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1. CENTRAL CANADA EXHIBITION ASSOCIATION - FORGIVENESS OF
2009 AND 2010 LICENSE FEE FOR LANSDOWNE PARK ASSOCIATION DE L’EXPOSITION
DU CANADA CENTRAL – REMISE DES DROITS DE PERMIS 2009 ET 2010 POUR LE PARC
LANSDOWNE |
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AS AMENDED
That Council approve that the elimination of the 2010
licensing fee payment of $310,000 by the CCEA to the City’s Lansdowne Park
operating budget be funded from the One-time and Unforeseen account.
Recommandation modifÉe DU Comité
Que le Conseil approuve
que l’élimination des droits de permis 2010, d’un montant total de
310 000 $, par l’Association de l’exposition du Canada central
destinés au budget de fonctionnement du projet municipal du parc Lansdowne soit
financé à partir du compte des événements ponctuels imprévus.
DOCUMENTATION
1. Committee Coordinator, City Clerk
Branch report dated 19 April 2010 (ACS2010-CMR-CSE-0017).
2. Extract
of Draft Minute, 1 June 2010.
Report to / Rapport au :
Corporate Services and
Economic Development Committee
Comité des services organistionnels et du dévelopment économique
and Council / et au Conseil
19 April 2010 / le 19 avril 2010
Submitted by / Soumis par : City Council /
Conseil municipal
Contact
/ Personne-ressource : Carole Langford, Committee Coordinator /
Coordonnateur du comité,
City Clerk’s
Branch/Direction du greffe
580-2424, Ext. / poste : 28934,
Carole.Langford@ottawa.ca
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City Wide / À l'échelle de la Ville |
Ref N°: ACS2010-CMR-CSE-0017 |
SUBJECT: CENTRAL CANADA
EXHIBITION association - Forgiveness of 2009 and 2010 License fee for lansdowne
park
OBJET : ASSOCIATION DE L’EXPOSITION DU
CANADA CENTRAL – REMISE DES DROITS DE
PERMIS 2009 ET 2010 POUR LE PARC LANSDOWNE
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the
Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend Council
consider the following recommendations within the context of the Report regarding the sale of
a vacant parcel of City property and other support to the CCEA, as referred by Council at its meeting of 14
April 2010:
1.
That the 2009 License fee of $280,000 to be paid
by the Central Canada Exhibition Association to the city of Ottawa be set
aside, when received, in a dedicated reserve fund to be used to help the
Association offset the costs of relocation to a new site on the condition that
the CCEA allow the City to place a lien (mortgage) on the CCEA’s Rideau/Albion
property to cover the costs of the 2009 License Fee and the costs to the City
of providing water and sewer servicing to the site in the event that the CCEA
ceases to operate; and
2.
That the Treasurer be directed to forgive 2009
License Fee owed to the City of Ottawa by the Central Canada Exhibition
Association (CCEA) as a general revenue when the conditions in Recommendations
1 have been met; and
3.
That the release of funds from the dedicated
reserve to the CCEA be conditional upon the City receiving a viable business
plan as determined by the City Manager; and
4.
That any funds or other support provided to the
CCEA approved by Committee and Council as a result of this report be the last
financial support provided to the CCEA by the City;
5.
That the elimination of the 2010 licensing fee
payment of $310,000 by the CCEA to the City's Lansdowne Park operating budget
be funded from the One-time and Unforeseen account.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité des services organisationnels et
du développement économique recommande au Conseil de tenir compte des
recommandations suivantes dans le cadre du rapport concernant la vente d’une
parcelle de terrain vague faisant partie d’une propriété appartenant à la Ville
et les autres soutiens à l'Association de l'exposition du Canada central
(AECC), tel que le Conseil l’a déféré à sa réunion du
14 avril 2010 :
1.
Que, dès leur réception, les droits de permis 2009 de 280 000 $
que doit payer l’Association de l’Exposition du Canada central (AECC) à la
Ville d’Ottawa soit mis de côté, dans un fonds de réserve spécial qui sera
utilisé pour aider l’Association à compenser les coûts liés à son installation
dans un autre emplacement à condition que l’AECC permette à la Ville de frapper
d’un privilège (une hypothèque) la propriété de l’AECC située à l’intersection
des chemins Rideau et Albion afin de couvrir les coûts liés aux droits de
permis 2009 et ceux que la Ville devra assumer pour la prestation de services
d’eau et d’égout sur le lieu advenant l’arrêt des activités de l’AECC;
2.
