Citing many unanswered questions, Chatham-Kent Council has voted to defer a decision on needed water and wastewater infrastructure until next month.
After CK’s Public Utilities Commission previously identified $1.7 billion in combined water/wastewater needs, the municipality hired Municipal VU Consulting Inc., to provide options on how best to address these needs in the most cost-effective ways.
In a report presented last week, Municipal VU presented several options to council, including not moving forward with a costly, but long-awaited upgrade to the Wallaceburg water treatment plant. The firm also suggested running a water line from the Chatham water treatment plant to Wallaceburg, Ridgetown and Blenheim to service those areas.
As well, the report identified an area of Southwest Chatham that was missed in the PUC master plan, which could require over $500 million in water and wastewater infrastructure upgrades by 2051.
Many council members felt more information was needed before any decisions could be made on how to move forward.
“This isn’t an easy decision for us to make,” said Ward 1 Councillor Lauren Anderson. “And in no way, shape or form do I feel like I’m the expert to sit around a table and say this is exactly what we should be doing with a two billion dollar deficit and lifecycle and capital costs.”
Ward 5 Councillor Carmen McGregor, who is also a member of the PUC, took issue with the report, stating that it indicates a lack of communication between the municipality and utility staff. She added that the report was only just received by the PUC less than a week ago.
“For these reasons alone, these recommendations need to be referred back to the PUC and CK administration,” said McGregor. “The PUC commissioners received this information less than a week ago, and it was only provided to council on Wednesday. One day prior to going to the public. As councillors, we make pretty big decisions based on reports provided to us. We trust that the information we see is accurate.”
Administration stressed the importance of making a decision without too much delay, as project costs continue to rise.
Ward 5 Councillor Aaron Hall agreed with McGregor about deferring the decision.
“We have a lot of unanswered questions,” said Hall. “Judging by zero deputations tonight with this report, our community is not aware of this proposed new direction. So I believe that staying true to our council’s strategic direction of being open and transparent, that points us to send this issue back.”
Council voted unanimously to defer the motion until its next meeting on July 14.