Council approves $60,300 from reserves for a new septic at Infra Pipe

At its Oct. 28 meeting, the Huntsville City Council approved an emergency expenditure of about $60,300 for a new wastewater system for the Infra Pipe property, which the township is leasing to the manufacturer.

Staff's report to council notes that the council owns the land on which Infra Pipe is located and that Infra Pipe Solutions Ltd. leases the property from the city. The rented premises include the underground and above-ground parts of the property as well as all buildings located on the property. Pursuant to the agreement with Infra Pipe, the subterranean and underground equipment, systems and fixtures located on the property are not part of the rental agreement and therefore remain the responsibility of the landlord.

Staff recommended that since the repairs were deemed urgent, the funds already spent should come from the Center Street Environmental Reserve.

The reserve is generated from the lease for the properties at 37 Center Street North and 25 North Dufferin Street. According to the staff report, the policy surrounding the reserve is that contributions to the reserve should be maintained until the reserve balance reaches a minimum amount of $4,000,000. There is currently a balance of $1,351,000 in the reserve.

Staff also noted that no funds are scheduled to be transferred to the reserve in 2024 and that lease payments for this property currently go into general revenue.

Councilor Monty Clouthier wanted to know why the property is not connected to the municipal sewer system. Simone Babineau, Huntsville's director of community services, filling in for the report's author, Greg Pilling, manager of facility operations, sales and customer service, said that to connect to municipal wastewater treatment plants, a pipe would have to be installed under the train tracks, which would be prohibitively expensive. “The district will not make it a mandatory connection if the cost would be prohibitive, which clearly would have been the case,” she said.

Would you like to know more? You can find the personnel report here HERE.

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