IROQUOIS – Membership of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 370 in Iroquois unanimously voted in favour of a land swap deal with Ross Video that will opens the door for the company’s $15 million expansion project to proceed.
Branch 370 president Darlene Riddell told The Leader about the unanimous vote the morning after it took place.
Riddell said that about 35 members were at the branch October 7, at 7 p.m. for the special meeting to participate in the vote and that those who couldn’t attend had the opportunity to vote by proxy.
“We’re really pleased,” said Riddell. “It’s a win-win situation for us as well as them.”
“Myself, I think it’s good for Iroquois,” she added.
She said that what she could report so far is that the land swap deal for the back parking lot and side parking lot was what was approved.
She said at this point she could not elaborate further on the details of the report but looks forward to sharing more information in the future.
At this point the results of the membership vote have to go before provincial command for approval at that level as well.
Generally, provincial command approval reflects the will of the local membership.
Jeff Poapst, senior vice president of manufacturing and services at Ross Video was advised of the results of the vote.
“From a Ross perspective, while there are additional administrative steps required to finalize the transfer (i.e. Provincial Command approval) this allows Ross to proceed with some of the additional preparatory work – application to reroute the affected sewer line and the detailed design work for the expansion, for example,” said Poapst.
“It does allow us to stay on track for a potential May 2020 ground breaking, subject of course to economic and business conditions.”
Poapst added: “We’re thrilled that we can work with the Legion to help both organizations, and by extension the Iroquois and South Dundas communities.”
