LANCASTER, Ontario – After a presentation from EVB Engineering, the Council of the Township of South Glengarry voted in favour of approaching the City of Cornwall and ask for an estimate for servicing the Glen Walter area with water and waste water services.
At their meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 22, Council heard from EVB Engineering that Glen Walter had only seven years of capacity left in their waste water treatment plant based on projected growth.
EVB was represented by Marco Vincelli and Josh Eamon.
Vincelli pointed out that the cost to an individual to privately provide their own water service would cost between $12,000 and $20,000 to install a well, and to install a septic tank for waste water would cost more than $30,000.
To support ongoing growth in the Glen Walter area, EVB presented three options for South Glengarry to consider to help expand their water and waste water capacity.
The first option suggested only expanding water and waste water services in the most densely populated areas of Glen Walter, the second option would provide for the most densely populated urban areas as well as half of the Sapphire Hills development and half of the Bayview Estates development.
The cost for Option 1 would be $32,409 per lot and $24,675 for Option 2.
Option 3 had the lowest cost per lot at $22,474, but also recommended that the Glen Walter water and waste water treatment plants be decommissioned and that the Township seek support from the City of Cornwall to provide those services, through South Glengarry’s pipes.
“Hopefully it would be a lot less to build the lines and connect them to the City. I think we should approach the City to see what they would charge,” said Deputy Mayor Lyle Warden.
The Township’s General Manager for Infrastructure Ewen MacDonald said that if Cornwall did connect Glen Walter to their system, there may be additional costs, such as the construction of pumping stations and other infrastructure.
There was also concern that residents of Glen Walter, who have already paid to be connected to the existing water and waste water treatment plants would have to pay again to connect to the City of Cornwall’s system.
In order to know that cost though, Vincelli told Council that the City of Cornwall will want to know exactly how many cubic meters they will be pumping into and out of Glen Walter.
Councillor Sam McDonell raised concerns about ceding control of water and waste water to the City of Cornwall, but he did ultimately vote in favour of endorsing Option 3 and approaching the City of Cornwall regarding the cost of connecting Glen Walter to their system.
“I still have a concern with connecting with Cornwall. We can control what we charge our residents, but we cannot control what Cornwall charges us for sewage,” McDonell said. “Would we rather spend more money, but control our water and our sewage.”
McDonell also raised liability concerns around the water that Cornwall provided to Glen Walter.
“At the end of the day, we are responsible for whatever Cornwall puts in their water,” he said.
The Township of South Glengarry is also currently involved in negotiations with the City of Cornwall to provide water services to some businesses along Boundary Rd., but South Glengarry Council made it clear that they wanted to keep the Glen Walter request separate from that other issue.
