Residents of Sideroad 19 in Nichol, as well as Burnett Court and Victoria Crescent in the north end of Fergus will soon be seeing construction to put in water and sewers.
Council approved a bylaw on Monday night to authorize the work. The township received an Infrastructure Stimulus Fund grant that will see the federal government pay half of the costs, with the township and property owners to pay the remainder.
That means Burnett Court work will get $324,300 in grant cash, and face a total of $515,400 in costs. The township has $91,500 in capital reserves, and another water works reserve of $99,600.
Victoria Crescent payments are from the grant of $444,800, $135,650 in capital reserves, and $132,100 in water reserves, for a total cost of $712,550.
Sideroad 19 will see a grant of $1.03-million, with development charges of $266,300, the township’s slot reserve of $266,300, plus capital reserves for $386,950, and a water capital reserve of $421,600, for a total of $2,37-million.
Treasurer Wes Snarr said in his report that consistent with the township’s past practice, connections for water and sewer services will be installed to the property line of existing and potential building lots.
Township policy does not require owners to connect to municipal services unless the extension of services is the result of a provincial officer’s order by the Ministry of Environment or the local Health Unit, or a petition to the municipality by the residents to extend municipal services to an area as a local improvement.”
Snarr added if owners choose to connect to the services, they must connect to both: sewer and water.
He said the township had passed a bylaw to allow residents to spread their payments over ten years, for their connections and frontage costs, but a number of property owners sought a 15-year term instead, so he was recommending they be allowed that.
He noted the township will be responsible for any wells affected by the work, but that MOE regulations state the township can chose to refurbish the old well, drill a new one, or provide municipal services, and it is township policy to provide municipal water.
Snarr reported to minimize the impact on water and sewer rates, the following cost sharing agreement is proposed:
– the township provides water service to the house and decommissions the well at its cost; and
– the township provides service to septic bed connection, and decommissions the septic bed at its cost. The connection fee is waived, and the owner is responsible for the frontage and area wide charge. The same financing for voluntary connections is made available to the owner. The current frontage charge is $98 per metre,and the current area wide charge is $5,686.
Councillor Kirk McElwain, at the April 19 committee of the whole meeting, wondered if there is any benefit to a homeowner to get the work done right away, or wait two years.
Public Works Director Ken Elder said normally homeowners wait until construction of the lines and road is done, and then the contractor deals with each homeowner.
He said the benefit is the contractor is already on site, but it is up to the homeowner when the connections to the home are made.
But, he added, “I’ve never seen prices go down.”
In answer to another question by McElwain, Elder said there are 49 dug wells in the area, and about 19 will not be affected, depending on the elevation of the sewer. “Thirty could possibly be dried up while we’re doing the work.”
Elder said it is no disrespect to the owners of dug wells, but shallow wells “live and die by what comes out of the sky.”
He said the former townships created 15 fringe areas around the urban centres of Elora and Fergus, and this is the first the township is providing services to.
“It’s been ten years, but we’re getting to them,” he said, adding work will include storm drains, curb and gutters, sidewalks on one side of the road, and sewer and water.
Dale Murray, who sits on the source water protection committee at the Grand River Conservation Authority, said all dug wells are identified by the committee as a threat for contamination, and “The more [homes] on sewer and water the better.”
Council approved the work.
Elder said he expects the work will begin by the end of May.
