The City of Ottawa is looking to keep local taxpayers protected when the redevelopment of LeBreton Flats moves ahead.
While the City is not, and won't be, a direct partner in the talks between the National Capital Commission and their preferred proponent, Rendezvous LeBreton Group, council will be voting next month on giving the Mayor and City Manager a mandate, at the NCC’s invitation, to formally participate in the process.
A memo, sent Friday to Council from City Manager Steve Kanellakos, outlines the main concern:
The City wants to make sure taxpayers are not on the hook for any liabilities the City may take on if the successful proponent accesses any municipal funding.
“The proponent would need to understand that any obligation or potential liability that the City might agree to take on would need to be secured by assets or a mechanism to recover the costs from the benefiting area,” the memo says.
Any requests to access the City’s limited financial tools for developers would be subject to due diligence examination and submitted before Council for consideration.
The City also wants the redevelopment plan to follow local building plans and principles, and for their and the Federal government's roles in the project to be clearly defined.
As well, with other redevelopment work going on in the area, such as the construction of a new Central Library branch, the City wants to make sure any construction done during redevelopment is coordinated with municipal work to keep any disruption or inconvenience to a minimum.
The NCC has not finalized any agreement with Rendezvous LeBreton Group yet, but they are the preferred proponent in the bid to redevelop the Flats. The negotiations are confidential, and if the City does enter into the talks, any agreements they come to would also be confidential until the NCC makes the information public.
In a report, tabled for the Finance and Economic Development Committee (FEDCO) meeting November 7, staff say they expect the negotiations between the NCC and their preferred proponent to take several more months.
The RLG plan includes moving the Ottawa Senators from the Canadian Tire Centre to a newly built arena at LeBreton Flats. The City also wants to begin talks about what to do with the CTC should the Senators move downtown, and how the move will affect the west end communities and businesses that would be impacted.
If approved by FEDCO, the report would go before full City Council November 22.