Municipality of Brighton Facebook photo/Justin Soule Photography
It’s been a historic week in Brighton with a nearly $35-million provincial injection to help with a new mechanical sewage treatment plant.
For years, Brighton has been grappling with issues related to its lagoon-based wastewater treatment system. Around this time last year, at the top of Brighton’s to-do list was advancing work on an upgrade that would tackle concerns, with an emphasis around ammonia levels.
Throughout the year, elected officials like Mayor Brian Ostrander have been calling on upper-level governments for help, while expressing worries around how roughly half of its 12,000 population would fund such an upgrade amid unrelenting rising prices.
Earlier this week, the province announced help to the tune of $34,978,397 in support of a wastewater treatment system upgrade and expansion, saying this will also help unlock development in the community.
Mayor Brian Ostrander was “ecstatic” with the news.
The provincial water infrastructure investment is said will help build up to 3,000 new homes in Brighton and is being delivered through the second intake of the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund. (Brighton had applied for help through the first round but was unsuccessful.)
The $34.9 million was part of a larger $325-million announcement, with provincial officials saying these monies will help municipalities build, repair, rehabilitate and expand drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure across the province.
According to the province, Brighton was one of 23 infrastructure projects, with investments to help with creation of 107,000 new homes provincewide as part of the second intake.
Through the first and second HEWSF intakes, the investment reportedly tallies nearly $1.3 billion and help for 77 water infrastructure projects aimed at helping municipalities build roughly 600,000 new homes.
In a recent release, Minister of Infrastructure Kinga Surma stated: “Having a strong infrastructure foundation with connections to water systems is the first step in delivering the housing Ontario needs. Our government is making targeted investments through the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund to safeguard growing communities and ensure families and residents have access to safe and reliable water services.”
Back in Brighton, the end result is the replacement of the lagoon-based plant with a “brand-new mechanical sewage treatment system” – and the hope is a tender will go out for 2025-26. (The project is still in the design phase.)
Ostrander described the mechanical system as the only “viable solution” for Brighton.
“This means we can actually move forward with a much-needed water treatment facility project in our community,” Ostrander told MBC.
Ostrander elaborated on the ways in which this will help the community as council met earlier this week.
According to the municipality, the new plant will not only lower the environmental impact of sewage treatment but improve local services.
“This project will extend the reach of these services and therefore increase housing supply and support economic growth in the Municipality of Brighton,” reads a recent release.
Northumberland-Peterborough South MPP David Piccini said vital infrastructure such as this is integral to supporting rural Ontario to continue to grow and ensure necessary services for all residents and support for families in the community.
“Our government is dedicated to building homes to support rural Ontario,” added Piccini.
Ostrander noted this is no small feat for Brighton to receive such a “huge” number.
On behalf of the community, he also thanked the province publicly.
The latest project estimates, according to Ostrander, suggest the upgrade will cost more than $50 million. Part of this figure has to do with changes targeting more growth and additional housing.
“What we recognized was we were unlikely going to get money from our provincial friends unless this had a significant increase in the ability to build more houses in Brighton, so we included that …” explained Ostrander. “This should take us out 50 years at the end of the day.”
“What this does is it makes it financially manageable for the municipality to be able to both unlock housing … and fix a problem that we’ve been trying to deal with for almost the entire time I’ve been on council, so nearly 20 years,” continued Ostrander.
As previously reported last September, the province during round one also announced up to $25 million in water infrastructure to help with construction of more than 2,260 new homes in Cobourg. Premier Doug Ford was in town in-person for that announcement.
(Written by: Sarah Hyatt)
