It may be a temporary solution that reopens Station Road here – but at what price?
On Monday night, Erin councillors finally agreed on a direction that will create a temporary fix for the road. But the price may include the loss of the mill pond, which has been part of the Hillsburgh community for over 100 years.
Over 100 residents attended the special council meeting on May 7 to consider recommendations from road superintendent Larry Van Wyck.
His report noted the settlement of the road starting in the summer of 2010 in the vicinity of the culvert crossing. Monitoring detected even more movement. In late 2011, the culvert was observed bubbling, with strange noises emerging.
Those factors warranted further investigation. When Credit Valley Conservation was contacted, it advised Erin a permit was required before any work could happen. The CVC then contacted the Ministry of Natural Resources to advise of a potential problem with the earthen dam.
In an attempt to leave the road open, the town undertook a ground penetrating radar investigation that revealed “a significant void under the travelled portion of the roadway above the culvert.”
A title search showed while the town owns the earthen berm structure, it does not own the outlets or control structures for the dam.
Van Wyck presented council with the following options:
– do nothing and close the road;
– remove the culvert crossing, and repair the road using the non-application emergency provision of the Lakes and Rivers Improvement Act, which would allow certain works to be done on an interim or temporary basis; or
– repair and upgrade the existing dam to current standards.
Council’s decision was to take the route of the repairs, which would get the road reopened.
Mayor Lou Maieron cited his role as vice chairman of the CVC and provided information regarding flooding as a result of climate change. He said Station Road was closed because of concerns the century-old dam would give way.
He added with the control structure as it is, there is only a limited capacity to deal with a 25-year storm, let alone a 100-year event. He said any repair of the dam would require that it be capable of handling a 100-year storm; that is, a storm that would likely occur only once a century.
Van Wyck, who was consistently interrupted by people in the audience, said there are concerns the road or the dam may collapse.
He said any work on the structure, as long as it remains a dam, must meet a certain set of provincial regulations and standards. That means the entire dam would need to be certified as meeting today’s dam standards – not those of the era in which it was built.
In exploring the options, Van Wyck said the idea of doing nothing and closing the road does not address the issue of safety. The dam could still collapse. He added most of the safety issues are not addressed in a do-nothing approach. Plus there is considerable inconvenience to residents who use that road, in addition to increased emergency response times.
He said response times would be altered because the fire department would no longer be able to use the most direct route.
The next option would be to remove the existing culvert beneath the road, and not the bridge. There is legislation that allows the culvert to be removed. The problem with that approach is if the culvert comes out and the pond is drained, the regulations would not allow it to become a pond again, he said.
If the town applies to bring the pond back, the dam would be required to meet current standards.
Even so, Erin would need to submit a letter to the MNR explaining the need for the work to be done immediately.
The works would be considered temporary and the town would still need to apply to proceed with a permanent solution that would require an environmental assessment.
He said there are two ways to deal with that option. One would remove the stop logs used in the control structure and covert the culvert into a water crossing. The other would be to leave the control structure intact, but still create a stream straight through.
The water crossing would be below the level of the control structure to allow water to pass through freely.
“This culvert would be a significant size,” Van Wyck said.
He anticipated it would be similar in size to the one under Hillsburgh’s main street, next to the arena. “It has to be that big to accommodate a storm.”
He said with that size culvert, the bridge itself would become redundant. There would be significant costs to replace the bridge. CVC and MNR approvals are required for either option.
He said work on the dam, without the bridge replacement is estimated at $500,000. He said council might want to consider acquiring the land to the north. On top of that, Van Wyck said bridge replacement could be over $1 million.
Council quickly dismissed the do-nothing approach.
Maieron has another reason for wanting the matter dealt with quickly. H said Wellington County is looking at repairs to Trafalgar Road, which will mean closure for July and August to replace the culvert crossing.
Maieron added a recent meeting he had with an unnamed benefactor could have another impact on the matter. He said current owner might be willing to sell the land to a community benefactor, who in turn could donate the land to a public trust which might involve the creation of a parkland and there would minimal or no cost to Erin taxpayers. If that happened, the dam would no longer be an issue because no one wants to assume the liability of a dam, Maieron said.
He said he spoke in vague terms about a potential benefactor because nothing was decided yet – although there is interest in exploring options.
The details remain up in the air, he said. “There would no longer be a pond, but the land would become part of a public trust.”
Maieron recommended proceeding with the second option, which would allow Station Road to be reopened as an alternative route into Hillsburgh, while Trafalgar Road is closed.
Councillor John Brennan sought estimates for the options of removing the culvert and allowing the pond to be drained.
The estimate to replace the culvert is $70,000 to $100,000 plus $100,000 to $150,000 to complete the environmental assessment.
In the second option of culvert replacements costs went up to $200,000 plus the environmental assessment cost.
The option to upgrade the dam and replace the bridge was slated at $1.5 million – excluding any potential land purpose.
The simplest approach of culvert removal could happen by summer, according to Van Wyck. But he still estimated it would be July or August before completion, pending on fast approvals.
That is the fast option. Other options would see traffic in the fall.
Tocher said the control logs are privately owned and asked if council is looking at a solution that would need the cooperation of a private landowner.
Van Wyck said written permission would be needed.
Maieron said the MNR could issue an order to remove the logs in order to conduct the repairs to the earthen dam.
Councillor Josie Wintersinger asked if the audience wanted to see the road open in the next few months.
With a crowd full of raised hands Wintersinger moved that council endorse the option to get the road opened at the least cost. At that point an audience member questioned the approach – if it still requires the endorsement of the private property owner
Maeiron said council has to make a decision in which it believes all aspects are considered. He maintain the favoured option does not dismiss additional work being done, but it does get the road repaired as quickly as possible.
Tocher said it might get the road fixed faster, the pond would be reduced to a trickle.
Although the idea is that it would be temporary, “nothing might ever happen there again.” The water would run as a stream.
She questioned if council would ever close that road again until it is absolutely needed. She and councillor Deb Callaghan favoured the approach that would repair the dam and replace the bridge in order to keep the pond.
Wintersinger asked if council intended to wait until there is another crisis.
“If council wants to get the road open, then that is what we should be doing,” she said.
Council voted in 3-2 in favour of the temporary fix.
Maieron, Brennan and Wintersinger voted in favour while Callaghan and Tocher voted against it.
Council’s vote was followed by a round of applause from those in the council chambers.
