Ontario Construction News staff writer
Barrie Council has approved a partnership with several landowners to build infrastructure to service future development in the south west part of the city.
At the direction of council, staff will now negotiate a construction, maintenance and operation agreement with the landowners and continue to review detailed engineering material prior to issuing full technical approvals. The project will be paid for by the landowners.
“This is a significant step towards the city’s future growth,” said Mayor Jeff Lehman. “This important piece of infrastructure means we can provide sanitary sewer service, and therefore see construction in portions of the Salem Secondary Plan Area, earlier than the city’s capital plan would have otherwise allowed. This agreement also helps ensure that growth pays for growth.”
Over the past several months, discussions between city staff and the individual landowners have occurred with a goal of finding a solution to allow development to proceed now, while ensuring the safe and reliable collection of wastewater in the area. The permanent servicing solution is currently forecast in the 2021 capital plan to be constructed between 2024 and 2027, yet several subdivisions could be ready by 2023/2024.
The temporary solution provides capacity for as many as 2500 residential units and guarantees that the developer-funded portions of the permanent solution are financially secured.
Lehman calls it an important milestone that provides the city with assurances that the permanent solution for Salem will proceed on schedule. The permanent solution provides the infrastructure needed for full built-out of both employment and residential lands in the Salem Secondary Plan Area.