The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is looking to move forward with buying five properties in the downtown Wheatley evacuation zone following a massive gas explosion in 2021.
A report authored by Director of Public Works Ryan Brown will be considered at the council meeting Monday night.
Brown said the cost to purchase the five properties is $3.5 million.
The sites are 15 Erie Street North, 19-23 Erie Street North, the Royal Canadian Legion at 27 Erie Street North, 29-33 Erie Street North, and 37 Erie Street North.
The agreement would also allows the property owner to be reimbursed up to $2,500 for reasonable legal fees accrued in the transaction.
Purchasing the properties would be funded by a $3 million provincial grant for the Wheatley Emergency, and the remainder would be funded from the Strategic Reserve.
"As listed in the recommendations for this report, there are five property owners who have signed an agreement of purchase and sale for the Municipality to purchase their property, and administration is seeking Council approval to proceed with these sales," wrote Brown.
Brown noted if any property owner rejects the offer and administration cannot successfully negotiate a purchase price for any property, Council will need to consider whether to initiate expropriation.
"While this process is avoided whenever possible, there is a need to continue investigation for other potential gas sources in the area, which requires these property acquisitions," Brown noted.
The municipality is investigating the presence of another gas well in the vicinity of the monitoring well after a consultant's report noted that another well is feeding the monitoring well from a nearby distance.
The Matrix Solutions report can be found on the Let’s Talk Chatham-Kent webpage.
"Once more details are finalized, these plans will be communicated to the public, but no action on finding other wells is scheduled to be done until later in 2024," said Brown.
A consultant deemed the properties as being inappropriate for re-development within Wheatley.
Meanwhile, the costs incurred with the Wheatley emergency to date are pegged at $22 million, while the provincial funding received or committed is $16.4 million.