Clearview Township Concerned with Collingwood Airport Sale
Clearview Township upset over evaluation process and scoring of bids
Clearview Township has concerns over the sale of the Collingwood Airport. The Town of Collingwood announced earlier this month they struck a deal to sell their airport to Winterland Developments LTD for $4.1 million. It was the highest of three bids submitted. One of the other bids came from Clearview Township.
Clearview Township Mayor Christopher Vanderkruys confirmed Monday night that their bid was for $3.5 million. Vanderkruys called it “competitive.” In a statement, Vanderkruys says Clearview Township has concerns related to the evaluation process and scoring of the submitted bids.
Clearview Mayor says Collingwood has been silent on sale
Vanderkruys says they haven’t even heard from Collingwood since the sale and it was Clearview Township’s understanding that keeping the facility in public ownership would have resulted in favourable scoring. He says they have not received any kind of clarification or communication related to the sale of the airport
“The Township’s understanding was that keeping the facility in public ownership would have resulted in favourable scoring.”
He says at this point, Clearview has not received any clarification or communication from Collingwood in relation to the sale. We know very little about Winterland Developments LTD, except that Winterland is the same company who wanted to buy 7.5 acres of land at the airport back in 2013 but pulled out of that deal in May of 2014.
Clearview speak with new owners
Vanderkruys has however been in contact with the company. “In my opinion, Winterland Developments LTD understands the importance of the regional airport as a key economic driver for our region.”
“It has been encouraging to see the excitement and professionalism of Winterland Developments LTD around the future operations of the regional airport. I have shared my views around the importance of the airport for both Clearview Township and for the County of Simcoe as a whole.
Deal closes September 25th.
The Town of Collingwood put out a Request for Offer (RFO) back in June to sell or lease the airport – which sits on 392 acres of land in Clearview Township. Until recently, both Clearview Township and Wasaga Beach financially supported the Airport.
Wasaga Beach Mayor Brian Smith said at the time they pulled out because the Town of Collingwood opted to sell the airport instead of jumping on board with the development of a business park adjacent to the airport.
