Thornbury sewage plant upgrade costs jump $4.8 million

The cost of the first phase of an upgrade to the Thornbury wastewater treatment plant has gone up by close to $5 million.

At a special meeting on April 14, The Blue Mountain council approved a staff request to increase the overall budget for the sewage project to $29,000,000 from the approved total of $24,127,000. Town staff presented a report to council about the cost escalations for the project. Tenders for the work were opened on March 30 and staff came directly to council to request the budget increase due to the urgency of the town’s timeline for the project.

The current sewage plant is operating at approximately 80 per cent of its capacity. The anticipated growth will soon eat up the plant’s remaining capacity.

“To put it mildly, we’re about to hit the wall,” said Shawn Carey, director of operations for the town.

The upgrade project would double the capacity at the plant and the town would like the project finished by the fourth quarter of 2024.

“That is a tight and aggressive timeline,” said Carey. “We simply don’t have the time to wait.”

The town received three bids for the project’s construction work ranging from $20.2 million to $23.4 million. The total budget of $29 million includes money spent on engineering work to date, pre-purchasing of some equipment for the project and contingencies.

The project will be funded using $26,100,000 in development charges and $2.9 million from the wastewater asset replacement reserve.

The town is planning four phases to fully upgrade the sewage facility in Thornbury. The current project is Phase 1A with more to follow in future years. Planning and engineering work for the sewage plant upgrade dates back as far as 2009 when the town initially estimated that the project would cost $18 million. Over the years, costs have increased and the town subsequently discovered the plant’s outflow pipe to the Beaver River was not appropriately sized and must be upgraded and relocated from the river to Georgian Bay. That discovery also led to cost increases in the project.

Council approved the increased budget in a 6-0 vote, Coun. Alex Maxwell was absent. Members of council did ask for assurances the new budget would stick.

Coun. Paula Hope referred to “miscalculations” and “mistakes” made in previous reports dating back a number of years.

“We can see through the report a number of challenges in the past with cost estimates,” said Hope. “What can you do to help us with that comfort zone?”

In response, Carey said the town has made a significant investment in a new department to manage capital projects. Carey said town staff spend a lot of time in the initial stages of the process to determine the appropriate scope and size of all projects.

“We made that investment into that division. We’re looking at it with a different lens,” he said.

Coun. Gail Ardiel, who was a member of council in 2009, said it was unfortunate the work done on the project a number of years ago didn’t hold up.

“We thought it was the best of the best. We thought we were doing the best scenario for the town,” said Ardiel, who said despite the cost increase the project had to proceed. “We need to move forward. It’s a lot of money, but I don’t think we have a choice.”