A delay in a decision on the Station Street bridge and dam is sparking questions about the future of the Hillsburgh library.
The Town of Erin is currently undergoing an environmental assessment (EA) for the Station Street bridge and dam in Hillsburgh.
The adjacent property, owned by Wellington County, is the site of the new Hillsburgh library and includes the pond that is controlled by the dam.
Paul Ziegler of Triton Engineering presented options and cost estimates for the dam/bridge at the Oct. 18 Erin council meeting. Seven options, including doing nothing, were ranked based on 17 criteria.
Ziegler said the preferred option is “B1,” rehabilitating the dam and reconstructing the bridge, at an estimated total cost of $5.1 million ($2.7 million direct cost to the town).
The next option – with a one-point difference in scoring – is “D1,” reconstructing the bridge and decommissioning the dam at an estimated total cost of $3.5 million ($1.7 million direct cost to the town).
Both costs include contingencies, engineering, sales tax and $500,000 for mitigation measures. Ziegler explained this figure was requested by the conservation agencies to improve the “quality of the existing pond” and would not be a direct cost to the town.
Both options also include a $1.3-million cost for the dam decommissioning.
“After consultation with the CVC (Credit Valley Conservation) and the MNR (Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry), they felt that … (even) if you maintain the dam, they’re saying eventually, you’ll still have a cost to remove the dam,” said Ziegler.
That did not sit well with some councillors.
Councillor John Brennan said the decommissioning cost should not be included in option B1 because that would be a decision 50 to 100 years down the road.
“It makes no sense to include that as a current cost. I see it under D1 because we’re going to do that right now. But under B1, I don’t see including that now,” said Brennan. “With all due respect to the MNR, I think that’s dumb.”
Ziegler said the option to decommission the dam is a conundrum.
“If we were to decommission the … dam, which would indirectly decommission the pond, we don’t have access because the town doesn’t own the pond to do that type of work,” he said.
Brennan also mentioned dam ownership, saying that when the issue first arose, council at the time was told the town and the owner of the pond were co-owners of the dam.
“If indeed (the county) legally have become co-owners, that raises questions about our ability to proceed unilaterally with any course of action, the cost proportioning of any such actions and liability concerns,” Brennan said.
Councillor Matt Sammut agreed the town needs “total clarity.”
Brennan added costs do not include a contingency for legal or litigation costs.
“We don’t own the pond as you said, but among the alternatives we are considering, those alternatives include destroying the pond or reducing it by constructing an offline pond,” he said.
“Regardless of who the other owner is, how do we unilaterally go ahead and take the pond away? I don’t think we have that right.”
Brennan added if the county and town ended up in litigation, Erin taxpayers would pay handsomely.
“The Erin taxpayers will not only pay the legal costs of the town, they’ll pay a portion of the legal costs of the county, because we’re part of the county too,” he said.
Mayor Allan Alls noted the dam and bridge are controversial issues in the town.
“I wish the other council had dealt with it, but this council is hung with it and we’ve got to make a decision going forward,” he said.
Alls added council did not have enough information to make a decision.
Council voted to defer receiving the report.
Hillsburgh library
The dam/bridge deferral sparked questions about the future of the Hillsburgh library.
In the past, several county officials have been vocal about wanting to retain the pond. Warden George Bridge said when plans for the library wer announced last year that he wished to “keep the water.”
The library’s design was approved by county council in September and is currently in the site plan stage.
When asked if the county will start construction on the library given the town has not made a decision on the dam and road, county CAO Scott Wilson said “too much is in flux right now.”
Wilson and county councillor Pierre Brianceau attended the town council meeting last week.
Brianceau told reporters the library project could be jeopardized if the pond is drained, but Wilson did not go that far.
“That’s too much of a hypothetical to get into,” Wilson said in an interview.
Following the Oct. 18 meeting Alls said he hopes the county will not pull out of the library project, noting the decision “has to come out of all county council.”
Alls added, “There’ll be a huge issue because the county bought a pond and if we take away the dam, we don’t have a pond anymore.
“I don’t know where they stand legally with that.”
