Township council held a special July 14 session to deal with two time-sensitive items that could not be held over for the summer break. One of the items concerned approval of a pre-servicing agreement with Habitations Robert Inc., a development firm based in Saint-Lazare, Québec, that has a large residential development project planned for the Farmers Avenue area in Vankleek Hill.
The pre-servicing agreement will allow the developer to go ahead now with some of the summer construction work for Phase One of the project. The priority work involves installing underground utilities and starting construction on the stormwater management pond for the subdivision. Getting this work done now rather than waiting until later in fall means all the underground utilities are in place before the winter.
The developer will pay a $1000 fee for the pre-servicing agreement and also provide a deposit guarantee of $98,646.76 to the township. This money represents five per cent of the value of the development work. The developer will also be responsible for all legal fees and registration of the agreement with the Ontario Land Titles Office.
One condition of the pre-servicing agreement is that main access to the subdivision site for construction is by Farmers Avenue. The developer can apply to the township for limited access by other routes for delivery of equipment and materials but must wait for the municipal approval first. The developer is not allowed to use Higginson Street, Stanley Street or Home Avenue as routes for hauling away aggregate or any debris from the development site.
