The former mayor of Erin has provided Wellington County council with some input on the future of the Station Street bridge and dam and the pond on the future site of the new Hillsburgh library.
The Town of Erin is currently undergoing an environmental assessment (EA) for the bridge and dam.
The adjacent property, owned by the county, is the planned site of the new Hillsburgh library and includes a pond that is controlled by the dam.
At its Oct. 18 meeting, Erin council was presented with several options, ranging from doing nothing to:
– rehabilitating the dam and reconstructing the bridge, at an estimated total cost of $5.1 million ($2.7 million direct cost to the town); or
– reconstructing the bridge and decommissioning the dam at an estimated total cost of $3.5 million ($1.7 million direct cost to the town).
At the Oct. 27 county council meeting, former Erin Mayor Lou Maieron, a fisheries biologist, appeared as a delegation to outline project concerns, which he said had been expressed to him by local citizens.
Noting the issue came before Erin council during his time as mayor, Maieron stated the town and county are co-owners of the dam.
“Yet without a dam there is no pond. Many have wondered what the pond has to do with the library? There’s been no answers to that, so I would request that you do a planning justification for it,” Maieron told council.
He said “the concerning part” is that while the town has commissioned an Environmental Assessment that projects up to $5.1 million in costs to remedy the situation, “the county hasn’t participated much or put any funding toward it.”
Maieron pointed out the options before Erin council include “the strange contingency of allocating monies to remove the dam at a future date.”
He pointed out that prospect creates difficulties “because the two parties may have divergent interests in this matter … Apparently the county wants to keep the pond and the town is more concerned about its road and the bridge.”
This issue is complicated, said Maieron, by the fact many residential properties and some town infrastructure, including the community centre, arena and a municipal well, are currently in the flood plain but might not be if the dam were removed.
“While I understand you can’t build something in the flood plain today is there an obligation, if the opportunity exists, to remove those properties from the flood plain?” he asked. “If flooding occurs I’m sure the insurance companies will be looking at who is responsible.”
Maieron suggested council invite Ministry of Natural Resources dam experts to give a presentation for the county.
“You need to know what you own and what your responsibilities are,” he stated, adding council should also solicit a presentation from the Credit Valley Conservation authority on “their experience as to why they did not purchase the pond … and also what’s best for the Credit River.”
Marion added, “The county is very proud of it’s Green Legacy … Surely, I think, you want to move forward with a green approach to this pond.”
Maieron offered two suggestions to council, one of which is the county purchase the road from Erin, leaving the town to “build its bridge where best it can.”
The other suggestion, which Maieron said he prefers, is to “take the pond offline and make a smaller pond.”
That way, said Maieron, “The county could keep the pond and the cost would go down,” and the “town would build its bridge at a much lower cost.”
He added the plan would allow the county to “create a nice beautiful park with a meandering stream,” through the library property, “which is what the original intent was.”
Mayor George Bridge told Maieron, “We’ll take your concerns to staff as part of an ongoing process.”
No other councillors questioned or commented directly on Maieron’s presentation. However, later in the meeting, following a report form the Information, Heritage and Seniors Committee, councillor Allan Alls, the current mayor of Erin, responded to “clear up some basic facts.”
Alls noted the previous council was given two years to come up with a solution and “nothing of significance was done.”
He added, “We’re now under orders to have this completed by the end of this year.”
Alls explained, “the dam, at the very least, is 95 per cent owned by the Town of Erin,” and the “water is not controlled by the dam but by the control structures that are on county land.”
He also noted that “what triggered the EA was not the poor condition of the dam, but the poor condition of the bridge, which was identified in 1971 and nothing was done.”
Alls pointed out “properties built in the flood plain are at their own risk” and noted the Hillsburgh arena is not designated as an emergency shelter in case of flooding, as there is no backup power system available.
“All these factors were weighed in the EA,” said Alls.
In an Oct. 11 letter to Erin council, Maieron raised the possibility a “backroom closed meeting deal” had been reached on the issue between the town and the county.
Alls responded, “Although there was no requirement for a public meeting, Triton (the town’s engineering firm) held one in Erin in May of this year and all the facts were displayed. Mr. Maieron did not attend.
“We are at the eleventh hour of this whole EA and I question why Mr. Maieron would bring his facts forward now,” said Alls.
