Learn about the advantages of communal water and wastewater services

Written by: Nathan Smith, SVP, Marketing & Lifecycle Leader – Newterra

In the landscape of American infrastructure, rural communities often find themselves on the periphery, grappling with outdated or non-existent wastewater systems. The shift toward centralized treatment facilities in the past half-century, while beneficial for urban centers, has frequently overlooked these less populated areas, leaving them with a legacy of environmental and economic challenges. Yet, there is a growing recognition of the potential in decentralized wastewater systems, which promise a more sustainable and self-reliant future for these rural settings.

Frontenac County Director of Planning and Economic Development Joe Gallivan was presented with the Ontario Onsite Wastewater Association (OOWA) Corporate Innovator Award at the Frontenac County Council meeting, March 20. He received the accolade from OOWA Director Brady Straw, and Operations Coordinator Kelly Andrews.

The Corporate Innovator Award is presented for innovation and advancement of solutions that add value to decentralized wastewater management and treatment and that strengthen the industry and the OOWA.

Frontenac County Deputy Warden Ron Vandewal, Frontenac County Director of Planning and Economic Development Joe Gallivan, Frontenac County Warden Frances Smith.

"This group developed a local solution to overcome constraints and a standalone Municipal Services Corporation to be responsible for communal services," says Straw. "This innovative solution will help other municipalities and rural developers to successfully grow rural Ontario."

Gallivan earned the award on behalf of Frontenac County for spearheading the communal services water and wastewater initiative in Frontenac County, and for encouraging other planning officials and municipal leaders in rural areas to examine and adopt the approach in their jurisdictions. Straw and Andrews attended the meeting and commended Gallivan and Frontenac County virtually. The award was presented in-person by Frontenac County Warden Frances Smith, and Frontenac County Deputy Warden Ron Vandewal.

“Thank you for acknowledging the work that all of us at Frontenac County have done,” says Gallivan. “This is a true example of a project where, if we all pull together across the region, we can make a difference for citizens. I especially want to thank the political leadership over the years.”

Communal water and wastewater systems, sometimes called decentralized systems, are shared water and wastewater treatment for clusters of residences and businesses. The approach is an innovative alternative to the traditional arrangement of separate-well-and-septic for each building lot.

The communal services approach carries many advantages for residents of rural areas including making way for new construction on smaller lot sizes in villages or hamlets, more and less-expensive housing options, new possibilities for mixed-use development and home-based business, and rural and waterfront projects that protect water quality and natural heritage.

“Joe has been instrumental in putting Frontenac County on the map,” says Smith. “He has attended conference after conference, spoken to so many people, spent hours and hours learning systems, and then trying to teach Council about systems. This is just a small token of thanks from us and the Ontario Onsite Wastewater Association for all that work.”

Learn more about communal services in Frontenac here: https://engagefrontenac.ca/communal-services

Visit the OOWA webpage here: https://www.oowa.org/

Frontenac Municipal Services Corporation (FMSC) officials have asked the Ontario Government to consider adjustments to a proposed Environmental Assessment Act regulation.The FMSC recommendations will further clear the way for shared water and wastewater services, reduce the time and cost it takes to approve new development projects, and help make new development more affordable for families and businesses across Frontenac County.

Despite recent and ongoing improvements, Ontario lags behind the rest of Canada and the developed world in the time and cost it takes to get new building projects approved. The environmental assessment process, even for modest development projects in Frontenac, can take up to two years.

As part of ongoing reform, the Ontario Government has proposed a change to the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act (EAA) aimed at streamlining the regulatory process and ultimately reducing costs for builders and homebuyers. In a March 7 letter to Ontario Environment Minister Andrea Khanjin, FMSC President Frances Smith asks for adjustments to the proposed regulation that will further facilitate the efficient construction and operation of communal water and wastewater systems in Frontenac.

Among the FMSC recommendations are:

• That two required approval processes that are regulated under separate Acts be harmonized into one process regulated under the Ontario Planning Act.
• That service corporations like the FMSC be acknowledged as leading experts and authorities in developments that employ communal services approaches and technologies, and that the FMSC help guide developers through the approval process.
• That specific, well-iterated, and expertly tested communal water and wastewater system designs be identified and evaluated as safe and standard approaches rather than requiring that each communal service installation be evaluated and approved as a one-off prototype.

Phil Tibble, Jim McIntosh, Dan Hulton, and Roy Huetl are members of the FMSC Technical Advisory Committee. Mike Jablonicky, and Jerry Lichty are members of the FMSC Board.

