The long and winding road to develop the waterfront and create a new downtown in Wasaga Beach has taken another sharp turn at town hall, where it's been decided to allow a letter of intent with Fram Building Group to expire at the end of the month.
Fram had been selected as the preferred developer for the multi-million-dollar project.
“The new council may have a different version than the past council, and we have to make sure we are not supporting something we are not supportive of,” Mayor Nina Bifolchi said.
While council revisits the plan, town staff will open the door to additional developers who might be interested in taking part.
“I fully support more than one developer for beach area one,” Bifolchi said. “I think it will get built faster and it’s less risk for one developer.”
The president of Fram Building Group Ltd., Frank Giannone, has spoken with the mayor about the decision and posted to social media that he looks forward to ‘engaging once again’ over his 'continued interest in working with the town.'
Talks with all potential developers are expected to take place over the next six to eight weeks.
The town CAO, George Vadeboncoeur, says this is the best time to pause before moving forward.
“Basically no agreements had been reached, so there are no consequences to the town either financially or legally.”
The decision to allow the letter of intent to expire will need to be ratified by council, and then town staff will have to come up with another report on the two development options.
