At its October 28 meeting, Huntsville Council approved an emergency expenditure of about $60,300 for a new septic system for the Infra Pipe property, which the municipality leases out to the manufacturer.
The report from staff to council notes that the municipality owns the land on which Infra Pipe is located, and Infra Pipe Solutions Ltd. leases the land from the Town. The leased premises include the below-grade and above-grade portions of the property, together with all buildings situated on the property. As per the agreement with Infra Pipe, the below-grade and the in-ground and underground equipment, systems, and fixtures located in the property do not form part of the lease and, therefore, remain the responsibility of the Landlord.
Staff were recommending that the funds, already spent as the repairs were deemed urgent, come out of the Centre Street Environmental Reserve.
The reserve is generated from the lease held on 37 Centre Street North and 25 North Dufferin Street. According to the staff report, the policy surrounding the reserve states that the contributions in the reserve are to be maintained until such time as the reserve balance reaches a minimum of $4,000,000. There is currently a balance of $1,351,000 in the reserve.
Staff also noted that no money is budgeted to be transferred to the reserve in 2024, and the lease payments from this property are currently being directed to general revenues.
Councillor Monty Clouthier wanted to know why the property is not on municipal sewer service. Huntsville Director of Community Services Simone Babineau, who was filling in for the author of the report, Greg Pilling, Manager of Facility Operations, Sales, and Customer Service, said in order to connect to municipal septic services, a line would need to be installed under the train tracks, which would be prohibitively expensive. “The District does not make it a mandatory hook-up if it is cost prohibitive, which it would’ve significantly been,” she said.
Want to know more? You can find the staff report HERE.
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