Read the FMSC letter to Minister Khanjin.

Read about the proposed changes to the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act.

The Ontario Government invites further input on the proposed regulatory changes to the Environmental Assessment Act before March 18.

UPDATE: 31 January 2024 – The Eastern Ontario Warden's Caucus (EOWC) made a 2024 Ontario Pre-budget Consultation submission that included a recommendation that the Province provide programs, funding, and policies to support rural municipalities with innovative housing and infrastructure development to build more housing faster. Communal services in small towns and rural areas is a key land-use development innovation to that end. The recommendation is presented in the context of the EOWC's 7 in 7+ Regional Housing Plan.

Click here to see the EOWC Pre-budget Consultation submission.

UPDATE: 25 January 2024 – The Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus (EOWC) continues to advocate strongly for regional priorities at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) 2024 Conference held in the City of Toronto from January 21 to 23, 2024.

From across Ontario, the EOWC joined over 2,000 rural municipal colleagues at the conference to participate in meetings with provincial Ministers, Members of Provincial Parliament, and the Ontario New Democratic and Liberal opposition parties to discuss critical priorities including:

• Affordable and attainable housing
• Next generation infrastructure funding
• Long-term care
• Modernizing the construction approval process

For the priorities package, visit the EOWC website at www.eowc.org.

“The EOWC believes that strong partnerships between government are needed to tackle housing, health and economic challenges across the region. The ROMA Conference was a success in building upon our relationships to better serve our 103 communities across rural eastern Ontario.” - EOWC Chair, Peter Emon

Warden Nancy Peckford, United Counties of Leeds and Grenville; Warden; Liz Danielsen, Haliburton County; EOWC Vice-Chair, Bonnie Clark, Peterborough County; Minister Paul Calandra, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing; EOWC Chair, Peter Emon, Renfrew County; Mayor Steve Ferguson, Prince Edward County.

MPP Stephane Sarrazin, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell; MPP Laurie Scott, Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock; Warden Jamie MacDonald, United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry; EOWC Vice-Chair, Bonnie Clark, Peterborough County; Minister Kinga Surma, Ministry of Infrastructure; MPP John Yakabuski, Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke; Chair Peter Emon, Renfrew County; Warden Pierre Leroux, United Counties of Prescott & Russell; MPP John Jordan, Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston; MPP Dave Smith, Peterborough-Kawartha; Warden Brian Ostrander, Northumberland County.

The Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus is excited to launch our Advocacy Briefing Package ahead of the 2024 Rural Ontario Municipal Association Conference.

Click here to download the Advocacy Briefing Package👉 https://lnkd.in/g2jH8AYD

We are heading to the City of Toronto to advocate of behalf of 103 of the 300+ rural municipalities at #ROMA2024.

We look forward to being around the table with our provincial partners and municipal colleagues to ensure the region of rural eastern Ontario, and our communities and residents, are represented.

The EOWC will be meeting with:

Infrastructure | Infrastructure
Municipal Affairs and Housing / Affaires municipales et Logement
Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care | Ministère des Soins de longue durée de l'Ontario
Ontario Ministry of Energy
Ontario Liberal Party
Ontario New Democratic Party

#onpoli #ruralmatters #cdnmuni #EOWC7in7

Frances Smith, Frontenac County Warden and Township of Central Frontenac Mayor, was elected President and Board Chair of the new Frontenac Municipal Services Corporation (FMSC) at the group’s inaugural meeting in Sydenham, January 15.

"The FMSC and communal services is an example of people from all of Frontenac’s municipalities working together to effect practical solutions to some of the social and land-use issues faced by rural communities everywhere,” says Smith. “Our work now and over the next few years lays the foundation for a bright future in Frontenac.”

Frances Smith, Frontenac County Warden and Mayor of the Township of Central Frontenac, was elected FMSC President and Board Chair, January 15.

Township of North Frontenac Mayor Gerry Lichty was elected FMSC Vice Chair.

The FMSC was incorporated November 7 to oversee the implementation and operation of communal water and wastewater services in Frontenac. Communal services are innovative technologies and approaches to water and wastewater treatment for clusters of residences and businesses especially suited to small communities and rural areas. They bridge a gap of unmet needs between the limitations of installing separate well-and-septic on each lot; and the financial impracticalities of building large, centralized treatment facilities found in more densely populated areas.

Communal services make way for smaller lot sizes across Frontenac that will help stimulate local economies, provide for less expensive housing options, build upon livability, protect water quality and the natural environment, and more.

