Feature Article January 8, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeVillagers angry over expensive water treatmentby Wilma KennyOver 100 Sydenham villagers, many of them frightened or angry, crowded a special meeting of South Frontenac Council Tuesday, Dec 31. They were there to see council decide to go ahead with a water treatment plant in the Hamlet of Sydenham. Several held signs reading "Please Vote No". Many of the people attending the meeting were under the impression that offers of provincial and federal funding to assist the project would be withdrawn if council did not make a firm commitment to go ahead that night. However, in a later interview, mayor Phil Leonard denied claims he had said there was a year- end deadline. He stated that at "no time had I said that funding was dependent on a decision being reached by the end of 2002". A provincial representative confirmed that although the government ministry involved wanted as much information as possible by the end of the year, there was no funding deadline. The fact that the matter was dealt with at an extraordinary council meeting held on the unusual date of December 31, makes it understandable that Sydenham residents would be under the impression this was being slipped in before the end of the year for some reason.
The decision by council culminates a long process. A Technical Steering Committee consisting of Loughborough district councillors Vic Pobran and Fran Willes, Mayor Phil Leonard, the municipality's engineering consultant and township staff, recently prepared and revised a proposal for the design and funding of the new waterworks. Total estimated cost is $6,798,000. Of this, $4,275,779 is to be covered by OSTAR [Ontario Small Town and Rural Infrastructure & Initiative Program], $515,000 by the School Board, and the remaining $1,622,889 will be shared by the 324 benefiting village residents and businesses. This averages just above $5000 per household, plus hook-up costs and ongoing water use fees.
In deference to the obviously high level of concern at the December 31st meeting, council agreed to open the meeting to comments and questions for half an hour. An hour later, at least 23 people had spoken. Some said that although they were not opposed to a chance for good water, the cost was prohibitive. Some said that if the expense could be spread over the whole township, it would not constitute a hardship for anyone. Mayor Leonard explained that at the time of amalgamation, all four districts had agreed that Sydenham water would be a Loughborough district area rated problem, not a South Frontenac one.
Still others said that as their water was fine, they saw no reason to help pay for their neighbours' problems. Some questioned the process that allowed councillors from the other three districts to vote on the issue, and many accused council of not listening to the people of Sydenham.
There were also worries expressed about possible cost overruns; about the possibility of residents being forced to close up wells; and the impact of chlorination on septic systems and Sydenham Lake. One person asked if all the possible alternatives, such as microfiltration, had been considered.
Guy LaPorte is a spokesman for Totten, Sims, Hubicki, the engineering consultant firm that did the 2002 study which recommended that a plant be built. He dealt with some of the concerns in a telephone interview. He said that they had asked for proposals from a variety of water treatment companies. Microfiltration, a process that produces potable water without chlorine, proved to be almost 20% more costly than the system eventually recommended. As well, Ontario regulations require that all municipal water systems have chlorine added, to prevent secondary pollution from entering the system between the plant and the household tap. He also said that septic systems did not seem to be affected by the small amount of chlorine in treated water, citing municipal systems in Sandhurst Shores and Bloomfield, neither of which have led to problems.
The Sydenham plant will use a 12% concentration of hypochlorite, to be delivered in 5 gallon containers. This is considered to be much safer to handle than the chlorine gas used in larger systems. Laporte also e confirmed that no one would be forced to abandon a well, but added that if even 50 residents did decide to have their wells sealed, economy of scale and government grants would cut the costs, possibly to about $500 per well.
In the end, council approved the water treatment plant in an 8 to 1 vote, with Loughborough councilor Willes being the opposing voter. Mayor Leonard said the next step was for the township to call tenders, and they could still choose to shut down the project if tender prices were "way out of whack."
When interviewed later, Mayor Leonard commented he wasn't surprised at the public's reaction at the meeting, saying that the ones who turned up were the ones who didn't want a water system. "It's a bitter pill for the residents of Sydenham to swallow. However, council was elected to look after the health and safety of all the residents; how could we live with ourselves if we turned down a chance for municipal water and then a tragedy happened?"
As of the end of the week, some villagers say they are considering an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board.
