Report to/Rapport au :

Council / Conseil

17 August 2011 / le 17 août 2011

Submitted by/Soumis par : Kent Kirkpatrick, President and CEO, Manotick Mill Quarter Community Development Corporation

Contact Person/Personne ressource : Gordon MacNair, Secretary and COO, Manotick Mill Quarter Community Development Corporation

Rideau-Goulbourn (21)

Ref N°: ACS2011-CMR-REP-0023

SUBJECT:	MANOTICK MILL QUARTER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION - 2010 ANNUAL REPORT
OBJET :	Société d’aménagement communautaire du quartier du moulin de Manotick – rapport annuel de 2010

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

That Council:

1. Receive the financial statements of the Manotick Mill Quarter Community Development Corporation (MMQCDC) as set out in Document 1, and as prepared by Ernst and Young;

2. Approve the recommendation of the Chair of the Board of the Manotick Mill Quarter Community Development Corporation to appoint the person identified in Document 2 representing Watson’s Mill Manotick Inc. (WMMI) as a Non-Council Director of the Board of the Manotick Mill Quarter Community Development Corporation for a term of four years or until his or her successor is appointed.

RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT

Que le Conseil :

1. Reçoive les états financiers de la Société d’aménagement communautaire du quartier du moulin de Manotick (SACQMM), tels que préparés par la firme Ernst and Young et présentés dans le document 1;

2. Approuve la recommandation du président du conseil d’administration de la Société d’aménagement communautaire du quartier du moulin de Manotick relative à la nomination, en tant que président du conseil d’administration de la Société d’aménagement communautaire du quartier du moulin de Manotick qui ne soit pas membre du Conseil municipal, de la personne représentant Watson’s Mill Manotick Inc. (WMMI) et identifiée dans le document 2, pour une période de quatre ans ou jusqu’à la nomination de son successeur.

BACKGROUND

At its meeting on 28 January 2009, City Council approved the use of development corporations on a project by project basis for undertaking City property development initiatives and directed staff to proceed with the incorporation of the Manotick Mill Quarter Corporation (report number ACS2008-COS-RPM-0063). City Council originally approved the acquisition of the Manotick Mill Quarter properties in the Village of Manotick to ensure the preservation and enhancement of the heritage buildings and character of the “Mill Quarter” as set out in the provisions of the Village of Manotick Plan contained in the City of Ottawa’s Official Plan (reference number ACS2007-BTS-RPM-0045). The City acquired a combined land area of 4,056 square metres of land formerly owned by the Rideau Valley (RVCA) as well as 3,792 square metres of land that was in private ownership for a combined land area of 7,848 square metres or 0.78 hectares.

In August 2009, the Letters Patent were issued by the Ontario Ministry of Government Services establishing the Manotick Mill Quarter Community Development Corporation (MMQCDC).

The objectives for which the Corporation is incorporated are:

a) to formalize and maintain Dickinson Square as an open space, primarily for public use, as designated and approved by its owner and for the purpose of:

i. preserving the heritage character of the “Mill Quarter” area in the Village of Manotick; and

ii. providing for enhanced opportunities for heritage and cultural events;

b) to plan, subdivide and develop or redevelop properties within the “Mill Quarter” area in the Village of Manotick, with the consent of their owner(s), for the purposes of preserving and enhancing the character of the Mill Quarter area and the heritage buildings located therein, including:

i. providing opportunities for arts and heritage programming, and community activities; and

ii. accommodating commercial tourist and heritage uses including commercial accommodation, boutiques, galleries, craft and other specialty outlets, museums, restaurants and studios;

c) to improve, beautify and maintain land buildings and structures owned by the City of Ottawa and located within the “Mill Quarter” area in the Village of Manotick, as designated and approved by the City of Ottawa, beyond the standard provided at the expense of the City of Ottawa generally;

d) to promote the “Mill Quarter” area in the Village of Manotick and other areas adjacent thereto, and to undertake community improvement thereof;

e) to acquire, hold, sell, lease or dispose of land within or adjacent to the “Mill Quarter” area in the Village of Manotick for the purposes set out in paragraph a), b), c), d) above;

f) to clear, grade, service or otherwise prepare the land and properties of the corporation for the purposes set out in paragraphs a), b), c) and d) above;

g) for the purposes set out in paragraphs a), b), c) and d) above, to construct, operate, maintain, own and/or provide (including ownership of land related thereto):

i. facilities for amusement or for conventions and visitors’ bureaus;

ii. culture and heritage systems.

