It turns out the engineering report on which Guelph-Eramosa councillors based some very strong criticism of a local developer was not at all accurate in the first place.
“Basically, we’ve gone from being 95 per cent wrong to 100% correct,” said Charlie Kuiken, president of Charleston Homes.
Earlier this month Charleston Homes was accused in a report by township engineering consultant R.J. Burnside and Associates of incorrect sewer connection for 95% of the 130 homes in phase one of the Noble Ridge subdivision off Harris Street in the south end of Rockwood.
But on May 21, R.J. Burnside engineers Carley Dixon and Gord Feniak retracted assertions from a May 6 report that “the majority of lateral connections” did not meet provincial standards because they “were made in the horizontal plane” instead of being installed at the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions.
“Clearly the discussion [on May 6] was affected by our error,” Dixon and Feniak said in their follow-up report last week.
“Please accept our apologies. We would also like to extend our apologies to Drexler Construction (the contractor), Charleston Homes and Amec Environment and Infrastructure (Charleston’s engineering consultant).”
Attached to the Burnside report was a copy of the provincial standard, which shows “a range of acceptable configurations in addition to the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions.”
Dixon and Feniak further explained “sewer videos reveal the actual installations were made slightly above the horizontal plane” and an excavation of seven of the connections showed the laterals were installed deeper than previously proposed.
“Nevertheless, all of them comply with [the provincial standard]. All of them were sloped properly toward the sanitary sewer,” stated Dixon and Feniak, adding they are satisfied the seven excavated connections are representative of the rest of the installations.
“We have no concerns with the installation of sewer laterals in this project.”
As a result, council reversed two previous decisions and agreed to approve preliminary acceptance of the work in phase one of Noble Ridge and to reduce, from just under $3.3 million to less than $1.2 million, the letter of credit required by the municipality for the subdivision agreement.
Mayor Chris White said township officials were present during the re-inspection and he acknowledged the sewer connections meet provincial standards.
However, he noted councillors “can’t make engineering decisions” and have to rely on the information provided by township consultants.
“It’s obviously something council’s not pleased with,” White said of the mix-up by Burnside. “It’s difficult for everybody and we’re happy it’s resolved … they made a mistake and we’re moving on.”
Kuiken seemed satisfied with the apology from Burnside, noting the township’s engineer “was just wrong” in its interpretation of the provincial standard.
“The acknowledgment and apology of Burnside is important not only to Charleston Homes and the Township of Guelph-Eramosa, but also to our very capable subcontractors Drexler Construction, who did the work, and Amec engineering, who certified the work,” Kuiken said.
“Charleston Homes looks forward to the completion of the Noble Ridge subdivision.”
He added Charleston Homes does not blame council, as the information they were operating with was incorrect.
However, Drexler Construction owner and president Alf Drexler had a much different reaction to the Burnside apology.
“I don’t think the letter really goes far enough for the apology we deserve,” Drexler told the Advertiser.
“We were all blindsided by this.”
He called previous statements from councillors “unfair” and said he has received numerous complaints and phone calls since councillors’ comments were documented in the May 10 Advertiser.
Regardless of the Burnside reports, Drexler explained that in many cases the only way to install sewer connections is on a horizontal plane.
“We’ve done thousands of these installations … our work has always been top-quality,” said Drexler.
“We’ve been in business for over 40 years and there’s never been a problem … We’ve got a long history here.”
Councillor Corey Woods, one of the most outspoken members of council at the May 6 meeting, said in an interview on Tuesday the ordeal has been “a tough one” for the township.
“As far as council goes, we can only make a decision on what is presented to us,” Woods said. “We need that information to be correct so we can make an informed decision.”
He acknowledged the sewer connections meet provincial standards, but noted some of the confusion could have been avoided if the sewer connection drawings matched “what is in the ground” and if someone could have verified the installations from the outset.
