Until the school board provides more information, town officials likely will not approve a funding agreement for a new wastewater system for Erin District High School.
“We’ll try to work with them as much as possible, but we’re not going to pull rabbits out of hats,” Mayor Rod Finnie told the Advertiser.
The Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) wants the town to commit to sharing capital costs for a new sewage system over a 10-year period. But Finnie said that is unlikely until a cost estimate – as well as a full explanation of the problem – is provided to the town.
In a letter to town staff, Paul Scinocca, the board’s manager of capital and renewal projects, said the school’s current sewage treatment plant, which also provides services to the community centre and arena, “is not compliant with the Certificate of Approval issued by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and … is prohibitive to repair and … replacement is in order.”
Town planner Sally Stull told council the board has received funding approval for the project through the Ministry of Research and Innovation’s Green School Initiative, with a stipulation that all work must be completed by Sept. 1.
The town wants to know exactly what percentage of the overall cost will be covered by the grant, Finnie said, so the municipality is paying its fair share of the capital costs – and no more.
The deal proposed to the town by the board states:
– the board will plan and supervise the construction and pay for the new sewage plant;
– the board will obtain the necessary MOE approvals;
– flow meters, paid for by each party, will be installed to measure the actual flow from the community centre, arena and school; and
– the new plant will utilize the existing tile bed and as much of the existing system as possible, including an unused tank and existing high school septic bed.
Scinocca said the board proposes the town pay its portion of capital costs annually over 10 years, with the first year split 50:50 and subsequent years based on flow data, “so that at the end of 10 years each party has paid for its proportional share.”
The board also wants a similar deal for annual operating and maintenance costs, and proposes the town pay an annual administration fee equal to 15% of its share of those costs.
But Finnie said a 50:50 proposal, even for one year, makes little sense.
“We don’t even think 50% is a good starting point. We think our usage [for the arena and community centre] is closer to 10%,” he said.
“I just don’t think we’re using it nearly as much as they suggest.”
Waterloo Biofilter, the company chosen by the board to complete the work, but as noted by Stull in her report, “the cost, design and load have not been determined to date.”
In addition to that information, Finnie said the town has requested:
– a schedule and the details of construction (the system is located on town property and would require Erin’s approval);
– connection to the system of the town’s nearby tennis courts as well as its addition of arena dressing rooms;
– plans for servicing the building during construction;
– coordination of construction with the municipality’s work on the Deer Pit stormwater pond on the site; and
– written assurance any deal will include cost sharing for the Shamrock Room, which serves as both the school cafeteria and a meeting room rented out by the town.
Finnie said he received a response from Director of Education Martha Rogers stating she is unsure the board could address the town’s concerns before the Jan. 12 council meeting.
Considering the board wanted the town to sign the financial agreement “no later than Jan. 15,” Finnie seemed perplexed by her response.
“We’re not going to sign agreements without having a full understanding of them,” the mayor said. “That’s not an appropriate way to do business.”
Representatives of the school board, which Stull said also received funding to retrofit wastewater treatment systems at Brisbane Public and several other schools, did not return a call before deadline.
