MAXVILLE, Ontario – A monumental milestone occurred in Maxville on Tuesday, Dec. 4 when the tank of the village’s new water tower was raised to the top.
Feelings of excitement and optimism were felt by many in the community of just over 800 citizens. Staff of a local veterinary clinic even pointed out to residents the addition of a water tower in their replica ornamental Christmas village of Maxville.
Adorned with the tartan of the Glengarry Highland Games, the tower represents the approaching, fully realized implementation of the Maxville Water Supply Project.
The process of developing a water distribution system had been a goal for residents for close to 30 years, according to Tara Kirkpatrick, Economic Development and Communications Officer for North Glengarry.
“It’s actually like a refounding of the community,” she said.
Kirkpatrick explained that before the more affordable decision was made to source water from Garry River in Alexandria, sourcing water from St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River were considered but both had a price tag of close to $64 million.
“The entire project was always budgeted as $30 million, with contingencies in each different budget,” said new Mayor of North Glengarry, Jamie MacDonald.
MacDonald believes that the water tower will cost $3 million of the overall project expenses. He explained that the multi-faceted project can be broken down by five tenders: pipe work in Maxville, the water tower in Maxville, a transmission line, upgrades to the Alexandria Water Treatment Plant and a pumping station on Concession Rd. 6.
To date, MacDonald said the project has received 50 per cent or $15 million of its funding from the federal government and $7.5 million from the provincial government. Throughout the development of the project, it has been a goal to have 90 per cent of all costs covered, but to date funding only covers 75 per cent.
“We are still lobbying the province for $4.5 million,” explained MacDonald, who met with members of Infrastructure Ontario last week.
Carma Williams, new Deputy Mayor of North Glengarry, thought the raising of the tank went swimmingly.
“It’s very significant… it indicates that water is really and truly coming to Maxville,” said Williams, who explained that council members over the last two terms and beyond have worked diligently on the project. “This isn’t just about providing the locals who already live in Maxville with safe, potable water, it’s also about growth potential for Maxville and North Glengarry. We see that potential.”
“We’re building for the future and anticipating future growth,” added Kirkpatrick.
Eric Ming, consultant and inspector with EBV Engineering said that approximately 350 occupied lots and 30 vacant lots have been set up to receive water. Clarence McDonald Excavation Ltd., Lanmark Structures and EBV Engineering have worked collaboratively since May to build the water tower. Ming believes that the internal water tower work will begin in the spring of 2019.
“Amazon’s new headquarters is located 24 minutes away and both Amazon and the water project are projected to be complete at the same time,” noted Kirkpatrick. “Amazon has announced that they are going to hire 500 people and they are going to need to live somewhere. We are closer than Ottawa, so it does have a lot of potential. We have room in our community for residential growth and there are established development areas.”
Kirkpatrick also made note that a building moratorium for the community has been lifted as a reliable source of water can finally be guaranteed.
“Even though we aren’t turning on the taps until the end of 2019…the tower is definitely symbolic,” said MacDonald.
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