Huntsville councillors were assured that plans are in the works to close the Mountview Wastewater Treatment Plant at Huntsville’s General Committee meeting on July 26.
James Steele, District Commissioner of Engineering and Public Works, told councillors that the District had received complaints about the smell coming from the Mountview Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is past its useful life.
“We’ve had some complaints about odour from the plant and so I’ll share with committee today that we have an emergency project underway to resolve that. So that’ll happen over the next few weeks,” he said.
“We were kind of just trying to let it hobble along but knowing that it’s a couple of years [until it is decommissioned] we wanted to make sure that we’re doing the right thing for the community… but to be clear, it has always met its effluent criteria so whatever was discharged met the regulatory compliance. It’s just sort of operationally it’s been challenging, so we will rectify that.”
Steele told councillors that the plan is still to have all of the wastewater treated at the Golden Pheasant plant on Hwy. 60, which will be undergoing major upgrades, and closing the Mountview plant.
Councillor Bob Stone wanted a timeline for its closure and asked whether upgrades to other plants would have to be done before the Mountview plant is decommissioned.
Steele said the Mountview plant will be converted to a pumping station. He also told the committee that because the tender for the outfall for the Golden Pheasant plant was so high, staff are recalibrating the project and looking at other options.
“They have to work in concert with each other but we’re not expecting a delay in the completion of that project.” In terms of a timeline, Steele said: “Loosely, a couple of years. So we’re expecting by 2026 that whole suite of projects will be completed.”
He said consideration is being given to “what the staging would look like to see when you flip the switch to move it over, is there enough existing capacity at Golden Pheasant to receive that flow,” he said, adding that growth capacity is also being considered in that equation.
Huntsville Deputy Mayor Dan Armour said he hoped the District would consider transferring the property, once the plant is decommissioned to the Town of Huntsville, which elicited chuckles from the committee.
Steele said everything is on the table. He said the property won’t be vacant because it will still have a pumping station on it but certainly the footprint will be smaller. He said the District would likely be amenable to the best use for the property so, “there’s probably an appetite to look at that.”
Related: Council begins discussions to turn soon-to-be decommissioned Mountview plant into parkland
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Lets be serious that place has stunk for literally decades, now all of a sudden its a big panic cause some person who just moved here dosnt like the smell. Why is it when they have been told before about the stench that oh its the district. Now because of the new building going up close its a big panic.
My parents built a home on Church Street in 1982. Soon after, Dad (Rupert Leslie) noticed odours escaping from the Mountview plant. He brought this to the attention of the Town of Huntsville, and in recognition of the lack of enjoyment of their property, the Town of Huntsville reduced the amount of property taxes on their home, since they couldn’t correct the problem. I believe the amount was five (5) percent.
Dad discovered that he and Mom were the only ones who had received the reduction, because he was the only one who had asked. So, he canvassed Church Street, Mountview Avenue, Mill Street and Fairy Avenue with his correspondence from the Town, and most of the other residents in the area of the plant also applied and received property tax reductions. His actions were appreciated by the neighbours, but Town staff did not share the same view.
I suspect that the property tax reductions that took place about 35 or 40 years ago have since been absorbed by other rate increases, but maybe residents should consider a similar action.
The District is the worst group of people our neighbourhoods have ever come across.
They are so desperate to hook people up to their stinking, unreliable, exorbitant cost services they will fine you $15,000!!! if you don’t.
Bracebridge also stinks.
https://southmuskoka.doppleronline.ca/big-stink-district-tackles-multiple-wastewater-issues/
Taxpayer dollars blown?
Approaching a BILLION!! dollars for 18!! mostly tiny, underutilized plants for only 12,000 connections.
$620 million plus another $65 million being blown in Huntsville right now.
https://southmuskoka.doppleronline.ca/municipal-water-and-sewer-rates-going-up/
Drunken sailors are thriftier.
Disastrous for taxpayers and the environment.
Highest cost in Ontario. $2,400+/year after $45K to hook up.
Just don’t complain about the District “Smugly Wasting Taxpayer Money” with a giant sign on your front lawn or your home may be blown up.
Coincidence?
Save $1,000+/year with extreme water conservation instead of handing it over to the District to waste.
For examples go to: https://sites.google.com/site/opposebracebridgesewers/
“Smell chlorine in Muskoka tap water? ‘It’s safe,’ staffer says”. Or hold your nose.
“Check your taps for rusty water this month in Muskoka”
Water was totally off in Bracebridge and Gravenhurst recently.
People had to melt snow to flush their toilet. It takes a lot of snow.
1.13 MILLION litres of sewage spilled. Not counting filling resident’s basements with sewage.
Water conservation eliminates/delays the need for multi-million dollar services infrastructure.
Water conservation rebates in Muskoka? Zilch.
Municipalities shouldn’t receive a dime from the feds or the province for new water or sewer projects unless there are huge rebates for water conservation in place first, like the City of Guelph has.