Township says Millbrook wells are sufficient to service development of Fraserville

Posted By /Examiner Municipal Writer

Posted 16 hours ago

A number of residents who oppose the Cavan Monaghan Township plan to supply a new development in Fraserville with Millbrook water have organized a public information meeting and a protest.

It’s not a sustainable idea to pump water 12 kilometres from Millbrook to the now vacant land in Fraserville, said Jane Zednik, one of the organizers of the protest and meeting.

“It doesn’t make sense economically or environmentally to many people,” she said yesterday. “All these ground water systems are connected…. The nature of water is totally unpredictable. What might be OK today might not be OK two years from now, five years from now.”

Cavan Monaghan Reeve Neal Cathcart said the plan is based on hydrological studies, which have been reviewed by other hydrologists.

“The hydrologists say there’s ample water,” he said. “It’s important that everybody in the township read the report from Golder Associates (the consultants) and the peer review and make their own decisions and not be influenced by the few.”

In June, the provincial and federal governments announced they would each contribute $9.8 million towards the estimated $31-million project to construct water and sewer infrastructure in the Fraserville area.

The water and sewage facility would support commercial and residential development.

The township held a public information centre on Sept. 9 to get feedback on its plan to use water from Millbrook instead of the original plan to use a well near Fraserville.

According to an information sheet released by the municipality, the township tried to purchase two different locations for a well but negotiations ended “due to a variety of factors.”

The township conducted a pumping test of the Millbrook municipal wells.

“Results showed that wells are sufficient to supply both Millbrook and Fraserville without impact to water supply in Millbrook,” the township states.

People were initially blocked from asking questions at the Sept. 9 meeting, Zednik said.

They’re frustrated and they want to know how to register their objections with the province during the review period, she said.

“Protestors of the water diversion project” will hold an information meeting at the Royal Canadian Legion at 9 King St. E. in Millbrook from 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday.

The opponents also plan to hold a rally on Oct. 25 starting at 2:30 p.m. at the Old Millbrook School.