Woolwich will pay Kitchener $1.5 million for the sewage capacity that will allow for more development in Breslau.
A new cross-border servicing agreement won tentative approval from councillors meeting Tuesday night.
The deal will augment extra capacity from a 2013 agreement, which expanded a 2003 agreement in which Woolwich gets 25 per cent of the wastewater capacity of the Victoria Street North pumping station in Kitchener. The new arrangement adds another 25 per cent of the facility’s capacity.
Director of engineering and planning Dan Kennaley called the price tag “appropriate and fair.” The money will be recovered in development charges levied on the sale of new properties developed in the area served by the new sewer lines.
The extra service could be used for a spate of residential and commercial projects slated for the area, new subdivisions, and a Smart Centres big box development at Ebycrest Road among them. Limits on sewage hook-ups have constrained development options. Now, with drawn-out legal challenges of Waterloo Region’s new official plan over, the township is looking to finalize a planning document – the Breslau secondary plan – that will guide growth in the village.
Kennaley stressed that the new agreement would deal with total capacity, not how it will be allocated. The Breslau secondary plan will determine how the hook-ups will be divvied up among a number of developers. Both major residential builders in the village – Thomasfield Homes and Empire Communities – are looking to go ahead with large new subdivisions. Others are also jockeying for position.
Paul Puopolo, a planner representing Breslau Properties, said his client will need to tap into the sewage capacity to allow for future development currently outside the township’s plan for the settlement area. Likewise, a major industrial user, Conestoga Meat Packers, would like to have access to municipal services as part of a planned expansion of the plant.
Both groups as looking for more cooperation from the township.
Tony Millington, vice-president of finance for Conestoga Meats, said tapping into municipal sewage lines would help with expansion plans at the Menno Street plant.
“We are urgently trying to grow,” he said, noting two of three planned growth areas can proceed without an impact on sewage capacity. The remaining issue would require either an expansion of the onsite wastewater treatment plant or, preferably, connecting to municipal services.
The company is hoping to break ground on the expansion in April, making a timely decision from the township more pressing, he said.
Kennaley noted the township is working on principles to govern allocation as part of the secondary plan review.
It’s still trying to determine how much development can be supported with the increased access to Kitchener’s system.
“We may determine that we have enough capacity to accommodate everyone,” he said.
A meeting between the township and interested developers is scheduled for next week to work out some of the outstanding issues.
