The future of Wallaceburg’s water supply will be determined in just over a month.
The Chatham-Kent PUC board approved staff recommendations for a number of meeting dates, which will wrap-up the environmental assessment on Wallaceburg’s water.
A regular PUC meeting is set to take place on Thursday, February 18.
During this meeting the preferred solution for Wallaceburg’s water will be presented.
Following the PUC meeting, a fourth public information meeting will be held in Wallaceburg, giving the public an opportunity to ask questions and to give their views on the preferred solution.
Finally, on March 2 a special PUC meeting has been scheduled where the board will vote on the recommendation made by PUC staff.
Wallaceburg Coun. Jeff Wesley said he is happy this final meeting will also be held in Wallaceburg.
“I’m very happy with the process,” Wesley said.
“An additional public meeting is a bit out of the ordinary. We made the case that another public meeting was important to be held before the PUC makes their final decision.”
Wesley, who was a part of the evaluation committee that met last month, said it was an intense and productive six hours as they went through each potential solution for Wallaceburg’s water.
“It was an incredibly open and honest discussion about all of the options,” he said.
Stantec Consulting was hired by the Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission to conduct an environmental assessment of the future of Wallaceburg’s water. Stantec have presented four potential options, which includes rehabilitating the current Wallaceburg Water Treatment Plant, as part of their assessment.
Stantec’s “preferred alternative” is to connect to the Chatham water supply, which gets its water from Lake Erie.
Wallaceburg Coun. Carmen McGregor said the buzz surrounding the issue has been quiet for the past several weeks, however she has yet to hear from anyone wanting to connect to the Lake Erie water supply.
She was also impressed with the evaluation committee and that process.
“It went well,” she said. “It was very comprehensive and thorough.”
Wesley added he wanted to give credit to Tim Sunderland, the new general manager of the Chatham-Kent PUC.
“He gets it, he understands,” Wesley said.
The times and exact locations of the Feb. 18 and March 2 meetings are still to be determined.
We’ll provide that information when it becomes available.