The establishment of the MMQCDC was based on the requirement that the Corporation has become financially self-sustaining by generating revenues by the selling or leasing of properties transferred into the Corporation. By acquiring the subject parcels, the city has incurred expenditures totalling $2,440,000 and the MMQCDC is responsible for repaying the City for those expenditures within two years of the properties being transferred by the City to the Corporation. In that regard, there are certain directives and conditions pertaining to the transfer of the properties to the Corporation that must be met by the Corporation, which include:

· repaying the City for all costs associated with the acquisition and holding of the properties by creating appropriate sales revenues or prepaid long-term property lease;

· entering into a heritage easement agreement(s) for the designated heritage buildings and the related public spaces that define Dickinson Square, which will protect these spaces for public events prior to the sale or lease of any of these properties;

· pursuing the potential for economic viability for generating electrical power at Watson’s Mill.

As part of the approved MMQCDC Business Case Study, organizational direction was given to undertake, within two years of the date the corporation is incorporated (24 August 2009), an evaluation and review of the corporation’s operations with respect to:

a) the usefulness and continued provision by the City of financial or other assistance to the corporation; and

b) the possible winding-up of the corporation.

This Annual Report serves to provide context for the evaluation and review of the Corporation’s activities and progress and serves to demonstrate that the MMQCDC provides a valid purpose for the City of Ottawa and should continue to be supported by the City of Ottawa. As noted in this report, MMQCDC has completed a number of tasks in 2010 and has identified several new tasks to be completed in 2011 that will reposition the subject properties from both a planning and real estate market perspective.

2010 RESULTS

The focus for the MMQCDC in 2010 was to continue to show progress in achieving its objectives by advancing the planning process required to position the properties for eventual sale. Implementation of this planning process will enable the MMQCDC to repay the City the funds used to purchase the properties ($2.4 million) and to ensure a compatible use of the properties with the tourism and cultural policies of the Manotick Village Plan.

The following is a status update of MMQCDC activities:

Property and buildings

• Sanitary sewer servicing completed.
• Ayers House:
• Lease renewed for Ayer’s Building by Rural Ottawa South Support Services (ROSSS) on a month-to-month basis.
• ROSSS has indicated a desire to retain its operations in the Ayers Building for an additional five years for stability unless a suitable alternative accommodation can be found in the Manotick Area.
• Dickinson House and Carriage Shed
• License of Occupation renewed in February 2011 for use of Carriage House and Dickinson House by Watson’s Mill Manotick Inc. (WMMI) until 31 December 2011, which provides the ability for Rideau Township Historical Society (RTHS) programming.
• Inquiries have been made with both WMMI and RTHS on their interest in the continued use of these properties and business plans for either leasing space or purchasing these properties.
• Clapp and Weaver House – currently vacant
• A building condition audit has been ordered for the Weaver house to determine its suitability for future sale.
• Individual Community stakeholders have also provided the City with their priorities for building use for consideration but no supporting business plans have been submitted to date that the MMQCDC can take into consideration as part of its planning process.

Heritage Easements

• Initiated process for establishing Heritage Easements and formalizing Dickinson Square.
• On-site visit held with heritage staff.
• Meetings held with heritage and legal staff.
• Moving forward with draft heritage agreement with provisions that will protect the use of the public components of Dickinson Square for cultural and heritage events.
• Future Activities:
• Identify and protect outdoor areas on properties for Dickinson Square events (e.g. Dickinson Days, Shakespeare in the Park).
• Proactively identify opportunities for future development on the subject properties that meet tourism and cultural policies of the Manotick Village Plan.

