OJIBWAY LANDING SITE STILL AWAITING MINISTRY APPROVAL

The Ojibway Landing saga continues to drag on.

The 20-acre waterfront property, located at 111 Robert St. W. at the southwest end of Penetanguishene's Rotary Champlain-Wendat Park, is contaminated. Municipal officials have spent the past decade working with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) to get a clear picture of the work that needs to be done to remediate the site.

On March 8, Mayor Doug Rawson questioned staff about the property after a report was included in the council agenda package.

"This has been a long

journey," said Rawson. "When will we be in a position where we can talk about the use of the property and what it will look like?"

The development of a master plan for the site is currently listed in the town's 2025 capital plan. However, Bryan Murray, the town's director of public works, indicated there may be a chance to move it forward.

"I expect, based on the last set of comments we got from the ministry, that we should be in a better position to bring that forward to 2024 (and discuss it) this fall through our next budget process," said Murray.

The property, located between Robert Street and the Penetanguishene Harbour, served as a landfill until 1966. From 1991 to 2007, the site was used as a campground before being closed due to environmental concerns.

Penetanguishene received funding to begin conducting environmental assessments of the site in 2013.

In 2017, the municipality made the decision to hire EXP Services Inc. to conduct a risk assessment of the property.

In recent years, municipal staff have been working to acquire a record of site condition, a necessary step before any development can take place.

In February, the MECP provided a response to the town regarding the risk assessment for the property. Approximately 33 items remain to be addressed.

EXP Services will be completing two rounds of surface and groundwater testing on the site in late March to confirm results of prior testing.

According to Murray, the town is anticipating to have all the necessary ministry approvals by May 2024.