Landowners express surprise at County decision to commence expropriation proceedings

Jeff Green | Mar 30, 2022

In February, Frontenac County Council deferred a proposal by Chief Administrative Officer Kelly Pender to commence expropriation proceedings to sections of three properties in the vicinity of Roberstville that are part of the K&P trail.

At the time, Council decided to ask long time trail advocate and volunteer Wayne Robinson to see if a deal with the landowners was possible, in order to avoid a costly, and time consuming, expropriation process.

When Frontenac County Council met on March 16, the expropriation was again up for discussion. This time the proposal was accepted without comment by Council. 

“The County's efforts to purchase three sections of privately owned lands at market value for the purpose of connecting the Frontenac K&P Trail have been unsuccessful and staff have determined that it is now necessary and in the public interest to apply for approval to expropriate these private lands.” said the report to Council recommending expropriation. It was accepted by Council without comment.  

There was an item concerning land acquisition for the K&P Trail in the in-camera session of council, which may or may not have been about the proposal to expropriate the lands.

Jim Riddell is one of the landowners whose land has been targeted for expropriation. He contacted the News, and said that he is not opposed to the trail, which has been in place ever since he can remember, but he did not come to an agreement over the price, when first approached last August.

“It was Richard Allen [Frontenac County Manager of Economic Development] and someone else who came to see me. He said the trail section had been appraised at $1,700. I know that others have been offered more money for small sections, so I asked him to send me the appraisal,” said Jim Riddell.

6 weeks later, in October, Jim Riddell received a copy of an appraisal by Rivington and Associates for $3,500, along with a new offer, for that amount, from Frontenac County.

“The offer is still low, and does not take into account a concrete bridge that is included in the property,” said Riddell, “so I did not accept it.”

In early March, Jim Riddell said that he was visited by Wayne Robinson, “who I have a lot of respect for,” he said. “I told him that I may have been born at night, but I wasn’t born last night. He asked me what I wanted, and I told him, and he said he thought the county would be willing to pay that amount. A few days later I received an email from Wayne saying the county had turned down the offer. I haven’t heard anything since, until I read in the paper that they were going ahead with expropriation.”

Jim Riddell has had dealings with Frontenac County before. In 2013 he sold a parcel of land to the county at the junction of Robertsville Road and Road 509, where the Robertsville Ambulance base is now located. At the time, the county wanted some extra land, further along Robertsville Road, for a potential parking lot when the trail upgrade came through. All told, Riddell told the News that he sold the county 10 acres, for a price of $20,000. The land price was reported in the Frontenac News at the time

Bob Riddell is Jim’s brother. With their mother Harriet, he owns the next parcel of land. Jim’s land ends at the south side of Robertsville, and Bob’s is the next piece to the north.

The section of his land including the trail is also the subject of expropriation. In Bob’s case, price is not the issue. 

“I’m fine with the $10,660 they have offered, but my concern is that the trail runs through a gravel pit that I own, and I am looking for fencing in order to limit my own liability should anyone go off the trail into the gravel pit” he said.

He estimates that the fencing would cost less than $5,000.

Bob Riddell said that he also met with Wayne Robinson in early March, and thought an agreement had been reached, but he also received an email from Robinson informing him that the county had rejected the proposal.

When contacted about what had happened, Wayne Robinson declined to comment on what was said between him and whether of the Riddell brothers. “I was a county volunteer, and I believe as such I cannot add to this story,” he wrote in an email, adding only “as you know I am a big supporter of trails.”

The third parcel that is slated for expropriation is owned by Richard Clarke, whose permanent residence is in Ottawa.

Clarke has only had correspondence with Frontenac County through the post. He said that he has received 3 letters from Frontenac County, and has sent two responses.

“The exchanges have not been contentious” he said when contacted on Sunday, March 27. “I use the trail sometimes to access part of my property and I want to protect that access, so I’m not sure if I want to sell the property or agree to an easement instead. I have no issue with the price, and I know enough about these things to know the trail will end up going through, which is fine with me. I did not respond to the last letter yet, and I had no idea they were expropriating until I heard from Jim about it yesterday.”

The News attempted to interview Richard Allen on Monday, March 28. He agreed to a phone interview at first, but then sent the following:  “After some consideration. I’m not prepared to discuss any of the details regarding the K&P Trail land acquisition process, including those properties approved for expropriation … as we have many ongoing discussions and negotiations in place with these and other landowners, it would not be appropriate or fair to comment until the process has reached its conclusion with everyone.”

For their part, both Bob and Jim Riddell indicated that they will pursue their legal options once they received an expropriation notice from Frontenac County’s lawyers.

In the report to Council, Frontenac County staff indicated that the “appraisal and expropriation plan fees for the properties are expected to total $7,500.

Bob Riddell, who said he works as a paralegal and is familiar with costs related to the legal system, expressed doubt about that figure.

“Cunningham Swan [Frontenac County’s contracted legal firm] doesn’t work for nothing” he said.