The Town of Smiths Falls has renewed its exclusivity agreement to submit a redevelopment proposal for the former water treatment plant with Saumure Group of Companies.
This comes after council voted to demolish what was left after the fire and start anew.
Councilor Chris McGuire failed to see the benefits of tying them to a developer at this stage.
The two sides have a long-standing working relationship on many projects and had entered a Memorandum of Understanding prior to last year’s fire for redevelopment.
Extending the agreement until the end of 2024 is the right thing to do in the mind of Mayor Shawn Pankow.
Staff say it’ll take between nine months and a year before the property can actually be demolished.
Story by Grant Deme