Councillors want a better plan to reduce debt and to run the Sarnia-Lambton park

Heather Wright/The Independent

The Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park has been put on a short leash.

During Lambton County’s budget meeting Feb. 4, councillors gave the research park one year to come up with a better plan to continue operating without large injections of cash from the taxpayer.

The Research Park works in cooperation with Western University. The Modeland Road facility is an incubator for new companies, often in the biochemical field. Businesses of any kind can rent space in the facility, with the thought that it would allow business leaders to create new ideas with the people around them. For some time, telemarketing centres thrived there. 

But since the pandemic the facility has struggled. In 2020, companies left the building, leaving about 80 per cent of the floor space empty. Over the past five years, the county has contributed $11 million to keep the park operating, including a $5.4 million in loan forgiveness in 2020, operating grants ranging from $400,000 to $642,000 and another grant of $1.35 million in 2024.

In September Research Park officials asked the county to consider a “debt holiday”  consolidating its debt to obtain lower interest payments, then deferral payment of the principal and interest payments for its debt, with county taxpayers picking up the tab.

The board also wanted the county continue to pay the $661,000 in operating funds it normally contributes. County officials estimated it would require a 1.4 per cent tax increase. Politicians panned the plan at the time.

So research park officials came back to council with another plan in January, allow the park to refinance its $17 million debt over 30 years, repay $900,000 given to the organization last year, and receive another grant of $845,000 this year.

Wednesday, councillors initially turned the plan down.

“Some people have this dream we should have this and diversify the economy…it hasn’t worked like that; we’ve beome a property manager,” said Sarnia City/County Councillor Bill Dennis.

Research Park officials, he says, “come back every year with their hands out saying ‘please sir, can I have some more.’ This is not good business.”

Oil Springs Mayor Ian Veen added “There has to be a better solution.”

But Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, who is a member the Research Park’s board of directors, said they have been working on this plan for a year-and-a-half and it is the best option.

Some councillors, including Brooke-Alvinston Mayor David Ferguson, suggested the way the park is run, with a board of directors which includes representation from the county and the City of Sarnia, needs to change. “I would like to have a discussion on changing the governance model to take it to a business model,” he said.

Bradley said the board would look at the structure of the board of directors, however there are only three politicians on it; the warden and deputy warden from Lambton and the mayor of Sarnia.

The Lambton politicians turned down the plan to refinance the organization’s debt. But that, said Bradley, left the research park in a tough spot. “It’s now a cash flow issue…can we continue without money to support us to meet our needs.”

Warwick Mayor Todd Case agreed the research park “still has to be able to fund itself until we come to a conclusion on this.”

So did Dawn-Euphemia Mayor Al Broad; he suggested committing to just one year of funding of $845,000. “Then sit down with this next year and if nothing has changed, there will be some tough decisions at that point.

“I can’t sit here today and say it’s a good deal to invest 30 years into something that’s not working.”

Councillors agreed with the plan.

Katherine Albion, the executive director of the research park, is optimistic that not only will the park continue operating for a year but it will grown. “We’ve got a lot of positive opportunities,” she says. “There are some really good news stories to come out of the park over th next year. So there is still a lot of positive development.”

Albion doesn’t believe the uncertainty caused by the one-year commitment will be an issue. “There’s a lot of uncertainity just in the overall economy right now and that’s impacting business. But we do provide the innovation ecosystem that helps promote businesses to grow and expand.”