new owners do have responsibility as per the contract through the Trust. The Trust does have stipulations in the agreement as it relates to public access as well as maintenance and standards for the building.” Lambe also said a report by the Trust has indicated that there are some minor items that need to be repaired, which will be passed on to the new owners. Those items include water in the basement, asbestos and mould as well as some minor painting – all items the new owners are willing to take responsibility for, said Lambe.
“So that report will be passed on to the owners and the Heritage Trust will continue to monitor the facility and work with the new owners in terms of any work that has to be done or needs to be done and wants to be done, needs to be reported through the Trust prior to being done,” she explained.
Lambe added that the municipality also has the ability to apply a heritage designation, which would give it the right to monitor the property as well and ensure that all areas outlined in the heritage designation bylaw are protected. In her report to council, Lambe also noted that capital costs, not including the remediation of mould and asbestos issues and the replacement of the station’s HVAC, would cost the municipality about $89,000 between now and 2026. She also noted that selling the property would also mean a savings of about $8,500, budgeted in the 2017 budget. The municipality would also no longer have to pay to insure the station and by selling it, the Town could collect taxes on it.
Councillor Jonathan Wiebe noted that the buyers are going to establish a not-for-profit corporation, but asked if the proponents were to assume the building and then decided that the corporation they set up is for-profit, how would that affect the transaction.
Lambe said the Town can request that it be a not-for-profit. “I can tell you in the request for proposal and the proposal we received, they clearly indicated that all profits that are made from the entity, once they get into a profitable situation, would be put back into the venture…”
Later on in the meeting, when Huntsville Council was getting ready to finalize the agreement by passing a bylaw declaring the lands surplus and transferring the station to John Pantaleo, Adam Caswell and Brian Richardson for the sum of $2, Councillor Dan Armour asked for a recorded vote. The bylaw was passed with Councillor Armour voting against the finalization of the sale and all other councillors voting in favour. The meeting was chaired by Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano in the absence of Mayor Scott Aitchison, who is recuperating from surgery.
You can find the letters opposing the sale of the Huntsville train station by turning to page 126, here.
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