News – The future uses of the old Darou Farm will return to council in the New Year after consultations with an area business owner.

The decision to essentially allow for the demolition and relocation of the old Darou Farm came to a final vote of Perth town council on Tuesday, Nov. 19, with all but Mayor John Fenik voting in favour of allowing the move.

“What this does… is allow town staff to enter into discussions with Dr. Warren Hollis (about)…adaptive reuse” of the property, said Coun. Jim Boldt. He noted that, once the discussions have taken place, the issue will return to council and “at that meeting, we will discuss the final proposal,” likely in January of 2014.

With the farm house and barn sitting on property right beside a landfill site, “our options really are limited because of that,” said Coun. Judy Brown. “There is a difference… if it was a scenario where someone were to come in and take over the property, they would need water.” By drilling a well on the property, that could “affect (the) leachate system,” which would then require new test wells.

“There is also the issue of liability,” said Brown. “I wanted to elaborate that so that people would understand it.”

Fenik, however, stuck to his position.

“As soon as you disassemble it and reassemble it, it loses all heritage value,” said Fenik. As Perth expands, “in time, services would be running down (Rideau Ferry Road)… I find it concerning that we would destroy a bona fide heritage property.”

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