ERIN – As another season of wastewater construction gears up, some locals are frustrated with its ongoing and future impacts on their businesses.
Sierra Tremble, the co-owner of Erin Fitness, said they were only informed late last week that the town plans to shut off the main access to their parking lot for at least four weeks while "a pipe fusing operation" related to the new sewer is completed along a section of Wellington Road 52.
Given there's already a "major construction area" outside the business right now, Tremble said they're concerned about ongoing issues with business visibility and safety worsening once the newest construction begins.
"Just coming out of COVID-19, you're trying to get back up and running and then now we're hit with these problems that impact our business, it's a bit frustrating," said Tremble, who launched Erin Fitness, a 24/7 gym, in the fall of 2022 with her business partner, Christine Deemert.
According to Tremble, the town is currently proposing to have clients cut diagonally onto their property from Apple Seed Child Care Centre's entrance next door, which is a concern for both businesses.
This follows two previous propositions that suggested cutting down a 40-year-old red maple tree featured prominently on the lot or moving the road access to their handicapped spot, which would "likely cut off four or five other spots" and make half of the parking lot inaccessible.
"I think a lot of our existing clients are very supportive ... but I think for our new members, this will definitely deter them. If it looks like a disaster or it's hard to access, they're just not going to come in because they don't know how long it's going to go on and that's the same with us," said Tremble. "We were told four weeks. But is it really going to be four weeks?"
These concerns were mirrored by Coun. Cathy Aylard at an Erin council meeting Thursday, during which she commented on the importance of prioritizing safety, saying the existing site lines are "awful."
"I know we'll get to a point that is satisfactory for both parties but I think there's a much better way of getting there ... we have to provide exceptional customer service. That's what we stand for," said Aylard. "We have to respect our business owners ... and we have to respect their property."
Advocating for improved communication from the town, especially when it comes to projects that interfere with local businesses to this level, Aylard asked whether businesses can vet construction plans before they're implemented to give them the best possible solution rather than having to go with a "half-baked idea."
"We have to put ourselves in the shoes of the business owners and provide adequate solutions," said Aylard. "I believe we have to stop expecting our business owners to negotiate with the contractors to find an acceptable solution."
Infrastructure services director and town engineer, Brian Kavanagh, said the town is working with business owners to "minimize the disruption."
An alternate access point is currently planned a few metres away from the existing one which will be maintained 24/7 and signage is planned as a way to help guide customers to the new access and clearly identify they remain open and accessible. No trees or parking spots are proposed to be removed.
When asked whether they feel the mitigation measures are enough, Tremble said "there are a lot of promises" and they're "not really sure how much to trust."
"We understand there has to be growth in town and we're all for it but the communication has lacked," said Tremble. "We haven't been told or updated what's been going on. We were bombarded with this information and told that we had to make a decision."
Outside of the upcoming construction in Erin, concerns have been raised about the potential environmental implications of the water resource recovery facility since it's set to be completed in July despite delays related to installing its cooling system.
According to Kavanagh, the cooling system is "a means of achieving environmental compliance" in terms of bringing effluent to the water body that won't cause harm, which remains "the primary goal."
"What we're looking at is how we get there in the absence of a cooling system and maybe we don't get there," said Kavanagh. "That's okay if we can't achieve what we need to achieve, then we're not going to sway from the plan that's in place to get that cooling system in place and make it operational."
Mayor Michael Dehn was more focused on the "repeated waterline failures" in Hillsburgh and whether the town can wait until they have the money to address them.
"We are monitoring the timeframes of future local sewer construction and weighing that against the inconvenience caused by breakage of the water mains ... so that's a bit of a balancing act," said Kavanagh. "If we are of the mind that local sewers are not coming in the near term, I would suggest that we need to address the aging water systems relatively quickly."
Coun. Jamie Cheyne asked how newly received HEWSF grant funds will impact how much work is done in Erin, to which Kavanagh said they'll have a better idea of the work scope they can complete once the feasibility study is done and intend to try to maximize the work they can do within the funds allotted.
Intended to help cover works in Erin, the HEWSF grant will provide $29.5 million of the project's total cost of $40.4 million, leaving the town on the hook for $10.9 million. Kavanagh said ongoing developer contributions of $10.2 million are eligible to help reduce the township's contributions.
When asked how the Hillsburgh work will be paid for, Kavanagh said they're looking for similar grants to the HEWSF grant to fund that work in addition to potentially using developer funds.
A shallow local sewer is also planned to be constructed this spring/summer as a part of the Dundas Street East Gravity Sewer project. Kavanagh said they're currently looking to understand the most appropriate phasing and traffic management plan for when they reopen Main Street at Dundas Street East.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
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