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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLakeshore Advance, 2011-10-26, Page 1010 Lakeshore Advance • Wednesday, October 26, 2011 Future of Bluewater sewer collection Vanessa Brown Lakeshore Advance Bluewater residents living along the Lakeshore now have to wait until Nov. 7 to hear if the pro- posed sewage collection system is a go or not. For the third time in as many meetings, council postponed Hay West Councillor John Gillespie's Oct. 17 motion not to proceed with the project. Coun. Gillespie has repeatedly argued that the time has cotne to inform affected property owners of Bluewater's intentions. "There isn't anymore information to be gotten; we need to make a decision, and it's appropriate for us to make that decision now... because a number of people that live along the Lakeshore are waiting for some direction from council as to what's going to happen in the near future with this project," Coun. Gillespie said in an interview fol- lowing last week's meeting. Ile added the latest deferral effectively keeps those residents in the dark "for another couple of weeks." Coun. Gillespie first made his motion during Bluewater's Oct. 3 session, were it was tabled pending the consulting engineer's Environmental Screening Report, which is the final document of the project's planning stages. The same motion was then deferred during a special council meet- ing held Oct. 11, Coun. Gillespie said, But chief administrative officer Lori Wolfe missed last week's council meeting, and without her minutes from the week before, some councillors were con- fused with the outcome of that session. In W1Wolfe's absence last week, council spent about 20 minutes debating what happened the week before. "Tonight there is quite a grey area," mayor Hill Dowson said before Bayfield Coun. Geordie Palmer motioned to defer, which passed In a 6-4 vote. Couns. George Irvin (Stanley West), Tyler Hes- se), and Janise Zimmerman (Zurich) said they support the motion's philosophy, but couldn't vote in favour until they reviewed the special council meeting's minutes. "At this point, until I have that documentation in front of me, I'm not voting blind," Coun. Kessel said. After the meeting, Coun. Gillespie said the latest deferral clearly shows that "a number of members of council are not prepared to make a decision, and one of the ways of dealing with that is to try and defer the decision to a later date until they can get more information:' Ile's arguing Bluewater already has all the information. Bill Boussey and Janet Smolders, the municipal- ity's consultants on the collection system project, presented part of their Environmental Screening Report (ESR) earlier in the meeting. Smolders summarized the public information meeting held in Zurich in August, confirming about 110 people showed up and said about 20 members of the pub - Hc spoke during question period, mostly outlining their concerns about the system's costs to the homeowner. Smolders received 12 comment forms following the meeting, a surprisingly low amount, she said. K JNDERGARTEN REGJSTRATJON 2011-2012 DATES AND LOCATIONS SOUi1H HURON/BL( WATER AREA SCHOOLS Wednesday Morning, November 9 Huron Centennial School - Call 519-233-3330 Thursday Morning, November 10 Hensall Public School - Call 519-262-2833 Students in the Zurich area will attend the Hensall PS Registration day Monday Morning, November 14 Stephen Central Public School - CaII 519-234-6302 Thursday Morning, November 24 Exeter Public School - Call 519-235-2630 Ted Doherty Director of Education Registration packages are now available for pick up at your local school. CaII your local school to make an appointment. Yo Avon war Maitland JUNIOR K INDERGARTEN en 3 yt'.0 s .,kl by Dec. n,ber 31. 201 t . are eligible for jk n, Septtm,be, 2012 SENIOR K INPERGARTEN 4 y..ti Ad by 1. )ec en,bt•, 31 1011. ate el,Pible Si it SF ,n ,.1'r, n,h,•i 1012 tHMCOo oQQo@ Randy Wagger Chair rojectauShe explained t t six submiss ons opposed the project, "mostly due to a perceived lack of need for sewers and concerns about the grinder pumps and cost." Five comment forms supported the upgrade, she added. Dillon Consulting is recommending that Bluewater install low-pressure sew- age collection systems to 920 lots along Hwy 21 from Grand Bend to St. Joseph. The cost to each homeowner is esti- mated to be between $31,600 and $39,800 depending on the lot size. Boussey and Smolders have recom- mended Bluewater not move forward until a grant is secured. When asked by Coun, Irvin if he thinks it's likely Bluewater will receive funding under the new minority Liberal government, Boussey said he couldn't predict the future but did express disbe- lief that the governing Liberals are fund- ing the sewage treatment plant hut not the collection system that's needed to bring flows to the (;rand Bend treat- ment plant. "i can't believe that a in the air government would... encourage three municipalities coining together to com- bine a system and start the process by providing 2/3 funding for the plant, and then leave the three municipalities out to dry with no funding for the collection system,' he said, with which Coun. Irvin agreed. Deputy Mayor Paul Klopp said thu provincial government "will probably drag their feet" on funding the sewers if it's apparent residents don't want them. Boussey and Smolders are due back at councIl's Nov 7 session to present the rest of the ESR, at which point council will be asked to accept the report. Mayor Rowson stressed that accept- ing the ESR does not mean the project is approved. Bluewater has up to 10 years to move forward with the collection sys- tem upgrades. "If there's no grant, it's not happen- ing; Dowson said. Council also voted to officially remove Bluewater's portion of Dashwood from the collection system project, lalashen Advance Goderich & Area Disaster Relief Fund A check was presented by Donna tovie, President of the Grand Bend Women's institute to Tom Jasper, from the Goderich & Area Disaster Relief Fund. Story on page 19. Discover St. Anne's! Please join stat't' and students of St. Anne's Catholic Secondary School at our annual Open i -louse to learn about programs and services available for the 2012 - 2013 school year. 1%'here: St. Anne's Catholic Secondary School Cafeteria. 353 Ontario St. Clinton When: 'Tuesday November 1, 2011 6:45 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. We look forward to meeting you and your .con/daughter. All Welcome!