The Warden for the Municipality of the County of Antigonish said the County is going to have to come up with ways on its own to treat sewage and expand its sewer treatment capacity, and that will likely involve constructing a facility in the county to serve some residents.
Council for the Municipality of the County of Antigonish discussed water and sewer treatment issues during a special Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday night.
Antigonish Sewage Treatment Facility (Town of Antigonish photo)
County Warden Nicholas MacInnis explained that as of right now, there are 11 different connection points in the fringe area feeding into the town`s sewage treatment plant. He said a year-long study is beginning in August to analyze how much volume the county is contributing to the town`s sewer system, with MacInnis noting the best estimates are between 30 and 40 per cent of the total volume coming from county residents.
The warden said the county also committed, in partnership with the town and through support from federal funding, to identify needed upgrades and to implement some of those upgrades.
What the county would like to do, said MacInnis, is engage an engineering firm in the next month to provide the necessary steps the county would have to go through in order to identify where a sewer treatment plant would go, what areas of the fringe would best benefit from building a new plant, and begin to figure out the cost of building a plant.
From there, MacInnis said, they would be able to apply for federal funds to hopefully help cover some of the costs associated with studies, design, and an eventual build.
While this will take some time, the warden said they would like a clearer idea of the steps they have to go through by the time council meets next month.
