What is the Hamilton Waterfront Trust?

The shut down of Sarcoa last month continues to raise questions about the Hamilton Waterfront Trust. It was set up as an arms length organization almost 20 years ago to help Hamiltonians connect with their waterfront. Arms length except that half of the board is made up of city councillors and it’s costing Hamiltonians a lot of money.

The Hamilton Waterfront Trust was founded in 2000 with $6.5 million in seed money as an agency trusted by the city to oversee the redevelopment of the waterfront.

It built a series of waterfront trails, opened Williams Fresh Café, a year round rink and started trolley service.

“We were established as a charitable foundation.” said city councillor & Hamilton Waterfront Trust member Jason Farr.

But that charity status was annulled last fall, although on its website the trust was still billing itself as a charitable organization until recently.

The trust leases property to Williams Fresh Café and Sarcoa- the restaurant it shut down last month for unpaid rent.

Over the years the trust has faced allegations of lack of oversight and reporting when it comes to its finances.

“All of our financials are public. We have nothing to hide. Our meetings are transparent and open to the public.”

Meetings maybe. But we tried to get Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger to give us his thoughts on why taxpayers should continue to be on the hook for the millions of dollars the trust has lost, but he’s refused all requests for an interview for the past week and a half.

They’ve spent thousands of dollars since 2015 locked in a legal battle with Sarcoa.

“An unaccounted for and hefty budget expense for the waterfront trust but one we are managing well.”

The trust owes the city about $325,000 in unpaid taxes and have struggled to operate in the black.

“You get a little behind but we certainly aren’t in any position where we are worried. I would say probably half of the time we have been in existence there has been a small deficit.” said Farr.

The trust gets about $300,000 each year from the city.

Despite it’s issues city council has supported the trust’s operations over the years providing it with management fees and different contracts. In 2015 it gave the trust a $140,000 grant, but also acknowledged the trusts operations weren’t sustainable in the long run.

The Waterfront Trust will be back before city council during the budget process this fall.