Summit Energy appellant could face civil lawsuit
19 hours ago
Smiths Falls Record News
By Stacey Roy
Chris Saumure, spokesperson for Tweed Hershey Drive Inc. said he wouldn't rule out launching a civil lawsuit against Mark Greer after an OMB Appeal process has caused Summit Energy to pull its interest out of Smiths Falls.
Saumure said the loss of Summit Energy in the former Hershey Plant has impacted other plans for the facility, costing him millions of dollars.
"I'm not opposed to recouping some of that," Saumure told the Record News.
Mark Greer of Montague formally submitted the OMB Appeal Dec. 31, 2015 on behalf of his parents who live near the plant and several other individuals in town who financially contributed to the submission.
"I'm not here alone doing this," Greer added of the potential lawsuit. "I don't know what to say on that. I didn't want to cause this much of a ruckus, but I think we've opened up something bigger than we thought."
Greer encourages anyone who is passionate about this project to write a letter to the editor of this newspaper expressing their opinions. The petition is currently on hold until the direction of the appeal is known.
This newspaper called multiple legal agencies to verify legal ramifications (i.e: counter suing), including the Ontario Municipal Board and the Ombudsman office in Toronto, but none were willing to comment.
Saumure's countersuit would be based on his position that the appeal has no planning merit. He said he is upset that Greer has refused to sit down with him and town staff to resolve the issues.
When asked Jan. 15 if he would consider a meeting with Saumure and the town, Greer replied: "I don't know. I'm not going to drop the appeal."
The next step for Saumure is to hire a lawyer and experts if needed to have this appeal overturned at the earliest possible opportunity.
“We will earnestly and quickly seek an OMB dismissal," Saumure added. "This appeal is saying the MOECC doesn't know how to do their job."
Greer disagrees, pointing to the first paragraph in his appeal documentation that speaks to the switch-ups throughout the process. Specifically, the decision to move the re-zoning from one area (the peanut plant) of the plant on Nov. 17's public meeting to the entire building at the Dec. 15 approval. However, Nov. 17's zoning report from town staff noted the proposed change would impact "this property only". At the same time, the addition of ABS and PVC melting was formally added into the list of approved plastics.
"One of the biggest grave concerns that I've heard from everybody is why can't we know the process," Greer added of Saumure's statement of potentially filing a suit. "He's basically saying we don't have freedom of speech."
Greer said he feels if Saumure had come out and made his vision for the plant facility known in broad terms, residents would have understood the sudden need to re-zone the entire building and may not have been as concerned about the process.
Saumure said his company has made a mistake in going through the re-zoning process for this project as it put the public process in the wrong place without the benefit of experts.
"I have no problem with public input that would come in the Environmental Assessment process," Saumure said.
These developments have meant the potential loss of 18 jobs in phase one of Summit Energy's plans and the continued vacancy in 60,000 square feet of the peanut plant. Despite Summit Energy's plans to move on, Saumure continues to be interested in the benefits of such a facility coming into the plant. Currently, there is 360,000 square feet left to fill.
"I think this is the way of the future," he added. "It's time to fill that space up."
The fallout from the OMB Appeal has left Saumure so distraught he has resigned as president of the Smiths Falls and District Chamber of Commerce - a position he has held for some time.
"I can't in clear conscience be a cheerleader for the Town of Smiths Falls," Saumure added. "I feel I'm not competing on a level playing field."
Anne Shropshire, curator at the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario, has accepted the position of chamber president. Saumure will continue to work with the organization as past-president.
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