Bratina and Eisenberger: Piecemeal?

This morning The Hamiltonian received Mayor Eisenberger's thoughts on the Discovery Centre and its lands. Included in the Mayor's reply was his assessment that "By considering options together with the eventual winner of the RFP, we anticipate a better outcome for the entire waterfront precinct than if we were to consider the property’s future in isolation." See the full article by clicking here for additional context.

In response, Member of Parliament and former Mayor of Hamilton, Bob Bratina, had the following to say:

Meaningful plans for the West Harbour precinct would have to take into account the railway yard. This important piece of transportation infrastructure has been misunderstood and generally ignored by previous mayors and councils. The head of economic development for example stated during the Amazon discussion that Hamilton goods movement was tri-modal: air, port and highway. The harbour waterfront is too important to be developed in the current piecemeal manner. Perhaps an international competition could be created to present a new co-ordinated vision for all the lands between the Desjardins and Burlington Canals. There is no immediate need to deal in a permanent way with the site in question, especially in isolation from other areas of that neighbourhood.

With Mayor Eisenberger: On the Discovery Centre and its Lands

Mayor Fred Eisenberger

Recently, The Hamiltonian had a chat with Member of Parliament and former Mayor of Hamilton, Bob Bratina, about his views on the Discovery Centre and its lands. You can read our chat by clicking here.

We checked in with Mayor Fred Eisenberger on this same topic. Here is our chat with the Mayor:

1. Recently, M.P. Bob Bratina shared his views with The Hamiltonian on the Discovery Centre and its lands. These can be found here: http://www.thehamiltonian.net/2018/03/with-mp-bratina-on-discovery-centre-and.html Mr. Bratina believes that the Discovery Centre project was allowed to fail by the previous federal government, and has been mismanaged by the Hamilton Waterfront Trust. What are your thoughts in this regard?

The role of the Waterfront Trust is evolving, in part because of the change in ownership of the Discovery Centre, which was formerly owned by the Federal Government and is now owned by the City.

In addition, Council is now undertaking a review of the governance of the Waterfront Trust with a view to possibly modernizing it. This review will come to Council for consideration sometime this spring.

2. What are your views on keeping these lands public and protected from residential development? Where do things stand in that regard?

On January 24, Council directed staff to explore the merits of appending the Hamilton Waterfront Trust Centre and a portion of its surrounding lands to the Pier 8 RFP and Subject Lands and to report back with a recommendation.

To that end, City staff will be recommending to Council that the Successful Proponent of the RFP process be granted an exclusive and time-limited Right of First Negotiation for the purchase of the building and a portion of the surrounding lands.

Staff intend to deliver this recommendation to Council in mid-June and will coincide with its recommended Preferred Proponent following the evaluation of RFP Proposals.

It is intended that the Right of First Negotiation, including any related terms and conditions, as well as a precise description of the additional lands, shall be negotiated and incorporated into the final Development Agreement between the City and the Successful Proponent.

No formal decisions have been made at this point.

3. What efforts have been made, or are planned to ensure that all stakeholders, including elected politicians are consulted on the future of this project and its lands?

There have been and will continue to extensive consultations with all stakeholders. No decisions have been made so far and Council will have an opportunity to discuss any changes that are being contemplated.

4. Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about concerning this matter?

There are still many outstanding issues that will need to be addressed before any specific course of action regarding this particular property is confirmed. By considering options together with the eventual winner of the RFP, we anticipate a better outcome for the entire waterfront precinct than if we were to consider the property’s future in isolation.