[getsmart-l] Big Pipe deadline looms

[Janet May]

Have your say now, Big Pipe deadline looms 

 

 East Gwillimbury 

Sep 12, 2007 10:45 PM 

'There has to be a better way to do this': resident 
By: David Fleischer 

A big change is coming to the north end of York Region and time is running
out to have your say on the plan.

Until Sept. 21, residents have a chance to review the final report of the
Holland Landing-Queensville-Sharon wastewater study that recommends hooking
up the once-small communities to the Big Pipe.

Although a York Region official says residents will not encounter major
disruptions, one homeowner is upset at the timing and the course of action
proposed to prevent well problems from occurring, such as in Markham in the
past.

Sharon resident Terry Dawson, whose home is on a septic system, expressed
disappointment with the region's lack of foresight in planning the
expansion.

His home is 10 years old and he said if there had been better planning, he
and neighbours in the same situation would not  face construction and other
worries.

"Obviously, the Big Pipe didn't happen overnight," he said, describing the
plan as 10 years too late.

"There has to be a better way to do this."

East Gwillimbury officials have said only new homeowners will face the costs
of hooking up to the pipe, but Mr. Dawson is skeptical. 

The nuisance of having his yard dug up and pipes rerouted was bad enough, as
is the reality that leaving his house off the system would affect its resale
value, he said.

"They say it's not mandatory, but realistically you won't be able to sell
the house ... so it's not really voluntary," he said.

Wells running dry and other problems in Markham lead the Environment
Ministry to impose new conditions on the Big Pipe construction, but those
have posed no problem, according to the region's manager of engineering,
Brian Wolf.

'From a homeowner's perspective, nothingis going to change. Well, they're
going to notice houses popping up around them.'

The situation in East Gwillimbury is very different, requiring little deep
digging, Mr. Wolf said.

"That situation (Markham) is not replicated up here ... there are some
tunnels but nothing on that scale," he said.

As for if residents will notice any difference, Mr. Wolf said everything
should be business as usual.

"From a homeowner's perspective, nothing is going to change," he said.

"Well, they're going to notice houses popping up around them."

There are still numerous homes, including 600 in Queensville, on septic
systems and they will have the option of hooking up or remaining as they
are. While Mr. Wolf said the transition would not be seamless for those on
septic systems, he said it was a local, rather than regional issue.

Mr. Wolf added the region hopes to receive approval from the province by the
end of this month and move forward to the construction phase within a year.
The pipe should be fully installed by late 2009 or early 2010.

 

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