Development and transportation are two big wins in LaSalle this year.
That's according to Mayor Marc Bondy.
A council member in 2018, he was elected to replace long time Mayor Ken Antaya after he announced his retirement.
He says the $2-million deal that brought the Westport Marina property on Front Rd. near Bouffard Rd. into the town's hands - council didn't have any specific plans for the property when it made the purchase - but Bondy says doing things right always takes time.
"Purchasing the waterfront was huge in 2018, but in politics nothing gets done in one year so you have to go back," he says. "The Todd Ln. project, that was a $7-million deal we did in 2017;big accomplishment and we still have a lot of work to do going forward."
Standing water and several other factors are being worked on with ERCA, but Bondy says at some point the possibilities for the waterfront land could be endless.
"Still going to be two-years before they're shovel ready, but we're talking maybe 1,600 or 1,700 lots available," says Bondy. "That is what we'll be focusing on in the coming year."
LaSalle Mayor Marc Bondy attends Essex County Council on Wednesday December 19. 2018. (Photo by AM800's Gord Bacon)
It's been a little more than a year since LaSalle agreed to pay Transit Windsor $400,000 a year for the next five years.
Bondy tells AM800 News they invested in transit based on modest numbers, and he's proud to see those numbers have been exceeded.
"We thought ridership would be at the lower level of a couple thousand, but we're at 3,500 to 3,700 riders a day, that's huge," he says.
Bondy says the retail pot issue will be officially addressed in the New Year.
He says he can't speak for everybody on council, but he doesn't see how LaSalle could chose to allow stores until more concrete information is release from the provincial government.
The deadline to opt out is January 22, 2019.