Municipality of Barrington may pull plug on CSI sewer

Municipality may pull plug on C.S.I. sewer project

by Kathy Johnson

After investing a decade of time and effort along with thousands of dollars for studies and engineering fees, the Municipality of Barrington may pull the plug on the Cape Sable Island sewer project.

By a 4-3 ballot, municipal councillors voted in favor of recommending that the current sewer project be terminated following an in-camera session at last Monday night's (Feb. 1) committee of the whole meeting, even though at the same meeting councillors identified the sewer project as a development priority for the municipality.

The recommendation to terminate the sewer project still needs to be ratified by municipal council before it's final.

The state of the local economy, an increased debt load on municipal taxpayers, and marginal majority support from the community are cited as reasons for terminating the project in the recommendation that goes before municipal council on Feb. 8. The recommendation also states that "...no sanitary sewer survey has ever been completed to determine the location, extent or concentration of any sewer services problems on Cape Sable Island, making it impossible to determine the appropriate solution to an undefined problem;..."

While the municipality was able to secure more than $6.4 million in funding for phase I of the project last year through the Build Canada Fund, the project has been at a standstill because suitable property can't be found for a sewage treatment plant, even though some 20 properties have been considered.

Of the $6.4 million earmarked for the project, the municipality is responsible for contributing one-third ($2.146 million). Of that, $866,000 is federal gas tax money, leaving $1.28 million to be levied from municipal coffers. "Can the municipality afford it and what kind of burden are we going to put on the tax payer?" is the biggest question weighing on councillors' minds said Warden Louise Halliday, adding there's no way to know how council will vote when the recommendation from the committee is considered at the Feb. 8 council meeting.

Councillor Shaun Hatfield, whose district is included in phase I of the Cape Sable Island sewer project, says he doesn't want to see the project scrapped. "There's two issues for me," said Hatfield, including the fact that funding is already in place, and that from the two surveys conducted of island residents, the majority indicated they were in support of the project. "Regardless of the margin, majority rules," said Hatfield. "Without this project we lose the funding and the residents lose their voice."

The other two island councillors, Cathy Stoddard and Murray Atkinson, also voted against terminating the project.