Guelph-Eramosa council has offered its blessing of a minor land swap with neighbouring Centre Wellington Township.
The proposal involves two triangular pieces of land that were cut off from the township in which they were historically located by a 1998 realignment of Wellington Road 22 at Jones Baseline.
“It makes some sense to adjust this boundary,” county planning director Gary Cousins told council on Aug. 12.
The land involved totals about 2.6 hectares (6.5 acres), with all the lands to be annexed currently vacant and owned by the county, with the exception of local road allowances.
A 2.0 hectare (4.93 acre) property currently in Guelph-Eramosa will become part of Centre Wellington and a 0.63 hectare (1.56 acre) property will go the other way.
Cousins said county staff have spoken with immediate neighbours and have also contacted First nations groups and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing about the move.
He explained the county approved the land swap in June and now both Guelph-Eramosa and Centre Wellington have to offer their approval.
Once all parties are in agreement, the county will send the proposal to the province, which has to approve the boundary alterations. Cousins said he expects provincial approval “by early next year.”
Councillor Doug Breen said it is “hard to imagine why anyone would care” about the land swap. Indeed, no one at the Aug. 12 public meeting offered any comments on the land swap.
Guelph-Eramosa council then offered its support of the proposal.
Centre Wellington to grow
No members of the public attended Centre Wellington’s meeting on Aug. 12 regarding the proposed boundary adjustment between Centre Wellington and Guelph-Eramosa.
Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj assured her council that this issue “has been in legal wrangling for a long time. It’s nice to see it is all lining up and coming to gether.”
Wellington County Engineer Gord Ough called the meeting “one more step in the process.”
Ough described to councillors how the changes would affect the municipality.
He pointed to the road realignment which cleaned up two 90 degree bends in the road.
He noted there are no buildings on the affected land.
The lands to be annexed are vacant and owned by Wellington County – except for local road allowances.
“It’s taken some time to sort out. We’re looking for a conclusion of this.”
Councillor Fred Morris noted earlier correspondence which anticipated a resolution of the issue by June so that it could be implemented by 2014.
He asked whether this later approval would affect that.
Ough agreed that June 1 would have been ideal, “it depends how quickly this moves through government offices.”
He said there had been some concern that if this was not dealt with by Jan. 1, 2014, whether it could be done that close to an election.
“If that is the roadblock, it will just happen a year later.”
He also clarified that all the land being annexed is currently county-owned.
There is no property changing hands right now, Ough said. The lands were purchased by the county to make the realignment happen.
With Centre Wellington’s endorsement, and approvals by Guelph-Eramosa and Wellington County, the proposal will be forwarded to the province for final approval.
Ross-Zuj added, “this has been a very long process and it is nice to see we are getting near the end.”
