When representatives of Christian Aid Ministries of Waterloo came to council on March 13 for a zone change for lands to process vegetables to help feed the poor, council’s main concern was water usage.
That concern was front and centre again at a May 22 council meeting when a zone change recommendation came from staff.
Christian Aid Ministries of Waterloo wants to put a food processing plant into an old hardware and building supply store in Moorefield.
The two adjoining parcels are located at 16 Maudsley Street and Parkview Drive. They require an exception to the township’s old and proposed zoning bylaw.
County planner Mark Van Patter told council such procession plants need a zone change and he recommended the group receive it.
In his original report, Van Patter stated the group would need about 250 gallons of water per day to process about 4,000 to 7,000 pounds of vegetables.
In the latest report, which included a draft bylaw, he was recommending a maximum of 400 gallons of water per day, and that was a sticking point for at least one councillor.
Councillor Jim Curry asked why the recommendation was so high.
“I do have a concern extending it beyond 250,” he said.
Public works director Larry Lynch said he and Van Patter had done some investigating and they took the 400-gallon figure from a similar processing plant being run in Cambridge.
Lynch said they had met with R.J. Burnside, the township’s engineering firm, and, “We did not feel it was a big issue.”
He said the water use would not be “more than a couple of households” on average, and it is “treated water to wash vegetables. Burnside didn’t see it as a massive amount of water.”
He added the amount would not be much different than what was used by the former hardware store on the lands.
Chief building official David Kopp said the 400-gallon limit is tied to site control, and there are a number of businesses in the community that might use that much for their truck washing operations. He concluded the amount is “pretty small.”
Mayor Bruce Whale asked if the plant will require a water meter. Kopp said it will.
Lynch said the 400 gallons is “our recommendation,” yet Curry persisted.
“They said they need 250,” said Curry.
Lynch called the 400 “an upside limit” and said 200 gallons might be adequate for an eight hour shift, but not likely if a second shift is added.
The entire plant is to be run by volunteers.
But Curry said water disposal is precious in Mapleton and “We have developers who want two extra houses. Here, we give them more. It’s a very sensitive [sewage] lagoon to allow more in.”
But councillor Mike Downey said with the number of employees at the old Harron’s Hardware store, it might have used as much as 500 gallons a day and there were no meters at that time.
Renovations include the main building, with 8,000 square feet demolished and 12,000 square feet added. The small leans and the built-in highway trailer along the south lot line would be removed. The narrow shed west of the main building would be removed
The group plans to dehydrate vegetables, package and then send them overseas to feed the poor. There would be 30 to 60 volunteers at the plant between Monday and Friday.
The group proposed waste water from washing vegetables goes into a separating basin and then to the storm sewer system.
The chopped vegetables would be shredded and dehydrated and would be packed in two-kilogram bags and shipped. The dehydration unit would be located in the main building at the northwest corner away from neighbouring homes.
John Martin, of RR2 Morriston, the spokesman for the Christian Aid Ministries of Waterloo, told council in March he is “not comfortable” being locked into a water use agreement because that might depend on the dirtiness of the vegetables being processed.
Downey said the 400 gallon limit is “the only one I’ve seen in our municipality” and he wondered if there is a specific limit to water usage.
Lynch said he knows of no limit. As for the group members, “They will do anything that we need,” and the proposal is what they need.
“They want to do it the right way,” Lynch concluded.
Whale then called a vote on the granting of the zone change. Councillors Knetsch, Downey and Neil Driscoll were in favour, while Curry was opposed.
