HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-04-06, Page 22 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday, April 6, 2005
Local municipalities part of $350 million project
Continued from front page
There are many com-
ponents of the project:
as well as the Lake
Huron pipeline to Exeter
(one that will also serve
Hensall and possibly
Seaforth), there is a $15
million pipeline project
to Strathroy-Caradoc
and possible extensions
to Glanworth and
Tillsonburg.
Also, the Elgin plant
will be expanded and
upgraded, with a
residue management
program for both the
Elgin and the Huron
plants. There is also a
southeast reservoir and
pump station going
ahead in London next
year.
There will be trans-
mission line improve-
ments and twinning in
both the Huron and
Elgin systems, as well as
an improvement in
emergency power
capacity in case of
power outages.
Another proposed part
of the project will offer
economic benefits to
Huron County if it goes
ahead. A world-class
Water Treatment
Research Facility has
been planned for the
Lake Huron treatment
plant at Port Blake. If it
goes ahead, Steblin said
it would be the first
large flow water testing
area in North America.
"This could be the
Silicon Valley of water
treatment," he said,
adding it would attract
other businesses to the
area. The project is
dependant on govern-
ment grants and would
be a private/public ini-
tiative, which so far
includes Trojan
Technologies, Earth
TEch, CRESTech, the
University of Western
Ontario, Fanshawe
College, and Dillon
Consulting as partners
on a steering committee.
Steblin said many agen-
cies have expressed
interest in the project
and studies have shown
it is viable.
Another part of the
project — one that will
go ahead with or with-
out government grants
— is a Green Power
Initiative, which will see
a 1.5 megawatt wind-
mill erected at both the
Lake Huron and Elgin
treatment plants as well
as the London landfill
site. Enough electricity
will be generated by the
windmills to power the
plants, something that
makes economic sense,
Steblin said.
Benefits from the
HELP project are that it
will reduce reliance on
groundwater, provide
emergency backup
power, expand the use
of green power and
make southwestern
Ontario a worldwide
centre of excellence for
clean water.
"There's a long way to
go in terms of turning
this dream into a reali-
ty," Steblin said, adding
most of the components
of the projects will need
to get done sooner
rather than later.
He said the federal
government has shown
interest in the project,
but since Ontario
Premier Dalton
McGuinty requested
more money from the
feds, there has been a
"cooling" in the rela-
tionship between the
two levels of govern-
ment, something that
could harm the potential
of getting grant money.
Pat McNally of the City
of London said every-
body needs to be on
board for the entire pro-
ject to go ahead. In
addition to the CSIF
grant, he said the Joint
Boards are looking at
alternative grants. He
said by pulling the 14
municipalities together,
the project's scope
exceeds what each
municipality could do
individually.
"We're in this togeth-
er, doing something pos-
itive," McNally said. "If
we're not successful, it
won't be for a lack of
trying."
Steblin said that if the
Joint Boards don't have
a definitive answer on
funding within a year,
some of the projects will
have to go ahead, while
individual municipalities
will have to decide if
South Huron sees funding
Continued from front page
would see the federal
and provincial govern-
ments pay 33 per cent
each of the $4.8 million
Crediton/ Centralia
sewer project.
The municipality has
also been approved for a
$4.8 million Ontario
Strategic Infrastructure
Financing Authority
(OSIFA) loan for the pro-
ject, so council decided
to move some of that
money to other projects,
assuming it receives the
COMRIF grant.
The municipality will
use $1.9 million of the
OSIFA loan for the sewer
project, $2.4 million for
a $3 million project in
Huron Park that will see
half of the residential
sewage works replaced
in 2005, and $500,000
for a sewer main exten-
sion along Highway 21
to service development
on the Oakwood Inn
property as well as prop-
erty on the east side of
Highway 21.
Both of the latter two
projects will be gradual-
ly paid off by the proper-
ty owners.
If the municipality
doesn't receive the COM -
RIF grant, it can apply
again.
Other council news:
Huron Park update
While the planned sale
of the industrial side of
Huron Park has been
delayed, South Huron
finally received a plan of
subdivision from the
province, although the
municipality would like
POLICE BRIEF
Damage to new trailers
EXETER —Three mobile homes were damaged at
Northlander Industries on Thames Street in Exeter.
Police say between March 28-30, someone entered the
new trailers which were covered by tarps. The siding
on one melted slightly after a firecracker was set off A
smoke bomb was placed inside another trailer and two
tarps were damaged.. Police say most of the damage is
minor.
to see some changes
made.
In a meeting last week,
municipal staff looked
over the document, pro-
vided comments and
sent the plan back to the
province for alterations.
"Hopefully they will
come back with some-
thing more acceptable,"
Brown said, adding the
meeting was "very pre-
liminary."
Morley said the plan of
subdivision was simply a
first draft and the
province has told him
the project is now a
"high priority."
The province
announced last August
o1, Gaiser
"", Kneale
EXETER - 235-2420
GRAND BEND - 238-8484
CLINTON - 482-3401
increase
the industrial side of the
park would be priva-
tized.
their projects live or die.
The South Huron pro-
ject, however, will go
ahead with or without
the CSIF grant. As chief
administrative officer
Larry Brown explained,
South Huron has to
complete the project to
comply with provincial
regulations. If the CSIF
grant is turned down, he
said the municipality
will most likely apply for
a Canada -Ontario
Municipal Rural
Infrastructure Fund
(COMRIF) grant.
Obviously, the bigger
the grant, the less of a
financial burden the
project will have on
local taxpayers.
In the meantime,
Brown said South Huron
is in a holding pattern
while it waits for news
on the CSIF grant. The
municipality has
received an extension
from the province on
when it has to comply
with new water stan-
dards in a post -
Walkerton world.
Bluewater Mayor Bill
Dowson expressed con-
cern about the timeline
and wondered if
Bluewater and South
Huron residents and the
province will be willing
to wait for the pipeline
project to get done.
"I think it's further
away now than I
thought it was," he said.
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