Que le trésorier soit enjoint à renoncer à considérer les droits de
permis 2009 dus par l’AECC à la Ville d’Ottawa comme une recette générale une fois
que les conditions énoncées dans la Recommandation 1 auront été satisfaites;
3.
Que le déblocage des fonds venant de la réserve spéciale pour l’AECC
soit conditionnel à ce que la Ville reçoive un plan d’activités que le
directeur municipal jugera réalisable;
4.
Que tout fonds ou tout autre soutien accordé à l’AECC et approuvé par le
Comité et le Conseil municipal à la suite du présent rapport soit le dernier
soutien financier accordé à l’AECC par la Ville;
5. Que
l’élimination du paiement des droits de permis de 2010, d’un montant de 310 000
$, par l’AECC au budget de fonctionnement du parc Lansdowne soit financée à
partir du compte des événements ponctuels imprévus.
BACKGROUND
At the 14 April 2010 meeting of Ottawa City Council, Members of Council discussed the amended recommendations from the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee with respect to forgiving the 2009 and 2010 license fee for Lansdowne Park. After discussion, Council approved the following referral motion:
WHEREAS, on April 6, 2010 the Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee approved, subject to certain amendments to protect the
financial interests of the City and its taxpayers, the City staff Report on the
Central Canada Exhibition Association (“CCEA”) for the forgiveness of the 2009
and 2010 license fee for the use of Lansdowne Park by the CCEA;
AND WHEREAS the Board of Directors of the CCEA has requested the
opportunity to consider the recommendations endorsed by the Corporate Services
and Economic Development Committee;
AND WHEREAS a Report regarding the sale of a vacant parcel of City
property to the CCEA together with a
grant to the CCEA to offset applicable fees for planning applications,
engineering, development charges and building permits to the end of 2015 is
scheduled to come before the Corporate Services and Economic Development
Committee for approval on May 4, 2010;
AND WHEREAS it would be
advantageous to Council to deal with both Reports at the same time in order to
provide a comprehensive review of and recommendation regarding the proposed
financial support to the CCEA going forward;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee Report 53, Item 3,
Central Canada Exhibition Association – Forgiveness of 2009 and 2010 License
Fee for Lansdowne Park be referred to the meeting of the Corporate
Services and Economic Development Committee of May 4, 2010, to be considered within the context of the
Report regarding the sale of a vacant parcel of City property and other support
to the CCEA.
CONSULTATION
This item will be advertised in the local dailies as part of the Public Meeting Advertisement on Friday preceding the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee Meeting.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Document
1 - ACS2010-CMR-REP-0011 - Central Canada Exhibition Association - Forgiveness of 2009 and 2010
License Fee for Lansdowne Park
DISPOSITION
Staff to take appropriate action as directed by the Committee and Council.
Document 1
Report to/Rapport au :
Corporate
Services and Economic Development Committee
Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique
25 February 2010 / le 25 février 2010
Submitted by/Soumis par : Kent Kirkpatrick,
City Manager/Directeur des services municipaux
and Council / et au Conseil
Contact
Person/Personne ressource : Gordon MacNair, Director
Real
Estate Partnerships and Development Office/ directeur, partenariats et développement en
immobilier
(613)
580-2424 x 21217, Gordon.MacNair@ottawa.ca
SUBJECT:
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CENTRAL CANADA EXHIBITION association - Forgiveness of 2009 and
2010 License fee for lansdowne park |
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|
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OBJET :
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ASSOCIATION DE L’EXPOSITION DU CANADA CENTRAL
– REMISE DES DROITS DE
PERMIS 2009 ET 2010 POUR LE PARC LANSDOWNE |
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee recommend Council approve:
1.
That
the 2009 Central Canada Exhibition Association (CCEA) License fee of $280,000
to occupy Lansdowne Park, be forgiven under the condition that the funds are to
be used to offset the cost to relocate the CCEA to an alternate site;
2.
That the elimination of the 2010 licensing
fee payment of $310,000 by the CCEA to the City's Lansdowne Park operating
budget be funded from the One-time and Unforeseen account.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT
Que le
Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique recommande
au Conseil d’approuver :
1. qu’il soit fait remise des droits de
permis 2009, d’un montant de 280 000 $, de l’Association de
l’exposition du Canada central en vue de l’occupation du parc Lansdowne à la
condition que les fonds soient utilisés pour compenser les coûts de
déménagement de l’AECC à un autre emplacement.