Water Rights

• The City has formally applied to Parks Canada to transfer the water rights from the RVCA to the City of Ottawa.
• Parks Canada is preparing the appropriate documentation and agreements to issue an Order in Council to renew the lease in the City’s name.
• A second Order in Council will be required to amend the lease to permit water power generation once the existing lease has been transferred.

BUSINESS PLAN

In 2011, the MMQCDC will initiate the process to position the City-owned assets so that a viable business opportunity can be realized to meet the mandate and objectives for the MMQCDC. As part of this process, staff has been contacting community stakeholders who have indicated interest in the use of City properties, to encourage them to submit their own business plans for MMQCDC consideration. MMQCDC has indicated that it would like to receive these business plans by the end of the third quarter of 2011. A review of the community stakeholder business plans will allow the MMQCDC to determine if there are viable options for meeting the mandate of the MMQCDC. To date, the MMQCDC has:

• initiated inquiries with current stakeholders on status of new plans or updates for use of buildings including:
• Watson’s Mill Manotick Inc. (WMMI)
• Rural Ottawa South Support Services (ROSSS)
• Rideau Township Historical Society (RTHS)
• Dickinson Square Heritage management Inc. (DSHMI)
• developed an events listing inventory to assist in establishing criteria for formalizing Dickinson Square;
• established a draft Work Plan Schedule to produce a Business Plan, in accordance with the MMQCDC mandate and objectives.

Going forward in 2011, MMQCDC will address planning and environmental constraints in order to better position the properties for sale and to meet good planning and revenue objectives.

In addition, the MMQCDC, in establishing an attractive market opportunity, will need to establish a stakeholder consultation or information exchange process at key project milestones. This will be done as it advances its heritage easement strategy, development and business plan options and supporting planning and environmental applications. Approval for stakeholder consultation will be also required from the Board once it has reviewed development options and a course of action the Board wishes to pursue in meeting the Corporation’s objectives.

From a revenue and cost management perspective, the MMQCDC will consider the sale of City-owned properties within Dickinson Square as a single combined development and ownership opportunity. For this to occur, the open space components of the properties need to be appropriately protected for the continued use of community events and the real estate opportunity needs to be clearly defined to provide market certainty and value maximization for the Corporation. For this reason, there will be no revenues to be realized until a real estate opportunity is positioned in accordance with appropriate heritage easements zoning, consultation and other planning issues are addressed. The objective is to establish an attractive market opportunity that will complement the cultural and tourism function of Dickinson Square.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The 2010 audited financial statements, prepared by Ernst and Young, consolidate financial information relating to the Corporation’s activities. There was no financial activity to report on in 2010. The financial statements were approved by the Board at its meeting of 18 July 2011 and are attached as Document 1.

APPOINTMENTS TO THE BOARDS OF DIRECTORS

In 2010, a Director from the MMQCDC Board representing Watson’s Mill Manotick Inc. resigned. WMMI, at its Board Meeting dated 29 April 2010 voted in favour of Gerry Reasbeck (Vice-President) to be appointed as WMMI’s Non-Council Director on the MMQCDC (Document 2).

The MMQCDC Board, at its Annual General meeting dated 21 April 2011, supported the nomination and recommended that Gerald Reasbeck be appointed as WMMI’s Non-Council Director on MMQCDC and that this item be considered at the next Annual General Meeting. In accordance with the terms of Section 3.01 of the MMQCDC By-law (By-law #1), the composition of the Board will consist of a minimum of five (5) City Council Directors, the City Manager, one (1) individual from Watson’s Mill Manotick Inc. and one (1) individual from Dickinson Square Heritage Management Inc.

City Council appoints all Directors to the Board and any vacancies can only be filled at an annual meeting of voting members. In doing so, the City considers candidates recommended by the Board of the MMQCDC but is not obliged to select these candidates.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Document 1 – Audited Financial Statements of Manotick Mill Quarter Community Development Corporation.

Document 2 – Recommended WMMI appointment to the Board of the Manotick Mill Quarter Community Development Corporation.

Document 1

Document 2