The Blue Mountains council has put the Lakewood Drive reconstruction project on hold for the foreseeable future.
At its meeting on April 9, council voted to shelve the project for the time being in favour of other infrastructure priorities. In a report, staff recommended that the town proceed to complete 90 per cent of the engineering and design work for the job, then put the entire project on the shelf until another time.
Staff said the project had been pulled from the town’s five-year capital infrastructure plan.
“(The finance department) looked at the scope of construction for the next five years and there are higher priorities,” said Michael Campbell, senior infrastructure capital project coordinator.
The work would have seen the town replace an aging watermain, as well as upgrade underground sewage infrastructure on Lakewood Drive. The road would also be reconstructed as part of the project.
However, as the higher priority projects have emerged – the project has been pushed down the line and will be on hold indefinitely.
“I don’t know what will be the trigger to bring this project back online,” said Campbell.
The entire project was complicated by drainage issues in the area on private property. The town was not able to reach an agreement on how to fix the drainage problems with local property owners, who would be responsible for paying for the work as the drainage upgrades would be classed as a local improvement.
Campbell explained that the subdivision on Lakewood Drive pre-dates the existence of the town and town officials have been unable to find any approved drainage plans for the area.
“The challenge we’ve had is a lack of information and lack of records. We’re poking around in the dark,” he said
He said there are some relatively minor drainage/flooding issues in multiple areas after heavy rainfalls.
A preliminary plan developed by the town would have cost approximately $1 million to implement and Campbell said local residents weren’t interested in proceeding at that price. The plan would have involved the town creating drainage outlets on private property to convey stormwater to Georgian Bay.
However, with no support from local residents, the town could not acquire the necessary easements for the drainage outlets. Campbell said if in the future the infrastructure work proceeds, the town would upgrade drainage in town-controlled ditches only.
Council unanimously voted in favour of the staff recommendation and also suggested the town reach out to the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority on the issue.
