Executive Summary:

On January 6, 2020, Council passed Council Resolution CR4/2020 which approved construction of a sanitary sewer and private drain connections on Baseline Road from 7th Concession Road to 8th Concession Road. This was the first local improvement to be processed under a local improvement policy update passed in November of 2019 (the 2019 Policy).

Five (5) objections were received by the objection deadline under O. Reg. 586/06. An additional written objection as well as a petition signed by owners of twenty-four (24) properties on Baseline Road were received after the deadline. The majority of the objections to the project concerned the costs of paying for the sanitary sewer and private drain connections within the public right-of-way in addition to the cost of septic sewer changeover. The objections received prompted Administration to consider the impacts of the 2019 Policy on this project and to explore ways to address the objections received.

The 2019 Local Improvement Policy was reviewed and substantially amended, The proposed amended local improvement policy is attached as Schedule “A” and a detailed explanation of the changes is included in the Discussion section of this report.

Baseline Road has been identified by Administration as being a priority for construction of a sanitary sewer for the following reasons:

• No existing sanitary sewer

• High level of benefit from an environmental standpoint due to number of septic systems that can be decommissioned following the work

• Suitable outlet exists without the need to oversize sewers

• Construction of a sanitary sewer on Baseline Road may provide development opportunities through property severances and/or development of vacant lots, which may in turn add tax revenue to the City

• The environmental benefit to the Baseline Municipal Drain abutting the properties in question

Administration reviewed options to address property owner concerns. The following recommendations by Administration are being offered for Council’s consideration:

• Three (3) year extension to Property Standards by-law 9-2019, Schedule A, section 1.21 which states that a property must connect to a municipal sewer within one (1) year from the date that the sewer becomes available, for properties with new septic systems. This would apply to all four (4) of the property owners with existing permits for septic systems upgrades.

• Revisions to the Local Improvement Policy which would decrease the per metre frontage costs assessed to property owners. For property owners, this will lower the overall per linear metre frontage assessment cost of the local improvement from $450.81 to $244.21. The City would absorb the additional costs associated with this change.