“It is time to fish or cut bait” when it comes to a decision on Erin’s SSMP (Servicing and Settlement Master Plan),” says consultant Matt Pearson, of BM Ross and Associates.
It was a full house at Centre 2000 in Erin on Feb. 21 as close to 100 residents attended the third public SSMP meeting. Some people came looking for answers, only to find out there are more questions ahead.
While the meeting marked the near completion of the town’s SSMP, it could be only the second stage of a five-part environmental assessment process.
Plus, getting a sewage treatment system to serve the urban communities of Erin and Hillsburgh comes with a potential $65-million cost.
Pearson explained there are costs for existing lots related to collection ($19.5 million) as well as a treatment plant ($12.5 million).
The remainder of the cost would be covered by the development of future lots within the urban portions of the municipality.
Though there is a case to be made for building a single sewage treatment facility, Pearson said if a sewage line is constructed from Hillsburgh to Erin, it needs to be large enough to service side areas which may be developed.
When it came to looking at the right population within urban boundaries, Pearson said the town could sustain 10,000 between the Erin and Hillsburgh communities “and no one would notice the difference.”
He agreed Erin’s situation is different because of it’s proximity to Guelph, Orangeville and the GTA.
“This is still a really small town for a lot of people,” Pearson said. He added somewhere Erin’s growth limits need to be defined.
Pearson also said the Credit River itself will have an impact on the feasibility of any waste water treatment system.
Pearson maintained that having an SSMP in place will allow the town to apply for government funding to make it happen. He said the town needs to lobby hard, because it will be competing against other municipalities seeking funds for various projects.
Pearson noted Erin was not successful in its recent grant application to fund bridge construction, but noted none of his clients received grants in this round of applications.
He said Erin may not fit under the asset management grant stream, but rather the “I’ve-got-a-problem” grant stream.
As to the perception that government funds are drying up, Pearson said, “There’s always money around, and money to be found. It’s just finding where it is.” He added there is an opportunity to take advantage of the situation by leveraging costs.
“The opportunity is that Erin has an active development proposal.”
He said the name of the developer [Solmar] is not important. Pearson said there is also a developer in Hillsburgh who has patiently awaited the outcome of the SSMP. He said that development is proposing 129 lots using septic systems. With a sewage system, the number of lots could likely increase to 250.
Pearson said leveraging means sharing costs, such as the cost of the Environmental Assessment or the sewage treatment plant.
“You can’t just stick your heads in the sand and say we are never going to grow,” said Pearson, adding the town needs to “take advantage” of any government funding.
He said having a development with services and the remaining community without sewage treatment creates a two-tier community, something Pearson does not advocate.
He agreed the potential cost “is a significant financial investment. I’m not downplaying $65 million … or whatever it costs.”
However, he remained hopeful of acquiring government funds to bring the costs to one-third of what was proposed.
At the same time, he said council could decide not to move forward to the end of the five-part environmental assessment (EA) process. Further parts of the EA would look at more technical aspects such as how waste water might be treated.
“You always have the option of doing nothing,” said Pearson.
He noted there may be a point where it is decided the project is not environmentally feasible or that the town cannot afford the cost. Pearson seemed clear that without government grants, the town would unlikely be able to afford this project.
“But at least you explored the option.”
Pearson touched on the various approaches of waste collection and treatment. He added the capacity of the Credit River to deal with effluent also will have a major impact on how big the communities can grow.
The “big pipe” approach would essentially be sending the problem to someone else with the community wastewater being treated outside of Erin’s boundaries.
“But you would be charged for this. Capacity costs money.”
Pearson expressed doubt that it was a more cost effective option, but it gives the community the option to become larger.
“I’m not sure the community wants to be bigger.”
The drawback, “is that you are at someone else’s whim and mercy. The cost for treatment is in their hands.”
If the town chooses the status quo and does nothing, it will need to begin an aggressive program on septic system investigations.
And, he said, Erin would lose the investment it made on both the SSMP and the environmental assessment process.
The next steps
Pearson said meetings are being set up with the Ministry of the Environment and Credit Valley Conservation to negotiate the financial numbers.
The draft final report is in the works, to be reviewed with the liaison committee and the core management team. After that fine tuning “council is going to get a crack at reading it and adding comments.”
