The township has commissioned a peer review of planning for a project to expand capacity at Mapleton’s wastewater treatment plant (WWTP).
On March 15 council directed staff to engage CIMA Consulting Engineers to conduct a peer review of growth projections and solutions recommended in an environmental assessment by Exp Services, a consulting firm facilitating the wastewater project.
Fees for the peer review will total $25,000.
In 2015 council authorized Exp Services to undertake a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment for Wastewater Servicing for Mapleton. The EA was completed in mid-2015 and a report from CAO Manny Baron indicates some work has been done to provide a re-rating of the plant to 900 cubic meters per day.
“As of the date of this report, the township has not yet received the re-rating,” the report states. “In studying various aspects of the project, it was noted that some of the information Exp has provided could be based on outdated information, for example, we found that population growth projections were based on the old county Official Plan document. There are several other areas of concern that were noted which caused us to dig deeper and question the process.”
A report from CIMA dated Feb. 7 indicates the firm undertook an initial review of the Mapleton Wastewater Servicing Class EA and associated background information.
“Through this review, we have identified some opportunities to provide an improved long-term wastewater strategy for the township’s consideration,” the CIMA report states.
“It’s our understanding that the EA may have underestimated the growth rates in the township. We’d recommend evaluating the sensitivity of growth projections against the preferred wastewater servicing strategy,” the company states.
“We have an experienced team at CIMA that is already ultimately familiar with the opportunities and constraints of wastewater plants discharging into Conestogo Lake. We are currently working on the detailed design for upgrades to the nearby Arthur WWTP, which has many similar constraints and opportunities as the Mapleton WWTP.”
The Feb. 5 report, signed by CIMA regional vice president Tom Montgomery, indicates the company was planning to prepare an overview of its findings and a proposed work plan for presentation to the township at a meeting on Feb. 13. A special council meeting on Feb. 13 was held in closed session under Section 239 of the Municipal Act allowing council to go into closed session for education or training purposes.
At the regular Jan. 23 council meeting Exp representatives were questioned by council members after presenting an update on the project.
Exp project coordinator Jean Louis Gaudet told council the EA had been completed, with no follow-up orders received following the issuance of a notice of completion, on Nov. 17, 2017, leaving the township free to proceed with the recommendations in the Class EA, including:
– 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.
At the Jan. 23 meeting, Gaudet said Exp recommended a two-stage process 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) with ECA approval anticipated by summer, and the tender and construction of pollution control plant improvements expected to take place in the fall. After completion of initial upgrades, Exp’s timeline called for work to begin toward ECA approval for phase two, upgrading to the 1,300m3/day target.
This would include continued river water monitoring and an 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.
Several councillors questioned the proposed timeline at the Jan. 23 meeting, with councillor Dennis Craven asking, “Why is it taking so long?”
Mayor Neil Driscoll asked Exp representatives why, given the relatively minor nature of upgrades for re-rating to 900m3/day, it couldn’t be accomplished by spring?
Exp representatives responded that ministry approvals were still needed for some portions of the project, after which a tender process would be required.
At the March 13 meeting, Craven asked how long the peer review would take.
“A couple of months,” replied Baron.
Councillor Michael Martin asked if the peer review would impact ongoing work on the project.
“This doesn’t change anything with Exp and their timelines … this is business as usual? This is just a second opinion on the work to date?” Martin asked.
“And future works,” Baron replied.
Baron’s Feb. 13 report indicates that following discussions involving public works director Sam Mattina and members of the township’s senior management team it was agreed a review should be undertaken.
“Overall, we want to ensure proper management of this project is achieved and that fiscal management is a priority,” the report states.
