Winterland Development Inc. was the successful bidder in the sale of the Collingwood Regional Airport in August of 2018, but the sale hasn’t closed yet. The original closing date was set for Sept. 25, 2018. It was pushed back a couple times and now town staff say the sale will close this month (Jan. 2019).
Here’s a look back at the developments related to the sale of the Collingwood Regional Airport in 2018.
Airport for sale
In September, 2017, Collingwood council declared the Collingwood Regional Airport lands as surplus and began the process of selling the airport.
At a council meeting on Feb. 12, council adopted a five-phase approach to selling the airport, and hired a consultant to guide the town through the sale process. The first phases were focused on building a profile to identify buyers, understanding the sale impacts, and preparing a request for proposal to seek out interested buyers.
Once the request for proposal went out, the town received bids from three interested buyers including Winterland Developments, Clearview Township and The Commercial Realty Group.
By June 26, council and the CAO, as well as the team overseeing the airport sale, announced a winning bidder had been selected and negotiations were underway. Council agreed to hire Ernst and Young to pursue negotiations on behalf of the town.
The Integrity Commissioner report
On May 14, 2018, the town's and Simcoe County’s integrity commissioner service, Principles Integrity, submitted a report to council stating Mayor Sandra Cooper contravened the town’s code of conduct by voting on a matter related to the sale of the Collingwood Regional Airport.
The investigation into Cooper’s vote was launched due to a complaint made on March 13 by Steve Berman, who was elected as a councillor in the 2018 municipal election.
The complaint was regarding the vote by council on Feb. 12, 2018 to spend $100,000 on consulting advisory services in the sale of the Collingwood Regional Airport. The vote was recorded and Cooper voted against the motion to hire the consultant for $100,000.
Cooper’s brother, Paul Bonwick, is senior vice-president of operations and business development with the Clearview Aviation Business Park (CABP), which is a development company that sells or leases property for aviation-related business at Collingwood Regional Airport.
The report did not recommend sanctions against Cooper, but did recommend the mayor refrain from further participation on matters related to the airport sale. Cooper did not run again in the municipal election this year, a decision she announced early in 2018.
Winterland selected
On August 2, 2018, the town sent out a press release announcing the airport was being sold to Winterland Developments Inc. for $4.1M, with a closing date of Sept. 25, 2018.
Members of council referred questions from CollingwoodToday to the CAO and communications officer, Jennett Mays. Council passed a motion on July 12, 2018, stating all questions related to the judicial inquiry and other “high-profile matters” be referred to and addressed by the CAO and communications director.
CAO Fareed Amin called the airport sale “sensitive” because it involved a third-party. He said the town had a responsibility to respect the interests of the other party as well as providing as much information as possible to the public.
Chris Vanderkruys, the mayor of Clearview Township at the time said he was concerned with the evaluation process and scoring. He said Clearview submitted a bid for $3.5M. The airport is within the boundaries of Clearview Township.
Amin said Winterland proposed to fulfil the criteria set out in the request for proposal, which includes maintaining the property as a publicly accessible airport for at least 10 years.
“This was the end of a very long, thoughtful – I think – process that resulted in the sale,” said Amin. “I think it was a good transaction. I think we did our best to try and optimize the divestment for the municipality. I think the due diligence done by staff and Ernst and Young was transparent was objective and was above board. And met all the public policy and fiscal criteria so I think it was a good decision.”
The lawsuit
Collingwood Aviation Partners Ltd., owners of Genesis Flight College, filed a civil suit against the Town of Collingwood and Winterland Developments over access to the runway. The lawsuit claims the town and flight college entered an agreement in 2014 that gave the college access to the airport runways 365 days a year in perpetuity. The agreement also stated the terms would be carried over should the airport be sold.
Now, according to the lawsuit, Winterland Developments would like to change the agreement to allow them to cut off access to the runways with 60 days notice. The college is not suing for money, but is instead looking for a judge to uphold the original agreement signed by the college and the town.
Where it stands
CAO Fareed Amin said the airport sale is scheduled to close this month.
CollingwoodToday will continue to follow this story as it develops.
