The Corporation of the TOWN OF MILTON

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1 Report to: From: Mayor Krantz and Members of Council Troy McHarg, Town Clerk Date: February 23, 2009 Report No. ES Subject: Ninth Line Corridor Boundary Adjustment Proposal by Mississauga RECOMMENDATION: 1. That the Mayor and the Town Clerk be authorized to execute and affix the Corporate Seal to a Memorandum of Understanding (the MOU ) with the City of Mississauga, the Region of Halton and the Region of Peel, in a form and content substantially as attached to this Report as Appendix A. 2. That Council authorize a joint public meeting. 3. That an ad hoc Committee composed of staff of the Town of Milton, the City of Mississauga, the Region of Halton and the Region of Peel be established with the authority to hold a public meeting and to report back to Council on the proposed boundary adjustment pursuant to section 173 of the Municipal Act, That the ad hoc Committee be directed to report back to Council on the recommendations of the Compensation Consultant, to be retained pursuant to the terms of the attached MOU, for the purpose of providing a recommendation as to the appropriate compensation amounts for the proposed boundary adjustment. 5. That, should the annexation be approved by Milton Council, staff proceed to use best efforts to ensure

2 Page No. 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY that the new boundary lines are in place before January 1, 2010 so that the adjustment will be reflected in the next municipal election. 6. That the Town Clerk forward a copy of report ES to the City of Mississauga, the Region of Halton, and the Region of Peel for information. The purpose of this report is to inform Council of discussions between Milton, Halton, Mississauga and Peel regarding a proposed realignment of the municipal boundary between Milton and Mississauga for the corridor of land between Highway 407 and Ninth Line as depicted in Appendix B to this report. The boundary adjustment would create a new municipal boundary between Milton and Mississauga and between Halton and Peel, with Highway 407 becoming the new municipal boundary instead of Ninth Line. No commitments have been made at this time regarding the proposal and staff will continue to participate in this process and will report back to Council as required. Approval of the attached Memorandum of Understanding will in no way commit the Town of Milton to approving the boundary adjustment; it merely serves as the framework for the process to be followed. Mississauga has requested that this process continue even though the aquatic facility proposed to be in this corridor through the Pan Am Games bid is no longer supported. REPORT Background Milton staff have been engaged in discussions initiated by Mississauga to explore a municipal boundary adjustment that would move the current Ninth Line municipal boundary westward to Highway 407. In December 2008, Milton staff attended a meeting with Halton, Mississauga, and Peel to discuss a proposed boundary realignment and the resulting process. Mississauga and Peel staff expressed an interest in moving the Milton/Halton boundary westward to exclude the Ninth Line corridor lands due to but not dependent upon, the possibility of the development of a pool facility as part of the GTA/Golden Horseshoe bid for the Pan Am Games. At this meeting, the participating municipalities agreed to develop a Memorandum of Understanding in order to establish a framework agreement for the realignment of the municipal boundary between Milton

3 Page No. 3 and Mississauga (see Appendix A). The Memorandum of Understanding is intended to provide a course of action for the participating municipalities to follow as the boundary adjustment is considered. The lands are shown on Appendix B attached hereto (the Subject Lands ). Discussion Proposed Boundary Adjustment Provincial legislation governs the boundary adjustment process and details the steps required; the process includes the preparation of a municipal restructuring proposal agreed to by all municipalities and approved by the Province. In addition, it is necessary for the participating municipalities to hold at least one public meeting to address the restructuring proposal. Any decision with respect to the restructuring proposal must be supported by a Council by-law or resolution from each municipality and when appropriate, Milton staff will bring a follow-up report in this regard for Council s consideration. Compensation While the Minister s Order would reflect the basic elements on the boundary adjustment, the process under the Municipal Act, 2001 will normally be supplemented by locally developed agreements which outline issues such as compensation to be paid in exchange for the subject lands. This compensation is often in the form of lost tax revenue over a period of years. Staff from all participating municipalities are proposing that an independent consultant be retained to evaluate the Subject Lands and to provide recommendations as to any compensation to be paid. The Regions of Halton and Peel will be taking the lead on retaining the consultant, with approval required from Milton and Mississauga as to the terms of the retainer. The cost of retaining the consultant is proposed to be split equally among all Parties. Depending on the compensation consultant s recommendations with respect to the amount of compensation and should Council wish to proceed, Milton and Halton will work together to negotiate a fair and equitable compensation amount for the subject lands and the future lost tax revenue attributable to these lands. Proposed ad hoc Committee Since a public meeting must be held and a draft restructuring proposal considered, Council, along with Halton, Mississauga and Peel, should establish a staff Committee

