HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-02-16Clarftwn
Electronic Council Communications Information
Package
Date: February 16, 2024
Time: 12:00 PM
Location: ECCIP is an information package and not a meeting.
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Electronic Council Communications Information Package (ECCIP)
February 16, 2024
Pages
Region of Durham Correspondence
2. Durham Municipalities Correspondence
3. Other Municipalities Correspondence
3.1 County of Renfrew - Rural and Small Urban Municipalities - Affordability 3
of Water and Wastewater Systems - January 31, 2024
4. Provincial / Federal Government and their Agency Correspondence
5. Miscellaneous Correspondence
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*Ontario
R ofr eunwOffice of the eCounty Warden Iasi
. Canada
Expff%& .ce Our H"s o7, _fk"e Our Fa awe!
January 31, 2024
The Honourable Doug Ford
Premier of Ontario
premier@ontario.ca
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9 INTERNATIONAL DRIVE
PEMBROKE, ON, CANADA
K8A 6W5
613-735-7288
FAX: 613-735-2081
www. cou ntyofrenfrew.on.ca
RE: Rural and Small Urban Municipalities — Affordability of Water and Wastewater Systems
Dear Premier Ford,
Please be advised that at the Regular Council Meeting on January 31, 2024, The County of
Renfrew passed the following resolution:
WHEREAS the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) (Section 1.6.6.2) states that municipal sewage
services and municipal water services are the preferred form of servicing for settlement areas
to support protection of the environment and minimize potential risks to human health and
safety and that intensification and redevelopment within these settlement areas should be
promoted; and
WHEREAS the PPS (Section 2.2.1 (f)) states that planning authorities shall protect, improve, or
restore the quality and quantity of water by implementing the necessary restrictions on
development and site alternation to protect all drinking supplies and designated vulnerable
areas, and protect, improve, or restore vulnerable surface and ground water, sensitive surface
water features and sensitive groundwater features, and their hydrologic functions; and
WHEREAS the PPS (Sections 2.2.1(h) and (i)) states that there is consideration of environmental
lake capacity as well as stormwater management practices; and
WHEREAS the Ministry of the Environment, Protection and Conservation (MECP) Procedural
Guideline B-1-5 Policy 2 provision states that water quality which presently does not meet the
Provincial Water Quality Objectives shall not be further degraded and all practical measures
shall be undertaken to upgrade the water quality to the Objectives; and
WHEREAS in 2014 the Township of Whitewater Region authorized Jp2gConsultants Inc. to
undertake a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA) for the purpose of evaluating
viable options to upgrade the 1979 Cobden Wastewater Treatment Plant. This plant did not
meet guidelines for effluent flow into Muskrat Lake and Cobden Wetland being highly sensitive,
at -capacity, inland lake, and Provincial Significant Wetland (PSW) and acknowledged as one of
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the most eutrophic in the province. The plant had ongoing seasonal overflow events, and was
operating at maximum capacity; and
WHEREAS in 2018 the Council of the Township of Whitewater Region approved the
construction of a new parallel mechanical system that would meet all provincial environmental
and regulatory requirements including accommodating future growth. Federal and provincial
contributions only covered 50% of the final construction costs, as there was no ability to
renegotiate with federal and provincial partners once real costs were known. As a result, the
balance of costs ($6M) was debentured over 30 years at interest rates that are slightly punitive
to rural and small urban municipalities; and
WHEREAS in 2019 the Council of the Township of Whitewater Region conducted a Water and
Wastewater Rate Study that demonstrated the need for rate increases of over 100% to fund the
new wastewater treatment plant construction debenture and the significantly increased
operating costs for a parallel mechanical system. Rural and small urban municipalities
experience very limited growth as federal and provincial policies heavily support growth in
urban centers. As there are no other sources of available operational funding, rural and small
urban municipalities are expected to fund the construction and operation of these state-of-the-
art systems from existing property owners and nominal forecasted growth; and
WHEREAS in 2023 the Township of Whitewater Region combined water and wastewater rates
have risen to almost $3,000/year for its five hundred and eleven (511) users and are among the
highest in the County of Renfrew and across the Province of Ontario. There are similarly high
user rates in the Township of Madawaska Valley as a result of Provincial regulations and a small
number of users. Other examples of rapidly increasing rates include the Towns of Deep River,
Renfrew, Arnprior, Laurentian Hills, and Petawawa, and the Townships of Bonnechere Valley,
Laurentian Valley and Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards, where significant upgrades in short
periods of time are making rates unaffordable even with an increased number of users.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Council of the County of Renfrew:
Advocate to the provincial and federal levels of government to make them aware that rural and
small urban water and wastewater systems are financially unsustainable; and Advocate to the
Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), the Rural Ontario Municipalities Association
(ROMA) and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) to examine if the unaffordability
of water and wastewater system operational costs is systemic provincially and nationally.
AND THAT a copy of this resolution be circulated to The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of
Ontario; the Honourable Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure (Ontario); the Honourable
Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities
(Canada); the Honourable Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the
Honourable Andrea Khanjin, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (Ontario),
Cheryl Gallant, MP, Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, John Yakabuski, MPP, Renfrew-Nipissing-
Pembroke and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and
Parks; AMO; ROMA; FCM; and all Municipalities in Ontario.
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If you have any questions regarding the above resolution, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Peter Emon, Warden
County of Renfrew
warden@countyofrenfrew.on.ca
cc: Honourable Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure (Ontario)
Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and
Communities (Canada)
Honourable Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Honourable Andrea Khanjin, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
(Ontario), Cheryl Gallant, MP, Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke
John Yakabuski, MPP, Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke and Parliamentary Assistant to the
Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
AMO; ROMA; FCM; and all Municipalities in Ontario.
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