He stressed there will be a comment period for the public. It is then up to the municipality whether the plan is approved and how it will be implemented. In Pearson’s mind, the process worked.
To his knowledge, this marked only the second SSMP to reach its conclusion.
“Most failed somewhere in the process, because of infighting, or people jumping ahead.”
He said the hardest thing is keeping from pre-deciding a solution. “Intuitively we could have done that at the start.”
Numerous questions and comments were voiced from the audience following Pearson’s presentation.
Some residents argued that people live in the town for its size and quaintness. While the reality of the GTA area is that growth will happen, they want it to be at manageable levels.
Questions were raised about whether the town’s potential population should double in a relatively short period of time.
A second set of comments looked at the financial responsibility of incurring new debt.
Concern was voiced that government funding may not be available and local residents would be forced to pay the entire cost. In addition, the potential cost of $30,000 per home was considered unacceptable.
Others questioned what additional costs would be – such as annual costs to maintain a $65-million sewage treatment plant.
Pearson said it is not cheap, but there are also costs associated with the proper care and replacement of individual septic systems.
When questioned whether the $30,000 cost covered the whole cost of hookup and decommissioning of existing septics, Pearson replied it does not.
Pearson said the projected cost would only take the sewage service to the property line.
Homeowners would still have to cover hook-up costs and decommissioning of the septic systems. However, Pearson was quick to state some people have removed the septic beds and filled the septic tanks with sand.
Shelley Foord, of Erin, asked if municipalities were responsible for infrastructure being in place for smaller developments.
She noted that while Solmar has proposed installing its own sewage treatment system, it may not be a financially viable option for smaller developments.
Pearson said Ontario’s policies state that municipalities will eventually take over any private systems – but he did not anticipate of proliferation of small treatment systems.
Foord asked if this would mean no more development in Erin without a sewage treatment system because smaller developers would not be able to afford a $45-million treatment system.
Pearson stated the municipality is not responsible to provide a sewage treatment system in order for specific developments to occur.
He suggested if the municipality did nothing, it might be able to lobby to allow larger size lots to accommodate septic systems.
“But you end up with lots of an acre or more in size. You might get some growth, but is it good growth?” Pearson said.
Foord questioned the cost of alternative options.
Pearson saw the costs as being different, but not necessarily less. He added the $65 million estimate includes 20% contingency costs. Additionally, he said a treatment plant may not be built for three to five years.
Foord added, “Everyone [complains] about how much their taxes are, and our residents are the same, but if we can get some business into town, it will help drop the tax rate.”
Pauline Follett said the river’s capacity to hold effluent would support a population of 9,000 to 10,000 people.
“What happens to the other potential land development? Is it first come, first served and does it mean some developers will have no possible means of developing their properties?”
Pearson suggested that is a council issue. He said constraints can become an issue. While people may have bought properties as potential investments for the future – Pearson said there are no guarantees.
Mayor Lou Maieron noted there are requirements to intensify growth within the urban areas.
He said most of the urban areas were developed 100 years ago, therefore intensification means building vertical to some degree [such as apartment buildings].
Erin county councillor Ken Chapman said that over a decade ago, Erin nearly lost its high school.
“Everyone was going to be bussed to Orangeville,” he said.
At that time, the community was able to keep it’s high school. However, he agreed people are disappearing from the community.
“If we do not grow, we will lose this high school,” said Chapman, who noted he was a member of Erin council for 14 years.
Chapman said Solmar is the first developer he knows of that is willing to install its own sewage treatment plant which was not near municipal wells or located in a swamp area. He wanted to know when council would have enough information to appear before the community and discuss this.
“We can discuss the SSMP until we are blue in the face. What we need to do is discuss where we go from here,” he said.
Pearson estimated, “This SSMP process should be complete within a few months. Then it is up to council to make a decision.”
To date, Maieron estimated the cost of the SSMP was just under $400,000 – with $50,000 remaining to complete the study. Study costs were spread throughout the tax base on the belief it might move forward with a septage treatment plant which could potentially benefit all residents.
However if the proposal moved forward, it would be on a user-pay basis.
A PDF of Pearson’s presentation is now online on the Erin website at www.erin.ca.