2. que l’élimination du paiement des droits
de permis de 2010, d’un montant de 310 000 $, par l’AECC au budget de
fonctionnement du parc Lansdowne soit financée à partir du compte des
événements ponctuels imprévus.
BACKGROUND
In 2002, the CCEA acquired property on Albion Road shown as parts 1 & 2 on Document 1 for the purpose of moving the fair out of Lansdowne Park. In anticipation of the relocation, Council subsequently approved a License Agreement for the use of Lansdowne Park for 2003 and 2004, followed by a number of extensions. The License Agreement was subsequently renewed for 2008 and 2009 with options for three (3) one-year extensions. The City has the right to terminate the License providing notice before May 1st of any given year with vacant possession the following February 1st.
In support of the CCEA’s relocation to the Rideau Road site, Council directed staff (ACS2002-CRS-RPR-0066) on 28 August 2002 to negotiate terms and conditions related to the City’s adjacent site, 23.82 ha shown as part 3 on Document 1 with the CCEA subject to a number of principles, including:
- providing the use of Lansdowne Park for its final year of operation at no cost to the CCEA;
- declaring the adjacent City-owned land surplus for sale to the CCEA;
- providing a grant for the market value of the property to be paid to the CCEA over a five (5) year period;
- providing a $600,000 contribution toward the provision of sanitary and water services;
- the provision of off-setting grants for planning applications, engineering, development charges and building permits;
- the City to deal with any environmental issues;
- and the provision of transit services to the site during the operation of the fair.
Since the Albion and Rideau property is located outside of the urban boundary, it was necessary to amend the Official Plan to allow the extension of a watermain to the site. As a condition of approving the Official Plan Amendment on 18 December 2002, Council directed that, subject to the CCEA relocating to Albion Road that laterals from the CCEA’s watermain be extended to the lot line of twelve specified properties on Albion and Rideau Roads at no cost to the property owners. An account in the amount of $200,000 has been set aside for this work.
Until 2002, a portion of the Albion and Rideau property was used for landfill purposes. The Environmental Protection Act requires that approval is required from the Minister of the Environment to use landfill property within a 25 year period after the landfill is closed.
An application is pending with the Minister of the Environment to use the former landfill footprint area for parking for the proposed CCEA use.
In order to service its site, the Rideau Carleton Raceway entered into an agreement to have Urbandale Corporation construct a private sanitary sewer from the Raceway’s property on Albion Road, then westerly along High Road and Earl Armstrong Road where it outlets into the Riverside South public sewer system. The design of this trunk sewer was oversized to provide capacity for the CCEA site. The City has released $600,000 towards part of the CCEA’s proportionate share of the sewer construction costs.
The Agreement of Purchase and Sale for the surplus 23.6 hectare parcel of City land adjacent to the CCEA’s property was presented to the CCEA on 4 September 2009. It is currently being negotiated with the CCEA to clarify the terms of the agreement and will be submitted to Council for approval prior to its execution.
DISCUSSION
The Lansdowne Partnership Plan (LPP) requires the CCEA to examine its relocation plan and timetable. Council approved, on 16 November 2009 (AC2009-CMR-OCM-0009), the LPP Implementation Plan which requires the CCEA to relocate by 2011. Within the implementation plan is a budget to cover the due diligence to complete Phase I of the LPP Agreement. A budget allowance of $25,000 for professional fees was identified to assist towards the relocation of the CCEA.
Given the proposed LPP development schedule, City staff met between the period of November 2009 to January 2010 with CCEA Board members, staff and their consultant to discuss the relocation to the Albion and Rideau Road site, or to any other site that could accommodate the CCEA requirements. To help facilitate the relocation in a timely manner, internal engineering, architectural, planning and real estate expertise was made available to the CCEA. City staff drafted an outline of requirements for site plan application and the development approval process to help guide the CCEA. This included the engagement of an outside engineering firm to explore servicing costs for the CCEA site. The outcome of the meetings, and follow-up telephone discussions and correspondence, revealed that to complete the necessary studies and plans for a site plan submission the CCEA would have to invest several hundred thousand dollars in professional consulting services.
The CCEA is a non-profit organization and, apart from its land holding of approximately 56 hectares, has no substantial assets. The cash reserves on hand essentially cover the outstanding 2009 License fee owed to the City, and approximately $200,000 to support the 2010 fair operating obligations. The CCEA does not have on hand the seed funds to invest in the planning for the relocation process.