4 Page No. 4 for providing day to day direction and attendance at any meetings on this proposal and to report back to Council. Proposed Joint Public Meeting It would be appropriate to hold a joint public meeting on the proposal to be scheduled in the spring at a location mutually agreed to by the Parties. A joint public meeting by all affected municipalities would be the most cost and time-efficient process for the proposed boundary adjustment. The Town must comply with the mandatory 14-day notice period for a public meeting to consider a restructuring proposal. This notice requirement is contained in the Town s Public Notice Policy. The Committee could then report back to Council in mid Ninth Line Owners Association Staff are aware of the presentation made by the Association at the Halton Region Planning and Public Works Committee meeting on February 4, The Association requested that the following clauses be included in the Memorandum of Understanding: 1. That the land use designations that have been established by ROPA #28 in Nov for the Ninth Corridor be maintained and protected through the annexation process by Mississauga and Peel. 2. That the Milton OPR/OPA to implement the ROPA #28 land use designations and related local zonings, be undertaken and implemented by Mississauga and Peel, should Milton (and Halton) not be able to complete the MOPR/MOPA for the Ninth Line Corridor prior to annexation. 3. That existing land use designations established by ROPA #28 and the MOPR/MOPA of land use designations and zonings for the Ninth Line Corridor and the associated development rights of its property owners be maintained and protected through the annexation process. This issue was deferred at the Region of Halton in order for staff to review the submission and discuss with Milton staff. Since that time Mississauga Council has agreed to insert clause 6 in the MOU which reads: The Parties agree that the development rights attaching to the Subject Lands shall not be negatively impacted by a boundary realignment and shall remain in force in the event of annexation. Milton staff have reviewed the Association s submission and it is staff opinion that the main concern of the Association has now been addressed however it should be noted

5 Page No. 5 that staff will not be proceeding with including the Ninth Line Corridor in the Milton Official Plan Review/Milton Official Plan Amendment project at this time due to the timing of that project and the possibility of the boundary adjustment. Should the proposal not proceed, Milton will undertake the necessary OPR/OPA for the Ninth Line Corridor, reflecting Regional Official Plan Amendment 28. Relationship to the Strategic Plan This is an operational report which has no relationship to Destiny Milton 2. Financial Impact The cost of retaining a consultant and surveyor, to be paid equally by Milton, Halton, Mississauga, and Peel, for the purposes of providing recommendations as to the appropriate compensation will be accommodated in the budget under the existing project for evaluating the fiscal impact for the 9 th Line Corridor. Respectfully submitted, Troy McHarg Town Clerk TM/tm If you have any questions on the content of this report: Troy McHarg, ext 2132 Attachments: Appendix A Memorandum of Understanding. Appendix B Lands proposed to be annexed from Milton to Mississauga CAO Approval:

6 Page No. 6 APPENDIX A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ( MOU ) Between: The Corporation of the City of Mississauga (hereinafter called Mississauga ) and The Corporation of the Town of Milton (hereinafter called Milton ) and The Regional Municipality of Peel (hereinafter called Peel ) and The Regional Municipality of Halton (hereinafter called Halton ) (together the Parties ) WHEREAS Mississauga, Milton, Peel and Halton wish to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a framework for agreement relative to the realignment of the municipal boundary between Mississauga and Milton, whereby certain lands would be annexed to Mississauga, as generally depicted in Schedule A (the Subject Lands ); AND WHEREAS the desire to realign the municipal boundary is due in part to, but not dependent on the proposed joint development of a pool facility as part of the GTA/Golden Horseshoe 2015 Pan Am Games bid; AND WHEREAS the Parties recognize that servicing and emergency services for the Subject Lands will come from Mississauga/Peel; AND WHEREAS Mississauga currently has ownership of a portion of the Subject Lands; AND WHEREAS staff from each of the Parties have met to discuss the principles that will form the basis of the boundary realignment; NOW THEREFORE the parties agree as follows:

7 Page No The Parties have agreed that as part of the realignment of the municipal boundary some form of compensation for the loss of tax revenues is appropriate, to be detailed in a form of agreement (the Compensation Agreement ). 2. The Parties agree that Milton/Halton will be compensated for the realignment of the municipal boundary and that an independent consultant will be retained for the purposes of calculating and recommending the appropriate compensation to be paid (the Compensation Consultant ); 3. The Parties agree that Halton and Peel (the Regions ) shall be responsible for retaining the Compensation Consultant on behalf of all of the Parties, the cost of which will be equally paid. All Parties shall approve the terms of reference prior to finalizing the retainer. 4. The Parties acknowledge that it is necessary to retain an accredited Ontario Land Surveyor ( the OLS ) in order to survey the Subject Lands for the purpose of developing a restructuring proposal relative to the boundary realignment. 5. The Parties agree that the City of Mississauga shall be responsible for retaining the OLS on behalf of the Parties, the cost of which will be equally paid. 6. The Parties agree that the development rights attaching to the Subject Lands shall not be negatively impacted by a boundary realignment and shall remain in force in the event of annexation. 7. The Parties agree that they will use best efforts to ensure that the new boundary lines are in place before January 1, 2010 so that any boundary adjustment will be reflected at the next municipal election. Signature lines in original

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