Lakeshore Makes Multi-million Dollar Investment in Wastewater Treatment Capacity

The Municipality of Lakeshore is moving forward with a significant expansion to the Denis St. Pierre Water Pollution Control Plant which represents a critical investment in wastewater treatment capacity needed to accommodate growth in the Municipality’s northwestern urban areas.

At its Regular Meeting on Tuesday night, Council passed a resolution to award a tender in the amount of $43.9 million to North America Construction (1993) Ltd., with site preparation at the plant expected to begin in October. The expansion of the Plant will increase treatment capacity by 70 per cent. Read the full Report to Council online.

“While this is certainly a big ticket item, increasing our wastewater treatment capacity is much needed to accommodate the growth of our communities,” said Mayor Tom Bain. “As a Council, we also recognize that the cost of the project should be spread out over time so we limit the burden on current taxpayers and ensure future new developments pay their fair share.”

Council was also presented with a number of financing options for the project. A discussion and final decision on how the project will be funded will occur at a future meeting.

Background

• The Denis St. Pierre Water Pollution Control Plant, built in 1977, treats wastewater in the northwestern portion of the Municipality of Lakeshore.
• Lakeshore’s 2018 Water and Wastewater Master Plan update identified the Plant as nearing its treatment capacity, which spurred an optimization study that increased plant capacity.
• In 2019, Lakeshore initiated the Environmental Assessment (EA) process to expand the capacity of the plant. The EA was completed in 2020. That year, Council budgeted $2.2 million for the design and engineering of the Plant expansion.
• In 2020, the Plant reached its operational capacity due to higher than anticipated population growth and changes to residential water use patterns during the pandemic. As a result of its operational limits, new building and development applications in the service area were temporarily deferred.