Subsequent to a meeting with staff on 15 January 2010, the CCEA wrote to the Director of Real Estate Partnerships and Development Office requesting four items. The first was to forgive the 2009 License fee with the understanding that the funds were to be spent solely on relocation expenses. The second request dealt with clarifying the process on how the $25,000 allotted for relocation under the LPP can be accessed.
The third request is administrative and dealt with concerns of the CCEA with clauses in the land sale agreement. The fourth item deals with waiving of the 2010 rent and the CCEA recognizes that 2010 is the final year at Lansdowne Park for the Fair and is seeking confirmation of the last day of occupancy.
The authority to forgive the outstanding License fee for 2009 rests with Council. The current tenancy arrangement with the CCEA is under a License Agreement entered in 2008 for two years with three (3) one-year extensions. The agreement provides for a total License fee of $375,000 annually, starting with a baseline contribution of $250,000 paid by the CCEA in 2008 accompanied by a contribution from City Wide Reserves of $125,000. Thereafter, the contribution from reserves was to decline annually and would be offset by a corresponding increase to the payment made directly by the CCEA. The 2009 payment schedule (inclusive of GST) is a baseline contribution of $280,000 and a contribution from City Wide Reserves of $95,000.
Therefore, the total amount of direct financial relief being sought by the CCEA is $280,000. This is over and above the financial assistance the City has already agreed to provide. As well, in accordance with Council direction of 28 August 2002, the final year of operation of the Exhibition at Lansdowne Park, will be at no cost to the CCEA. The official Notice of Termination will be given before 1 May 2010 with the CCEA vacating the property in early 2011. The final year of operation for the CCEA SuperEx at Lansdowne Park will be 2010 and will be rent free resulting in a budget pressure of $310,000 to Lansdowne Park’s operating accounts.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no environmental implications related to the recommendation.
CONSULTATION
This is an administrative matter and therefore, no public consultation was undertaken.
COMMENT BY
WARD COUNCILLOR
Councillor Thompson fully supports the waiver of the rent by the City to the CCEA for 2009.
LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
There are no
significant legal or risk management implications associated with this report.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Since Council approval of the Licensing Agreement with the Central Canada Exhibition Association (CCEA) in 2002, the City has provided financial support in the form of grants and sponsorship totalling $1.035 million which covers the period from 2003 to 2010.
In addition, Council has provided a $600,000 capital contribution towards the provision of sanitary and water services to the new Albion Road location.
The CCEA has requested that the City forgive the 2009 Licensing Fee of $280,000. This amount has already been billed and included in the City's 2009 year-end financials. Therefore, should Committee and Council approve this request; it would be recommended that this amount be written off against the City's Allowance for Doubtful Accounts. This account has an annual allocation of $500,000.
The 2002 Agreement with the CCEA also contains a provision that the final year of operation of the Exhibition at Lansdowne Park, would be at no cost to the CCEA. The staff report states that the City will be notifying the CCEA by 1 May 2010 that this will be the last year of operation for the Exhibition at the Lansdowne site. The license fee for CCEA in 2010 is $375,000 but the City is in the 6th year of a 7 year grant program that reduced the cost to CCEA for the license fee. The 2010 grant is $65,000 and funding for this was included in a report to the Audit Budget and Finance Committee on 16 February 2010. The City's 2010 budget has been developed under the assumption that the CCEA would be making the residual Licensing Fee payment to the City of $310,000. The elimination of the 2010 fee would result in a funding shortfall within the Lansdowne Park operating budget. It is recommended that this shortfall be funded from the City's One-time and Unforeseen account. This account has approximately $1.6 million remaining in it at the time of this report.
Should Committee and Council approve the request to forgive the 2009 Licensing Fee, the total financial support to the CCEA including the elimination of the 2010 fee and the capital contribution would be approximately $2.225 million.
In addition, the agreement with the CCEA also includes a provision that will require the City to provide off-setting grants for future planning applications, engineering, development charges and building permits, along with the provision of transit services to the site during the operation of the fair. The specific amounts will be identified in future reports to Committee and Council.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Document 1 – Sketch outlining CCEA and City property
DISPOSITION
Following Council’s approval the Real Estate Partnerships and Development Office (REPDO) will confirm in writing to the CCEA the status of the 2009 License Fee payment.
REPDO will provide official notice to the CCEA confirming that 2010 will be the last year for the Fair at Lansdowne Park.
DOCUMENT 1
