Amherstburg council to vote on ‘make-or-break’ sewer line

A $7.39-million contract to get sewage north of Texas Road to Amherstburg’s treatment plant should stimulate residential development that has stalled for years. Developers in the Kingsbridge, Golfview and Pointe West subdivisions north of the main urban part Amherstburg have wanted to add more homes, but the Edgewater sewage lagoons were at capacity. Amherstburg council will vote Wednesday on the multi-milliondollar contract plus HST to build the sewer lines to divert and pump sewage away from that area to the town’s treatment plant. “Then there will be no stopping us. All the developers that have been held up in that area will be able to expand at will,” Amherstburg Mayor Aldo DiCarlo said Monday.

DiCarlo said there are already subdivision plans in the area, so at the very least hundreds of homes could be built if the sewer project goes ahead. “It’s huge for the town.” The tender to be considered Wednesday is part of an estimated $14-million project that includes upgrades to pump stations, the building of a new force main to connect with the Amherstburg wastewater treatment plant and the 2019 decommissioning of the Edgewater lagoons. DiCarlo said the town received more than $9.5 million in federal and provincial grants for the sewage project soon after he became mayor in 2014.

“It was a make or break for the town,” he said of the funding that came when the town had serious financial woes, but needed to address the sewage issue.

A report going to council says if council doesn’t move ahead with the contract, the town could risk losing that funding and risk being fined by the Ministry of Environment.

The report also said the work could help deal with basement flooding and the surge in flows that happen during heavy rains when storm water runs into the sanitary sewer lines and overburdens the system.

Without the work, future residential development in the area would end, the report said. “This project will allow for residential development and growth to move forward in this area, specifically North Kingsbridge, which has been at a standstill for many years due to the lack of capacity in the Edgewater system,” said the report from manager of engineering Todd Hewitt.

The report said the request for tender was originally issued in April, but the lowest bidder had missing documents and was rejected and the other bidder was over the project budget. So the town changed the project and issued a second request for tenders June 8.

A staff report recommends the lowest bid from J&J Lepera Infrastructures be accepted at $7.39 million.

The town will pay for the project using the grants, user rates and by borrowing money.