Centre Wellington council has sold a small strip of land it owns in Fergus to Wellington North Tire Company at 199 St. Patrick Street West.
The motion to sell came after council held a closed session dealing with land disposition.
Councillor Bob Foster opposed the sale.
He said one of his concerns is the sale could reduce access to the Fergus Curling Club, which is on the next street to the north.
He said if the tire company can change its parking lot, access to the curling club will be compromised.
But Foster was particularly unhappy about the sale being for a “nominal $2.”
The land, 15- by 5-feet is on the north east side of the tire company’s land. Foster said it just seems to him that if he wanted to buy that much land from a neighbour, it would cost him a lot more than just $2.
Township solicitor Sarah Jacobs said the company has been paying a nominal fee to use the land for for storing vehicles and tires. It asked the township if it could acquire the land rather than lease it.
Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj said in an interview after the meeting that the company is taking on the responsibilities for any pollution on the site, as well as legal costs, and that the final costs could run as high as $6,000.
She said council considered it a bargain to have someone else handle those costs, and that was why the fee for the land was nominal.
