Adjala-Tos can’t sugar-coat sewer hookup costs

EVERETT – As expected it was a packed house Thursday night at the Adjala-Tosorontio Municipal Centre for the final public meeting regarding the Everett Secondary Plan proposal.

An estimated 130 residents jammed into council chambers and the adjacent community room April 7 to voice outstanding concerns to council about the plan, which proposes to significantly redevelop the rural community and see it gradually grow to 10,000 people beyond the next 30 years.

The meeting gave residents a somewhat clearer picture of the expenses they will face in the years ahead to connect their homes to the new sewer system included in the plan.

After the meeting, Mayor Tom Walsh said residents are completely “legitimate” in their concerns about these costs, but said future development can’t go on unless the community makes the switch from septic tanks.

Everett resident and former councillor Leo Losereit was in attendance and said the meeting alleviated many residents’ concerns. However, he said council “dropped the ball” in trying to explain the plan to the community.

“It’s always the same thing with this council,” he said. “They try to plan something and they don’t communicate the issue or what the potential problems might crop up. And everyone gets their feathers ruffled and it makes things worse.”

Lisle Coun. Scott Anderson agreed, but he felt the meeting did a lot to make up for the communication breakdown.

At the meeting residents were once again shown some preliminary costs to install the new sewer lines.

Township director of planning Jacquie Tschekalin said the numbers are the “worst case scenario” costs in 2012 dollars and will not necessarily be the actual amounts residents will be charged.

It’s been estimated to cost the township around $570 per metre to lay the main sewer lines in the road along the front of each property.

Tschekalin said the roadwork plus other installation fees for a 75-foot lot could cost as high as $18,000, but there could be savings to be had, like if the installation work coincides with regular township road maintenance.

Homeowners will be individually responsible for connecting their home to the main sewer line, which will likely cost thousands of dollars for the average sized property. This also means homeowners will be on the hook to have their septic systems decommissioned, which runs between $1,200 to $1,500 in today’s dollars.

While many residents left the meeting still worried about their ability to pay for these costs once the time comes years from now, Tschekalin said overall the meeting was helpful.

To help cover the cost of hooking up, Tschekalin said the council of the day can use the Local Improvement Charges Act to allow residents to make payments for the upgrades over a 10-year period. She said the township will also look to the province for funding and will be asking the local developers to help offset the costs.

“The concerns over those payments is not going to go away,” she said. “There’s no way to sugar-coat that. I think council was trying to say (Thursday) night this is the worst case scenario, were going to work with you and try to make it as easy as we can.”

Now that the public meetings are done, council is now considering all of the comments and concerns. The vote to adopt the plan may take place later this month.

If passed by council, the plan will be forwarded to Simcoe County for the next round of approval.