The bids are in and the town of Collingwood will now negotiate with the top-ranked bidder for the sale of the Collingwood Regional Airport.
After a closed session following last night’s council meeting, council voted to direct staff and the town’s consultant, Ernst and Young, to pursue negotiations.
Mayor Sandra Cooper declared a conflict of interest due to her brother Paul Bonwick’s connection to airport business park developer and did not participate in the closed session or the vote.
The Township of Clearview did plan to submit a bid for the airport, but the bid process was closed and there are no public details on who else submitted a bid or which bit was top-ranked.
Earlier this year, the town’s communications officer, Jennett Mays, confirmed the town is expecting to complete final negotiations and closing by the end of July.
This would complete the airport sale before the close of nominations for the 2018 municipal election and a possible Lame Duck situation, which would prevent council from approving the sale. Lame Duck occurs when less than 75 per cent of council opts to run for reelection. It can also occur after the election if less than 75 per cent of current council members are re-elected. Nominations close July 27, 2018.
The five phases of the airport sale were presented and adopted by council at a meeting Feb. 12, 2018.
At that time, staff reported a consultation with municipal solicitor, Jean Leonard, resulted in a recommendation from Leonard to obtain a specialist for the sale of the airport.
Staff said the complexities of aviation regulations, existing leases, and outstanding infrastructure makes the sale of the airport more complicated and would require expert handling.
Since the Feb. 12 meeting, town staff have been working with a consultant to profile and identify buyers, enhance understanding of the airport and its operations, review background documents, review potential sale impacts, and prepare a request for proposal to inform prospective buyers of the town’s specific requirements.
Council approved a fee of $93,850 quoted by the consultant to undertake this five-phase process. Staff stated in the February report this fee was still significantly less than a customary three per cent commission fee charged by a professional Realtor.
