Issue raised during the awarding of municipal contracts for certain aspects of the sewage expansion project
ERIN – Erin’s councilman, Michael Robins, wants to know if the city’s sewage system will be able to handle the projected population growth.
Robins raised the issue at Thursday’s board meeting.
Minimum projections have Erin/Hillburgh’s population goal at 18,000 by 2041.
“The number that the treatment plant has been calculated based on the flow. We have 7.1 million liters per day and this flow compared to the actual flow is what we are talking about here,” said Nick Colucci, director of the infrastructure services for the town of Erin.
If actual throughput is less than 7.1 million liters per day, there will be some remaining capacity, but that won’t be known until it’s built, Colucci said.
“There are ways to update the factory, to create not necessarily more flow but to create storage that would allow us to store during peak periods and release that during lower periods,” Colucci said. . He said the peak period was in the morning and during dinner time.
Robins also introduced a motion calling for updates on the costs and timelines of transferring those from septic systems to the main sewage system as well as the environmental risks of aging septic systems.
The motion is adopted.
Colucci said they are working on local cost estimates for sewer systems.
After some delay, the Town of Erin retained two local contractors for part of the sewage treatment plant project.
On Thursday, the council approved the tenders for the construction of the sewage pumping station and the linear works for the sewerage system. The board approved the $11.5 million bid from Bennett Mechanical Installation Ltd. for the sewage pumping station and Nabolsy Contracting Inc. was awarded the contract for the linear works for $40.9 million.
The tender for the sewage pumping station and linear works was posted on the city’s website on May 31 and 19. Six companies were considered for the sewage pumping station tender, while five were considered for the linear works.
The submissions were reviewed by WSP, the City’s consulting team on the project, and staff. The full report and analysis of the offers are available here.
A statement from the town of Erin says both projects are funded by the development community and there is no financial impact to the town.
He adds that public information centers will soon be scheduled to provide an updated timeline for the project and potential costs for homeowners logging into the system.
Erin Mayor Allan Alls said the announcement is a victory for everyone involved.
“The Council remains unanimously committed to the project and moving it forward. This is a key infrastructure project for the sustainable growth of our community. The system is being built to one of the strictest regulations in North America. North,” Alls said in the statement. “It’s an added bonus that it’s funded by the development community, growth is paid for by future growth.”