A local property owner and developer is threatening to stop investing in the city after seeing the fees for his stormwater bills.
Joe Mikhail, Director of Mikhail Holdings, says businesses can't survive in the city while having to pay these extremely high bills, and that many - including himself - will move their businesses into Essex County, or even the United States.
Mikhail says property he owns such as Landmark Cinemas and his pharmaceutical plant - Pancap Pharma Inc. - is facing the most issues. He adds he wanted to expand on the pharmaceutical plant located in the 2600 block of Howard Avenue, but says he's already put the property up for sale and refuses to expand due to these costs.
The new stormwater financing plan, which went into effect at the beginning of the year, sees properties with more impervious surfaces, such as paved parking lots, paying more due to the amount of water that ends up in the stormwater system.
He says businesses can't afford this.
"I can tell you that a business owner who uses water, and pays $15 a month in water usage, and pays $500 a month in stormwater and management fees will not survive in the City of Windsor."
Mikhail says the city isn't doing enough.
"It's been a disaster and not thought out. I've fought them over and over again, but nobody seems to want to talk to the individuals - like myself who has close to 2-million-square-feet of businesses in the city - that contributes to a majority of these costs."
He says he wanted to expand his pharmaceutical plant - the first plant to manufacture prescription drugs in Windsor-Essex.
"And what's going on with the tariffs, and what's going on all across, this is a diversification of our economy, and we should be not battling with the city, but working with the city. And what I'm seeing here just disgusts me, and I don't want to be part of it anymore."
Mikhail says in terms of the pharmaceutical plant, he will be moving outside of Windsor - either to the Michigan or to somewhere else in Essex County.
To address overpayments, the city stated during the meeting at the end of April that they will offer retroactive rebates to eligible residential customers, ensuring they pay less than in 2024.