The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is one step closer to selling the unused WDC Rail.
On Monday night, council unanimously voted in favour of moving forward with the proposed sale of the rail line. The $5.2 million price tag includes the 181.18 acres of land associated with the line as well as all track materials.
Back in 2006, the municipality made a binding agreement to purchase the 26.2-mile track for $4 million from CSX Transportation. It was officially purchased in 2013, however, efforts to find an operator for the track were unsuccessful and it has been non-functional ever since.
In 2018, council voted in favour of moving forward with selling the line if the opportunity arose. A potential buyer approached the municipality in early 2019 and on Monday night, with little discussion, council voted unanimously in favour of moving forward with the sale.
Councillor Doug Sulman has previously voiced his displeasure over the municipality owning the railway. The track, which runs from Wallaceburg through Dresden to Chatham, was incurring $60,000 in annual expenditures despite the fact that it saw no rail traffic.
After Monday night's meeting, Sulman said he was happy at the possibility of finally being able to sell it, adding that the municipality's original purchase of the track was never something he supported.
"I was against it then and I've remained that way throughout," he said. "I didn't have any high hopes. I didn't think and I still don't think that the municipality should be in the railway business."
The final purchase of WDC Rail is pending the purchaser being satisfied with the legal title to the property and the environmental condition of the property. If the transaction moves forward, any financial impacts will be presented to council in 2020.
For now, the buyer interested in the railway is only being identified as 2719545 Ontario Inc. and one of the terms of agreement of the purchase is that, if the sale goes forward, the transaction will be kept confidential for a period of time for commercial reasons.
"I'm just hoping whoever buys it has a plan," said Sulman.
