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Lakeshore officials began construction on an expanded wastewater treatment facility Tuesday to help the growing municipality increase capacity and restart development after a hiatus in new construction that began in 2020.
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Councilors and Mayor Tom Bain began construction on a $ 55 million expansion for the township’s Denis St. Pierre treatment facility Tuesday morning.
The expanded facility will add 70 percent to the municipality’s wastewater capacity and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2023.
“This is a remarkable investment, not only in the amount of water we can treat, but it is an investment in the needs of our community,” Bain said. “It is an investment made on behalf of the future citizens of Lakeshore, especially our business owners and all those who choose Lakeshore as their home community.”
“Although we are here sooner than any of us could be, we are delighted to begin construction on this project.”
The Municipality of Lakeshore has had a hiatus in development since last year, when the wastewater plant reached capacity. The facility reached capacity earlier than planned thanks to higher-than-expected population growth and changes in water habits during the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities said.
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Truper McBride, CAO of Lakeshore, said the city is building the expanded wastewater facility at least five years ahead of schedule.
“Obviously, no municipality wants to be in a situation where it has to carry out a major health expansion faster than it was planning. in doing so, ”McBride said. “But I think if you look at Lakeshore’s numbers for this year, even with the hiatus … we are destroying the projections that we thought we had and we are still growing rapidly.”
The municipality began the process of expanding the Denis St. Pierre facility in 2018, McBride said, when staff noticed increased flows as a result of higher-than-expected growth. An environmental assessment began in 2019, followed by design and tender work for 2020 and 2021. The plant was originally built in 1977 and treats wastewater from the northwestern part of Lakeshore.
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“We were afraid that it might be two or three years before we could build this,” Bain said. “We are pleased that it is moving so fast.”
Through the city’s development freeze, developers with approved projects were allowed to continue working, and those with completed applications continued on a case-by-case basis depending on the capacity needed. All new development was postponed until the wastewater expansion was put out to tender.
New development applications with established connections are now accepted for when the plant is operational, authorities said in a statement.
“In a lot of these types of projects, developers can get involved, do all the paperwork and engineering that needs to be done,” Bain said. “All that can be started.”
The $ 55 million price tag for the expanded wastewater plant will be funded through development charges, McBride said.
“I think we are striking the right balance,” he said. “Obviously, this is not the ideal situation that we are in, but I think you can see that we are doing everything we can to work with (the developers) and keep Lakeshore growing.”
“It fits with the policy we have here of ‘growth pays for growth’ so this is not due to existing taxpayers.”
Reference-windsorstar.com