Wawa Municipal Council's considering offering up land for a new OPP detachment.
In their Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday night, Council received a thorough report from Treasurer Manuela Batovanja on options to help facilitate the building of a new local detachment, which the Municipality's been pushing the provincial government for for some time, even citing the want for a new detachment when Council effectively evicted the OPP from their satellite office in the former Wawa Police Service office within the Town Hall building at 40 Broadway Avenue.
Council was told of three main possibilities: providing land in some manner - donating or selling, including at a reduced cost - or building either a "base building" or a "turn key" building, which they could then lease to the OPP - she later told JJAM FM News that selling the building to the OPP was not an option as they're not interested.
Batovanja outlined costs and revenue that would be generated from the various options, noting the building options would require a substantial amount of the Municipality's borrowing capacity - essentially all or more than that in the case of the "turnkey" building - and would also leave a number of ongoing operating costs, including for maintenance of the buildings, which would also substantially increase the Municipality's asset management obligations, and it would take decades to fully recover the initial costs.
In the end, it was recommended that Council opt for some form of land contribution - Batovanja emphasized she "strongly" believes the province should build the detachment, and that many residents simply couldn't face the jump in property taxes that would be required for the Municipality to put up the building, let alone continued costs, all of which would prevent the Municipality from meeting any other infrastructure needs - and she further advised that even "donating" the land isn't an option, and the Municipality should at least sell it at a reduced rate that would cover costs, such as for a survey or - if required by the OPP - land clearing or other measures to prepare the land.
There was some confusion among councillors as some details and figures appeared to contradict information previously provided by the OPP, with Batovanja assuring she'd verified her information with the Ontario government.
A resolution is expected to come to Council in their next meeting, on November 21st.