The city is moving forward with a $280 million debt financing plan to pay for infrastructure projects to open up an area of Windsor known as the Sandwich South lands.
The council passed the recommendation from administration Monday in a recorded 10-1 vote with only Ward 1 councillor Fred Francis voting against it.
The Sandwich South Development Capital Works (SSDCW) project consists of five phases of work that focus on road improvements to address increased traffic flow and servicing support, including stormwater management ponds and sewers to allow further growth on the Airport Employment Lands; the construction of the new Fanscy Family Hospital; and the planned extension of Lauzon Parkway to the future Highway 401 interchange.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says it's a 10-plus year plan designed to help Sandwich South grow and to meet all the demands for housing.
"The development charges collected by construction in that area will help pay the debt. We're not using your property tax dollars to pay for this construction. It's coming from the development that's going to happen in that area," he says.
Ward 1 Councillor Fred Francis says his concern is around borrowing to finance the project.
"It is a little bit risky. A lot of this is based on fluctuations in the market, fluctuations in DCs. There is some risk, and for me, I think the risk is a little bit too hot," he says.
The work to address the needs of the project would take place over the next decade, with $238.9 million of the overall price tag being funded through a loan from Infrastructure Ontario and repaid through the development charges once various industrial, commercial, and residential housing projects take shape. The remaining $41.3 million is projected to be funded from various sources outside grants and development charges.
Windsor's Commissioner of Economic Development Jelena Payne told Monday's council meeting that what's at stake is $1.6 billion in potential investment and anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 new jobs in the community once the land is opened for development and housing.
Dilkens says the investment council made will be over a period of 10 years that will then lead to the opening of economic potential in the Sandwich South lands over that time.
"As we run out of development land at the airport property, this land will open up and allow future mayors, city councils, and city administrations to continue to market and sell the region for good employment," he says.
Francis says he has no problem with any of the projects, but he'd be more comfortable with a pay-as-you-go or self-financing plan and do things over a period of 10, 20, or 30 years.
"For me, the risk comes down to not being able to guarantee these costs, the interest costs, don't hit the tax levy," he says.
Dilkens says it's just a matter of time before the Gordie Howe International Bridge opens, and they need to do this work to take advantage of the new border crossing that's been built here.
"That really is having the closest, largest industrial park to the U.S.-Canadian border on the Canadian side. Today's work that council approved actually set the wheels in motion to allow us to get there," he says.
Francis is concerned that we will have a new term of council by the end of this year, and his fear is they will be saddled with a debt they didn't plan for or campaign on.
"The risk further to the residents of the city of Windsor is you have a debt and an interest payment that will be paid by them, potentially their kids and their grandkids, if things don't go exactly the way we want," he says.
To accommodate the City of Windsor's projected growth, the Town of Tecumseh transferred 2,600 hectares (6,424 acres) of land in the former Township of Sandwich South to the City of Windsor in 2002.