by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative
The Town of Essex will not apply for the second round of the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund (HEWSF), which – if successful – could have provided funds for the construction of the Colchester Water Pollution Control Plant.
This Provincial program is taking applications from municipalities and will select successful projects for a grant. If successful, the Town of Essex’s contribution would have been 27% of the total project cost.
This decision was made at the October 7 meeting.
The Town of Essex applied in the first application round, making that decision at the April 2 meeting. At the time, it also appointed Stantec Consulting Ltd. to provide engineering design services for the plant. That study is in progress, and has cost around $2.6M, Kate Giurissevich, Director of Corporate Services/Treasurer, explained.
The consultants have created an approximate layout of the site, but still have to complete a detailed design, Manager of Capital Works and Asset Management, David McBeth, explained.
He suspects it is around 25% complete.
A letter from the Ministry of Infrastructure for the Province was received at the August 12 meeting, however, noting the application submitted for the Colchester Water Pollution Control Plant under the HEWSF was not approved for funding.
The Province noted at the time it would launch a second intake for HEWSF, and municipalities would be able to resubmit their project applications or submit new proposals for consideration.
Giurissevich sought Council approval to see if an application should be made to the second round of funding.
The total cost estimate for the phase one upgrades for the Colchester Water Pollution Control Plant was estimated at $42.8M, it was noted previously.
That would mean $9M of debt would be required for the project.
Should the Town not proceed with applying for the grant, and construction occurs sometime after 2033, there would be a debt of $40M, she explained.
In both plans, the debt would be repaid through Development Charges and wastewater fees.
“There is risk present in this model, because we must repay the debt. Therefore, in order to repay it, development must occur,” Giurissevich explained, before Council decided not to proceed with applying for the grant. “Should development not occur in Colchester, we would have to find monies from other sources, such as taxation in the interim in order to repay the debt.”
Should the Town apply and receive funding for the Colchester Water Pollution Control Plant, it does fit within Essex’s Debt Management Policy, she added.
Council had the option to proceed with the application, or not proceed.
In answering Councillor Brad Allard’s question on why Essex did not get selected for funding in the first round of applications, Giurissevich said there was not much information provided other than there were many applications received with a limited amount of funding.
Councillor Rodeny Hammond was leaning towards not applying, as he believed Essex would not receive it. Perhaps there will be technical improvements available in the future that can save money on the project, he added.
Councillor Jason Matyi made the motion not to apply for the grant.
“I think there is a need to delay applying for new funding until a more fair funding model is established,” Matyi said. “Given that the Colchester Water Pollution Plan is primarily driven by future development, it may not be immediately necessary. I think it would be prudent to first decide the financial business behind it.”
In addition, he believes the Town would be unlikely to receive the full amount, which would place a heavy financial burden on residents.
Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley asked about what the cost would be to update the plan between now and 2035 in order to keep it relevant. McBeth said that was not certain, as the future technology would be unknown at this time. The plant is being designed with the best technology. The engineering design would just be shelved and used in the future if another grant is received or when it is needed to support development in the area.
The plan is being designed for 20-years down the road.