A new sewage treatment pump station in Wiarton could be the last puzzle piece to opening up development according to staff.
The Town decided at its council meeting Tuesday (March 5) it will apply for support through the provincial government’s Housing Enabling Water Systems Fund for a new sewage pump station #3. Part of that application prep will include a preliminary design and update water and sewer modelling of Wiarton.
CAO Bill Jones told council, “Just for perspective, what we’re talking about here is the ability to add a couple thousand homes almost. So 1,500 to 2,00 homes in Wiarton over a very long period of time. So when we’re looking at long-term planning, this is something that could essentially, over a very long period of time, double the size of this town.”
He explained, ‘That’s not going to happen immediately but the fact that we can build something to make sure that we have that kind of ability in a time when housing shortages are everywhere, it also gives developers in the area opportunities to provide multiple types of housing to accommodate low-income, to accommodate single-family, to accommodate mixed-residential uses.”
Jones added, “So it’s quite exciting actually, sometime sewage pumping stations don’t sound like the most exciting thing in the world but this is one of those things that’s a hindrance to development and if we as a municipality can provide this with funding from other levels of government, it really opens the door to make sure that Wiarton can continue to grow for decades to come,” says Jones.
Councillor Cathy Durst supported the application for a grant saying, “This would allow the municipality to become a partner in housing development. I know that many members of the public believe that municipalities, towns, build houses— and we are not landlords. We can be partners to landlords. Our role in attainable housing is to make sure that we do, what we do, which is to provide the infrastructure to enable the development to occur.”
Durst hopes developers will see that, and feel enabled to build in Wiarton.
She adds, “I think that overall, strategically, this is a very, very important project for this community to undertake.”
Mayor Jay Kirkland was just in Ottawa alongside other local representatives for the Canadian Nuclear Association conference where a potential new Bruce Power generating station was discussed. He noted, if ‘Bruce C’ was to become a reality, there would be an even greater demand for housing supply throughout the area.
“This is a very good news thing for us, sitting where we are that maybe we can provide all kinds of housing,” says Kirkland.
Kirkland notes the Town has been working on its wastewater capacity for years.
About $100,000 from wastewater and sanitary sewer reserves was approved for preliminary design work and sewer modelling.