Next week council will have to make its final decision as to whether it wants to take over ownership of the Port Hope Harbour, but Deputy Mayor Jeff Lees says he wants no part of it.

“I’d like to remind people I’ve never been in favour of this,” he told the committee Tuesday night. “It’s a bad move — like buying a car with the wheels falling off.”

He said that, with dredging costing more than $100,000 this year alone, the divestiture of the harbour to the municipality from the federal government is a liability.

But Mayor Linda Thompson said that besides receiving $300,000 with the execution of the agreement, the municipality would also be receiving a piece of property worth $8.8 million — property that is currently leased with five years remaining on the lease — and the lease will be transferred over to the municipality.

And Councillor Bob Fudge says that in order to move forward with the waterfront master plan, council must have control of these lands, while Councillor Ted Watts said that not owning these lands was the only thing holding them back.

“Although dredging is an issue, we’ve got to get moving on this process,” Watts said.

Councillor Dave Turck was also in agreement, saying that if Port Hope were going to grasp its own destiny, now is the time.

“It’s time for Port Hope to step up to the plate,” Turck said.

During question period, former councillor John Floyd said that he was involved in the harbour issue back in 1991 when he was on council and claimed numerous studies had been done that concluded it would have been a $4-million liability to take over the harbour at that time.

“We’re going to take $300,000 for a $4-to $5-million liability,” Floyd said.

He added that the rate of return for the marina would be in the negatives and that the property is in a floodplain, so no one could even build there — and asked where the money would come from to complete the waterfront plan.

Watts said that until the lands belonged to the municipality, they really don’t know what the repercussions would be, but chief administrative officer Eugene Todd said that they’re in the process of doing an environmental assessment in case provincial and/or federal monies become available.

via Lees against harbour acquisition – Northumberland Today – Ontario, CA.