Photo by B. Shakyaver
The gallery at town hall was packed on Monday evening (October 30) for a presentation to South Huron’s Committee of the Whole by Don Giberson, South Huron’s infrastructure and development general manager, regarding a proposed sewer extension outside of Grand Bend.
He painted a dire picture of the lack of service on the corridor on Highway 21, through South Huron’s portion of the Grand Bend area, to Lambton Shores, on the very south west tip of the municipality.
Although current facilities on that stretch lack services, he said that there is also a missed opportunity for development throughout the corridor, with much land North of new developments initiated by the Tridon Group to Gore Road earmarked as areas of interest.
Although in the proposed agreement, the developer Tridon would pay for the portion of the infrastructure required for their development project, Giberson proposed that the municipality should choose to oversize the pipe and foot the bill, so that in the future, their ability to develop that corridor is not restricted by infrastructure.
This would result in a 75/25 split, with the larger share being paid for by Tridon – resulting in a $600,000 bill for the municipality.
He also said that there are some businesses in that corridor that are imminently awaiting the expansion of those services. Giberson pointed to a long string of environmental assessments throughout the years which have dictated the need for the expansion of waste capacity.
Member Councilor Marissa Vaughan was vocally opposed to the proposal, throwing an extensive list of questions at Giberson. She stated that the sewer extension wasn’t accounted for in the budget, and that the taxpayers shouldn’t foot the bill of shouldering that debt until the area is developed and pays for that expansion of services. Vaughan also pointed to a lack of official plan for the Port Blake area, and said that they hadn’t officially determined how the space would be used in the future.
Member Councilor Aaron Neeb, and Member Deputy Mayor Jim Dietrich voiced their support for the project, and stated that they considered the sewer an investment in the future of the municipality. Neeb stated that he could see that there was a demonstrated need for the expansion, and Dietrich pointed to the cost savings of sharing the cost of the installation with the developer.
He also recognized the examples of investments in wastewater management in Crediton and Centralia as opening the door for those communities to grow.
Vaughan made it clear that she was not in support of the project, and pointed to the concept that development should pay for development, and said that they were allowing a developer to dictate what the future of that area would look like.
Despite Vaughans misgivings, Giberson was explicit – the studies were conclusive that the expansion would be beneficial, and ensuring that the corridor would be ready for future development would be a proactive move. He pointed to other water and waste expansions that the municipality had made in the past that allowed for the expansion of various communities.
With various parties in play, despite some direct questioning by Vaughan, Giberson declined to discuss particulars of some agreements that the municipality had entered into – preferring to move the discussion to closed session in the future if permissible, as there is potential for litigation.
Staff was directed to investigate whether closed session would be appropriate at a future council meeting, and deferred the approval of draft cost sharing to a future meeting.
Written by: B. Shakyaver
