Follow-Up to the Township Building Leased to Brasserie Étienne Brulée

Office of the Mayor — January 27, 2022

Dear Residents,

In my statement on the Sale of the Building Currently Leased to Brasserie Étienne Brûlé on January 25th, 2022, I stated, "even offering to trade the building for a portion of the approximate 100 acres of land owned by the tenant on St-Guillaume Road near our industrial park".

Based on Mr. Ménard's response in the article of Le Droit today, (and after discussion with staff) I realize that I misunderstood what was precisely said between staff and Mr. Ménard. Council had discussed the possibility of a land trade, but this was not specifically part of discussions with Mr. Ménard.

Staff did discuss his commercial land; however, the approach was rather for the land to be a collateral to protect the interest of the taxpayer should there have been issues with recouping lease payments. Mr. Ménard indicated he had no wish to discuss options regarding his land, so staff never presented the trade option.  My intention of mentioning this in my initial statement was to show Council’s willingness to use creative solutions during these difficult times of COVID-19.

I would like to publicly apologize to Mr. Ménard for my error. I am encouraged to see Mr. Ménard is open to the possibility of this type of creative solution, and staff will be reaching out to Mr. Ménard privately to continue discussions. Should this solution not be possible, I invite Mr. Ménard to discuss other suggestions with staff for Council’s consideration.

Sincerely,

Pierre Leroux, Mayor