It was not an outright rejection.
County council has approved a recommendation from its roads committee on May 27 that could see the upper tier providing some financial help for a municipal drain in old Erin village.
Erin Town Manager Lisa Hass wrote to county engineer Gord Ough on Jan. 18, explaining there have been ongoing problems with drainage at the north end of Erin, adjacent to the former railway line, known as the Deer Pit.
She said currently runoff come from the industrial subdivision adjacent to the pit, a large tract of farmland to the north, west, and east, as well as from off County Road 124.
After some studies going back to 1999, Erin council has identified a preferred solution that includes building a storm water management facility in the Deer Pit, and a storm sewer outlet from the Deer Pit to the north tributary of the West Credit River, travelling along the former CNR right of way, with an outlet at the 10th Line.
Hass said all the engineering work has been completed, and the approval process has been initiated and the town, having received a stimulus funding grant, is ready to proceed.
She said the studies, though, have demonstrated that “a significant amount of water is being contributed to the area by Wellington County Road 124.”
So, she said, Erin was asking that the county consider participating in the project with some cash. She noted that under the Drainage Act, the town could force a contribution from the county, but it does not want to take that route.
Ough said the county has taken part in many drainage projects of this type, and he recommended the county help pay for this one, “as long as it is as part of a municipal drain created under the provisions of the Drainage Act.”
When the roads committee considered the recommendation, it at first considered a motion to defer the issue until the June roads committee meeting.
But, after some debate, the committee unanimously decided to refer the issue back to county staff for a further report at the June roads committee meeting.
Ough had noted that the entire Main Street of Erin has had a difficult history. In 1998, the province downloaded then-Highway 24 through the village to the county. At the request of the town, a truck bypass study was done, the intent of which was for the county to build a truck bypass route to eliminate through truck traffic from Main Street in the village.
When that bypass was built, the Main Street responsibility would transfer to Erin, and the bypass would become a county road. At the urging of the town, planning was done for the reconstruction of Main Street, and it was completed in 2002.
However, the bypass was never built, and the county still owns, and is responsible for Main Street.
County council will consider recommendations on the issue from its roads committee on June 24.
