The city will have to rethink its bus route to the Orillia Square mall after Severn Township council voted against providing funding.
The township had provided $15,000 in 2019 and 2020 to help cover the costs of the Orillia Transit route that stops at the mall, which is in Severn, but council recently voted unanimously against providing the funding for a third year.
Severn Mayor Mike Burkett said the decision was made because most of those who ride the bus are Orillia residents.
He also noted the township kicked in funding the previous two years as a way to support the mall because there wasn’t a box store there as Canadian Tire was undergoing major renovations.
“Canadian Tire has bought the whole mall and they’re doing quite well, so I’m not sure why (Orillia) is asking us for money,” he said. “There’s no disrespect. We just have to look out for our taxpayers.”
There might be some “backlash” in response to Severn’s decision, Burkett said, but he added, “We spend a lot of money in Orillia because it’s right there and I think the council in Orillia needs to be aware of that.”
City council is well aware of that, said Orillia Mayor Steve Clarke, who wrote a letter to Burkett requesting the funding.
However, he also sees the route as being beneficial to the township, noting the bus takes about 40,000 people to the mall every year.
“He’s right. There are benefits to the citizens of Orillia who use that to go to the mall, but the big benefit I see for Severn is these are their taxpaying businesses (people are supporting),” Clarke said.
Orillia Transit operates at a loss, so Severn’s assistance was helpful, he said.
Clarke sees the route “as a partnership.”
“It’s an interesting situation. I don’t imagine there are too many times when a municipality runs transit outside of its borders,” he said.
The bus service to the mall was at risk of being axed in 2019, but it was able to be maintained when Severn committed to providing $15,000. Now the future of that service is in question again.
Clarke expects to see a staff report come before budget committee with at least a couple of options: that the city cover the cost to keep the bus running to the mall or that the service stops.
