The Town of Essex is calling it a milestone moment after officially completing the sale of E.L.K. Energy.
Council received a report during Monday’s meeting to direct where the remaining money will be held.
Following the completion of the sale and repayment of debt, legal fees and transaction costs, the Town expects to receive approximately $21.9-million in net proceeds.
Of that $21.9-million, council had already committed roughly $6.9-million toward priority projects such as the Town Hall expansion, the new Fire Station 3, and the Essex Sports Fields project.
Council has approved the creation of the E.L.K. Legacy Reserve, which will preserve the remaining estimated $15-million as a long-term investment instead of spending it on one-time projects.
Investment income is estimated at about $600,000 annually, with 70 per cent going toward infrastructure renewal through the town’s Asset Management Plan, 10 per cent to new capital projects, and 20 per cent reinvested to grow the fund.
Essex mayor Sherry Bondy says the sale puts the town in an even stronger financial position than expected.
“We actually received more money for E.L.K. than we planned for before. So that means a lot of great news for Town of Essex residents. It means less debt on some major capital projects right now. And it also means a solid financial strategy that will set the Town of Essex up to be very fiscally responsible into the future.”
She says the goal is to make sure the proceeds benefit residents for decades to come.
“We also wanted to spread the money out to different areas of our municipality. So, what better use of capital funds for a fire station. And that’s the fire station for Harrow and Colchester. That area of our municipality is getting some E.L.K. funds. And then we’re also looking to leverage money for the new Essex sports fields, which is something we didn’t have cash for before.”
Bondy says this is a full circle moment.
“Now we have a modern utility ENWIN operating E.L.K. And they’re going to bring E.L.K.... they’re going to improve infrastructure, customer service, reliability. So that is a huge checkbox. And now we’re going to use the money wisely. So it really couldn’t have worked out any better for the Town of Essex.”
The sale concludes a strategic review that began in 2022.
Council approved the sale of E.L.K. Energy to ENWIN Utilities last year, with the transaction officially closing in November.