Written By Jan Sims
MIDDLESEX CENTRE - Middlesex Centre council held a special meeting on May 8th to review a report on its Servicing Master Plan.
The Plan sets out future needs regarding water, wastewater, stormwater and solid waste servicing systems. As well, it identifies and evaluates solutions to support growth in the municipality to the year 2042.
“I’m pleased to say we’re nearing the final stages of this study,” said Public Works Director, Rob Cascaden. The study has been ongoing since 2022, including a public meeting in 2023 and an update to council in December by the report authors from Stantec Consulting.
“In general, your infrastructure system is in very good shape. It services the community very well,” consulting engineer Jeff Paul told council at the May 8th meeting.
The Servicing Master Plan has identified projects totaling in excess of $200 million over the next 20
years. However not every project will get off the ground, and funding will be determined by yearly capital budgets. “You’re going to get hills and valleys, so projects are going to possibly come forward in time and go backward in time as you respond to development pressures,” said Paul in encouraging flexibility.
The latest initiative updates a Servicing Master Plan that was completed in 2010. “There are a lot of development pressures, and that’s what the Master Plan is designed to address,” said Paul.
During the question-and-answer session with council members, Ward 1 councillor Debbie Heffernan raised the issue of project priorities. “For $200 million we definitely need to prioritize and figure out how to pay for this because I don’t think we want to borrow money all the time,” said Heffernan. “This is a long term project, but do we have priorities and other ways of getting funding?,” asked Heffernan.
Council was reminded that it’s a long-term project. “We absolutely have to set priorities,” said Cascaden.
