The proposed site for the Beaver Barracks has been found to be contaminated.
A disagreement has delayed the sale of the property owned by the city at 424 Metcalfe St. to a nonprofit housing corporation.
The land, better known as Beaver Barracks, is contaminated with old pipes and other leftover waste, and the interpretation of who is responsible to clean up the site has delayed the sale of the
property until Nov. 26.
The city will determine where it can provide funding support after it receives a revised budget from the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation, an organization that deals with low-income and
sustainable housing. The CCOC plans to buy the vacant property from the city for one dollar andturn it into 140 units of low-income residences.
Russell Mawby, the city’s housing director, says Ottawa has a legal obligation to ensure the site is clean enough to build on.
Because the CCOC wants to dig out a hole in the ground and fill it with concrete, Mawby says there is an issue over who is responsible to pay to remove the soil and dump it.
“It’s never been a secret [the ground is contaminated],” says Catherine Boucher of the CCOC.
“What we understood was that the city’s real estate and property department had set aside money toremediate the site.”
The site has been cleaned up to current environmental standards, says Mawby. He explains the ground isn’t contaminated with chemicals or dangerous materials, but is full of garbage and
debris left over from its previous dwellers. Mawby stresses the soil isn’t dangerous; rather just pricey to remove.
“I think it’s a little disingenuous for the city to say we’ll do the work to decontaminate the soil, so long as you don’t dig,” says Boucher.
The cost to clear out the dirt is estimated at $600,000 which the CCOC doesn’t have, says Boucher.
“We’re a non-profit corporation. We’re not Minto. The money has to come out of the project itself. So either our building is less sustainable or less affordable,” she adds.
Because the units will be low income housing, the city can’t let the CCOC raise the rent prices, says Mawby.
The city and the CCOC are working on the revised budget, which will be presented to the council within the next few weeks, says Mawby.
However, Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson says the city simply doesn’t have the money to cover these costs.
“Right now, we have to find $57 million in cuts,” she says. But she adds she is willing to wait for the revised budget before saying that the city cannot provide funding.
Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes, who proposed the motion to defer the sale, says the city has an obligationto clean up the site.
“We’re squabbling over $600,000, and we’ll be getting that paid back with 50 years of property taxes,” says Holmes.
Boucher says the cost of construction will go up once the ground freezes and as the price of steel continues to climb.
These factors will be included in the resubmitted budget, which Boucher wants to have at councilbefore the end of the month.