The township now has a plan and a timeline for wastewater capacity expansion to alleviate a long-standing development freeze.
However, the project, which could see some capacity released to allow development by year’s end, still isn’t moving fast enough for some Mapleton council members.
EXP, a consulting firm hired to guide the township through a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA) for wastewater servicing, presented an update on the project at the Jan. 23 Mapleton council meeting.
EXP project coordinator Jean Louis Gaudet told council the EA is now complete, with no follow-up orders received following the issuance of a notice of completion on Nov. 17.
That means the township is free to proceed with the recommendations in the Class EA, which include:
– expanding influent capacity of the township’s wastewater pollution control plan to 1,300m3/day; and
– expanding the discharge period (currently spring and fall) into January and February.
The EA recommendations also include installing a submerged attached growth reactor (SAGR) system in part of the lagoon system as well as a new alum mixing tank and a new blower building.
A pump station in the wastewater collection system is to be upgraded for planned new wastewater capacity and long-term issues with inadequate forcemain pressure.
A two-stage process is being recommended for the capacity expansion.
The initial stage would see the township work toward an interim re-rating to 900m3/day (from the current 750m3/day). This initial re-rating would be based on the existing performance of the pollution control plan, including optimization efforts such as the recent installation of new blowers to improve aeration and planned improvements to the phosphorous removal process.
Gaudet told council that by the end of February, a technical review with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) Surface Water Group will be conducted, followed by design work and an Environmental Compliance Application (ECA) in February/March.
ECA approval is anticipated by this summer, with the tender and construction of pollution control plant improvements expected to take place in the fall.
The consultant explained the technical review is needed because of an MOECC requirement to collect additional background river water quality data related to the planned January and February discharges.
After initial upgrades are completed, work would begin toward ECA approval for phase two, upgrading to the 1,300m3/day target.
This would include continued river water monitoring and a EA addendum to revisit the receiving water impact and affirm the assimilative capacity of the Conestogo River. This would be followed by detailed design and construction of upgrades sometime in 2019.
“One of reasons why it’s being proposed to do it in two phases is the MOE want to have additional data on the condition of the Conestogo River,” and its ability to accept additional material “without having a negative impact,” explained Gaudet.
“Because we’re proposing to discharge in January and February, and there’s not a lot of background river water data for those months, the MOE didn’t feel comfortable giving a full go-ahead.”
Among the benefits of the two-phase approach, said Gaudet, is that “it allows the township to release some more development units with some minimal capital work at the facility.”
The phased approach will also help the township manage the cost of the upgrades, he added.
Gaudet told council “there won’t be a whole lot of additional capital works required,” in order to meet the 900m3/day flow target.
“By fall of 2018 you should be able to issue tenders for construction and by the end of 2018 you should have construction being completed,” he stated.
Councillor Dennis Craven objected to the proposed timeline.
“It looks like at least another year before we can even see much happening here. Why is it taking so long?” he asked.
EXP linear infrastructure lead Arun Jain responded that a technical review over the next few months is required to convince the MOECC the plant can discharge into the river in January and February without negative impact.
“Through our analysis, we can prove that we can do that,” said Jain.
Part of the delay in reaching the current point, Jain added, was in convincing the ministry to accept the winter discharges. Twice, he noted, there was six months of turnaround time before the township’s position was accepted by the ministry.
“The good News is they accepted our analysis. They accepted our contention that January and February discharge can be allowed … It has taken time but they have come around,” said Jain.
Craven said, “I was under the impression that this should have all been in place and done by now and it’s going to be another year.”
“Absolutely, I share your frustration,” replied Jain. “It’s been a long journey … the good thing is we are seeing progress.”
Craven expressed concern about the consultants’ use of the term, “should be ready” in terms of the timeline.
“We’ve been hearing this for quite some time. There’s still no guarantee that it’s going to be ready in a year, is there?” he asked.
“At this point in time, we don’t see any risk, really,” said Jain. “We don’t expect any surprises. It’s just the process time.”
Councillor Marlene Ottens asked if the consultants felt potential “turnover in the ministry” due to the provincial election scheduled for June 7 could result in further delays.
“I don’t believe so. I don’t think the political process will really impact the approval process,” Jain stated.
Councillor Lori Woodham asked, “When will we be able to tell our builders that they can build again?”
Jain replied, “As soon as we have ECA approval at the end of construction.”
Councillor Michael Martin wanted to know if goals in the plan are “manageable and achievable” targets. “I know it’s going to be another year, but I would say that the timelines are still fairly aggressive,” said Martin.
“Is it fair to assume that the heavy slugging and all that stuff, the waiting around part, is for the most part over with – that you’ve got assurances?”
Jain explained the timeline was developed based on input from a pre-consultation meeting with ministry officials in November, at which the consultants and township officials were “proactive in laying out what our thought process was.
“So that gives us confidence in terms of moving forward,” he stated.
Mayor Neil Driscoll expressed concern the required pumping station upgrades were not included earlier in the process. He also wondered why the upgrade to 900m3/day capacity couldn’t be facilitated sooner, given the minor nature of the remaining upgrades.
“Part of us hiring you was finding out about our pumping station,” said Driscoll.
“This council has already put forward a very aggressive budget and finance plan so we can finance the project. But now there’s another project included and my fear is that if you come back or Burnside (engineering firm RJ Burnside) comes back and says its going to take $2 million to upgrade that pipe and pumping station, where are we supposed get that from?
“We can only go so many times to our ratepayers for money. Our developers are out on a limb. They’ve been waiting 18 years for this project.
“Is there any way that you can move even this potential upgrade to 900 – you’ve got the contacts – can you move this ahead and start in the spring? These people have to start building, because we can’t afford to pay the likes of your company when we don’t have people building houses in our community. We’ve spent that $200,000 to your company. Now we need to get payback.”
“I accept your point,” replied Jain. However, he added, “In terms of compressing the schedule, as councillor Martin already pointed out, the schedule you have is already aggressive … So I don’t believe we can start building in the spring because we do have to go through a tender process and so on and so forth after the approvals.
“What we can do,” Jain suggested, “is we can ask MOE if they will allow us to tender it in tandem with the approval process which is generally not allowed by MOE, but we can definitely ask them.”
Jain estimated the township “might gain two or three months” if the MOE accepted the proposal.
Jain cautioned, “It’s minor additions to the plant (to facilitate phase one), but at the same time MOE still has to approve your design, however small it is, and provide you with a go-ahead to start, which takes X amount of time.”
“I really want you to take this home with you,” Driscoll stressed. “You’re the only person between us and Mapleton building these homes. You’re actually the person that’s holding up our developers from developing homes in Mapleton.”
“I would say we are partners with you and we are trying to move forward as fast as possible,” responded Jain. “That’s how we see ourselves, as partners and facilitating the process and I think it’s been very challenging and in fact it’s only through delicate handling of this situation that we’ve come to this point. That would be my contention, sir.”
Driscoll said, “I like a great partner that works along beside me and has the same work ethic as I do. So we appreciate your recommendations, but I’m just really confused when you say that there’s no more upgrades to do to get to 900, but you’re telling me we can’t start with 900.”
“There’s a small upgrade to be done for phosphorous removal which will have to be put into place, which has to be designed and constructed,” Jain explained.
Mapleton’s 2018 budget contains a $4.2-million allocation for wastewater capacity enhancement and $3 million for a water tower.
The projects will not impact the tax levy, as they will be financed entirely from water and wastewater rates and have already been factored into the rate structure.