The implementation of these new water and wastewater treatment possibilities by the FMSC initially clears the way for a much wider range of land use possibilities in three pilot projects across Frontenac: Development of the former Sharbot Lake Public School site in Central Frontenac, expected growth of the village of Marysville on Wolfe Island, and development of 10 largely unused hectares in the village of Verona in South Frontenac.

The inaugural meeting of the FMSC was held at the municipal offices of the Township of South Frontenac, January 15.

Funding for the FMSC – $700,000 for the first five years of operation – is divided equally among the five founding municipalities: The County of Frontenac, The Township of Central Frontenac, The Township of Frontenac Islands, The Township of North Frontenac, and the Township of South Frontenac.

Members of the board of the Municipal Services Corporation are South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal, North Frontenac Mayor Gerry Lichty, Central Frontenac Mayor Fran Smith, and Township of Frontenac Islands Councillor Mike Jablonicky.

Members of the FMSC Technical Support Committee are Jim McIntosh (Chair), Roy Huetl (Vice Chair), Dan Hulton, Stephen Keeley, and Phil Tibble.

Follow developments on the Verona Master Plan.

See the Marysville planning information hub.

Visit the Former Sharbot Lake Public School project.

Return to the Communal Services in Frontenac page.

Register for EngageFrontenac.ca to participate in and stay informed on this and other initiatives happening in Frontenac.

Members of the new committee along with members of the board of the new municipal services corporation gathered in Sydenham, November 20, to begin discussing next steps in bringing communal water and wastewater services to Frontenac.

If you haven't heard or read about communal services in Frontenac yet, it's a way for small clusters of residences or businesses to share water and wastewater services in areas where traditional municipal water and sewer systems aren't available. There are a whole host of possible advantages to communal services including new affordable housing options, new mixed-use development possibilities, new environmental protections, and much more.

The Communal Services Technical Advisory Committee members are Roy Huetl, Dan Hulton, Stephen Keeley, Jim McIntosh, and Phil Tibble.

Members of the Municipal Services Corporation are South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal, North Frontenac Mayor Gerry Lichty, Central Frontenac Mayor Fran Smith, and Township of Frontenac Islands Councillor Mike Jablonicky.

Phil Tibble, Jim McIntosh, Dan Hulton, Roy Huetl, Mike Jablonicky, and Jerry Lichty.

The Committee met at the Township of South Frontenac council chambers in Sydenham.

Watch video from the meeting below. Click here to read the official meeting announcement. Click here to learn more about communal services in Frontenac County.

MINDEN - THE TIMES - It’s been a hot topic for a long time, and some of the wheels were set in motion for shared services at a special meeting of county council on Sept. 13.

Councillors were joined by the County of Frontenac representatives Joe Gallivan, the director of planning and economic development, and Kelly Pender, CAO.

HALIBURTON - THE HIGHLANDER - Haliburton County CAO Mike Rutter believes communal water and sewer systems may be the missing piece to help leaders address the Highlands’ housing woes.

Representatives from Frontenac County explained the potential solution to County council Sept. 13. Staffers Joe Gallivan and Kelly Pender said the plan, which took around seven years to develop, has helped the municipality progress three housing projects they say will bring more than 200 units over the next few years.

The County of Frontenac is seeking qualified members to sit on its Communal Service Technical Advisory Committee.

The committee is responsible for beginning the process of establishing standards and protocols for installations, plus the investigation of various operational models/opportunities of communal servicing in Frontenac County.

Information about Communal Services in Frontenac, including relevant studies and reports, can be found at https://engagefrontenac.ca/communal-services

Skills: Those wishing to be considered for membership on the Communal Services Technical Advisory Committee must have a sufficient level of expertise in financial management, communal servicing engineering, and land development.

To apply: Applications must be submitted by 3pm on Friday, October 13.

Click here to apply online.

Applications may also be submitted to:

Jannette Amini, Manager of Legislative Services/Clerk
County of Frontenac
2069 Battersea Road
Glenburnie ON K0H 1S0
Or email to: jamini@frontenaccounty.ca

Personal information, as defined in the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA), is collected under the authority of the Municipal Act, 2001, and in accordance with MFIPPA. Personal information collected on the application form will be used to assist in selecting appointees for Advisory Committees and may form part of the publicly available meeting agendas and minutes. If appointed to an Advisory Committee, your personal information may also be used by County staff to conduct committee and County business. Questions regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of this personal information may be directed to Jannette Amini, Manager of Legislative Services/Clerk, 613-548-9400 ext. 302