Councillor pleads to keep biz in city [Sudbury industrial parks upgrades] – by Mike Whitehouse (Sudbury Star – March 23, 2012)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

The city should borrow up to $60 million to carry out its industrial lands strategy, Ward 8 Coun. Fabio Belli says.

Addressing a group of irate businessmen in the Elisabella Street industrial area of New Sudbury, Belli said every possible solution should be on the table for the city to help local businesses expand and create jobs — including going into debt.

The group of a dozen irate property owners along Elisabella had gathered to mull a 50-50 cost-sharing proposal for improving services that would see many of them going into debt themselves.

The Elisabella and Lasalle Boulevard area is the first of seven industrial areas the city plans to upgrade, banking on growth in the construction and mining supply and service sectors. The area has more than 450 acres of land zoned M3, of which 250 acres are vacant.

Rob Brouillette, general manager of City Welding, called the meeting to make the case the city isn’t taking the concerns of Sudbury’s business community seriously.

The problem is poor water pressure from city pipes. Though Elisabella has water and sewer, the fire hydrants have virtually no fire flow. The city will not issue building permits for businesses on the street until ser vices are upgraded.

Virtually every business on the street is consider ing expanding, but all are stymied by poor city services.

The family-run City Welding, founded by Brouillette’s father, Georges, 36 years ago, employs 46 people. But business has been so good, the company needs to expand space, equipment and employees, Brouillette said.

Since 1974, City Welding has been paying property taxes — $180,000 last year — for services it does not get. The sewer system is continually clogged and is almost certainly broken, he said. If his building caught fire, there’s no chance the city could extinguish it. And neighbouring businesses routinely plow roads and clear ditches because the city is tardy in doing it.

Yet they pay the same taxes as businesses in a modern industrial park, he said.

The city estimates it will cost $8.5 million to bring these services up to modern standard. Minus provincial grants, the business owners’ 50% share comes to about $3.5 million. For Brouillette, that means $385,000 to be paid over five years, and all he’ll get in return is the level of service he’s been paying for for 36 years.

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