Barrie has ranked boundary changes and servicing industrial land in Innisfil as its top economic priority.

The city is establishing a working group, which includes key city staff, including its intergovernmental affairs, infrastructure and development and planning directors, as well as the politicians who served on the Barrie-Innisfil negotiating committee – Mayor Dave Aspden and councillors Mike Ramsay, John Brassard and Barry Ward.

Added in the mix will be Coun. Jeff Lehman, an economist who works for an urban development consulting firm with projects in more than 100 cities in 15 countries.

“At the halfway point of our term, (council) determined that the boundary issue is the most important issue that must be dealt with in the last half of our term. The establishment of this working group, with a strong mandate from our council, will send a clear message to everyone including Innisfil, the County and the province that Barrie wants to see the boundary expansion-for-servicing impasse resolved,” said Brassard, who also serves as the chairperson of the city’s Community Services Committee.

“We will continue to work towards a resolution because it’s in the best interest of all sides and is vitally important to the economic prosperity of the region.”

Talks between Barrie and Innisfil failed in February, despite the assistance of then-provincial development facilitator Alan Wells. Simcoe County was also at the table, as an observer, as it was working on its growth strategy that creates two new economic nodes along Highway 400 – one in Innisfil and the other in Bradford West Gwillimbury.

Population growth is spread throughout south Simcoe, but the county also plans to almost double the population of Wasaga Beach, but add few jobs there.

Places to Grow designates Barrie as Central Ontario’s urban growth centre and sets a standard of 150 people and jobs per hectare. In downtown Barrie, there are now only 50 people and jobs per hectare. The province also expects growth centres to take a leading role in economic development, as engines in the larger economic powerhouse that is the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

Lehman, who in his professional life was involved in the creation of Ontario’s Places to Grow policy, led the city’s discussions and formulated its response to Simcoe County’s growth management strategy.

The city examined the county’s growth plan and showed how the plan failed to meet a series of provincial targets, including density, intensification and job creation.

Brassard stressed the city’s need for more land, to attract more industrial investment.

“The need to expand our boundary to accommodate employment and residential growth is reaching a critical point. Council recognizes that, and without a solution either between Barrie and Innisfil, or one imposed by the province, our ability to accommodate and plan for the people who are expected to live and work here will be severely tested.”