Going as planned

Summerside moving ahead with second well field development

The City of Summerside is moving ahead with a plan to develop a second well field for the city.

The field will house a number of high capacity wells that will help feed the city’s current and future fresh water needs.

In it’s 2017 budget, the city set aside $800,000 for its portion of a new well field development that was expected to cost $2.65 million.

The area the city has identified for this purpose is an 80acre parcel between MacKenzie Drive and Bayview Drive on the city’s western border.

The city has been working with the numbered company that owns the land, 100569 P.E.I. Inc., to test it and ensure it can produce enough water to be a viable well field.

Aaron MacDonald, Summerside’s technical services director, told council during a special meeting Monday night that test results from the site just came back last week and are favourable. “The word from the consultants is that yes this site will give us a sustainable amount of water to be justified as a well field,” said MacDonald. MacDonald and Coun. Bruce MacDougall, who chairs the technical services committee, indicated that, now that the city has determined the land will suit its needs, a deal will be worked out with the property’s current owner for the city to take control of the land.

No sale has been made official yet, but the process is moving in that direction.

100569 P.E.I. Inc., has applied to the city to rezone the proposed well field land from R1 to Institutional, to allow for the infrastructure project. It has also applied to rezone an adjacent 30-acre property from R1 to R2.

MacDonald added that the property owner’s plan is to eventually develop residential lots on the second parcel of land.

A new street would be built through the centre of the property that would connect Bayview Drive and MacKenzie Drive.

The well field property is currently split between being used for agricultural purposes and woodland. There were some questions from councillors as to what the future would hold for the land while water is extracted from beneath it, but MacDonald said that discussion would take place later. Monday night’s council meeting was the public’s opportunity to discuss the rezonings. There were several members of the public in attendance at the meeting, but none opted to speak.

Council voted in favour of both rezoning requests. It will vote whether to give final approval during a second meeting Tuesday night.