Learn about the advantages of communal water and wastewater services
Communal water systems provide water and wastewater treatment to clusters of residences or businesses. At the June 2019 Council meeting, the Council for the Corporation of the County of Frontenac approved the Communal Services Study. The main purpose of the study was to demonstrate that the perceived obstacles — engineering, financial, risk management, planning — are just that, and to equip Frontenac with the tools necessary to enable redevelopment and new development on the basis of communal services approaches. Communal services have the potential to support more compact, land-efficient development than is possible with private servicing, at a lower cost than is possible with centralized municipal services, and to enable revitalization of the Frontenacs' communities. WSP Consulting was retained to complete the study and employed a team comprised of planners, engineers and financial risk analysts.
The Communal Service Governance/Operation Model Review Committee was established, comprised of the Mayors from all four Townships as well as citizens with expertise in financial management, communal servicing engineering, and land development, to assist and advise on the best approach the County and its member municipalities should take in terms of a governance model for communal services in Frontenac. Watch video of committee proceedings in the widgets column or by clicking HERE.
The Frontenac Municipal Services Corporation (FMSC) was incorporated on November 7, 2023. The inaugural FMSC board meeting was held in Sydenham on January 15, 2024.
WHAT ARE COMMUNAL SERVICES?
Communal services approaches and technologies are shared drinking water and sewage systems that provide water and wastewater treatment to clusters of residences and businesses. The approach is increasingly called "communal services" among professional planners and municipal leaders in Ontario. The approach is also sometimes referred to as "distributed water systems" in engineering circles, and variously as “cluster systems,” or included in the broader "decentralized systems," definition in the U.S. and elsewhere depending on the use case and audience. While operating on the same basic principles as conventional municipal services, communal water and wastewater systems are not connected to a single central facility. Instead, ‘right-sized’ facilities treat water and wastewater close to where it is needed or created. Communal services can be less expensive than centralized municipal services and reduce the need to pipe water or wastewater over long distances. They are also more environmentally-friendly than private on-site services (i.e. well and septic).
The three types of systems are shown schematically below:
Many different options exist within the broad category of communal services. Systems may be municipally- or privately-owned, using several different ownership and operation models. There is a growing range of treatment technologies that can be used for communal servicing. The distinguishing feature is that communal systems provide for water and wastewater treatment close to where it is needed.
COMMUNITY BENEFITS
A key benefit of communal systems is that they represent alternative water and wastewater servicing approaches that can provide the County and Townships with the innovative technology and flexibility to accommodate growth and achieve planning, environmental, and economic development objectives.
Communal services can provide numerous community benefits and opportunities:
New development on smaller lot sizes that are a better ‘fit’ into the existing fabric of a village or hamlet;
Developments within villages or hamlets that are dense enough to promote walkability, lower-carbon lifestyles, and efficient use of other municipal services and infrastructure;
More housing within walking distance of mainstreets and commercial cores, to assist in strengthening the local economy;
Infilling and redevelopment along mainstreets, to promote vibrant community hubs, and on brownfield sites;
Commercial or industrial development and possible creation of a business park;
Development of a broader range of housing types, such as seniors’ Communal System homes and outdoor lifestyle communities to support aging in place;
Increased opportunities for mixed-use development, and for home-based businesses; and
Rural and waterfront development that protects the County's water quality and natural heritage.
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NOTICE: Public meeting, Official Plan amendment, October 4
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Take Notice that the Council of The Corporation of the County of Frontenac is proposing to adopt an Official Plan Amendment in accordance with Section 17 of the Planning Act, RSO 1990, as amended, to make changes to the County Official Plan.
The County of Frontenac’s Planning and Economic Development Advisory Committee will be hosting the statutory public meeting on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. County staff will provide a brief presentation and the committee will invite comments and questions from the public. Please note that there may be more than one public meeting scheduled, and they will be heard in the order that they appear on the committee’s agenda. The agenda will be available online on the County’s civic web portal in advance of the meeting (https://frontenac.civicweb.net/portal/).
Public Meeting: Wednesday, October 4, 2023, at 10:00 a.m., in person at the Township of South Frontenac Council Chambers, 4432 George Street, Sydenham, ON and via electronic participation.
Electronic Participation: The public meeting will also be available to the public virtually as a Zoom webinar. Members of the public can participate by registering for the Zoom meeting by computer, tablet, or smartphone or by calling in. To register, please visit the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kgeAQjnVTymEYfKcJVrJCQ or contact planning@frontenaccounty.ca. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Purpose and Effect: The purpose of the Official Plan Amendment is to make changes to the County’s Official Plan to include policies related to the delivery of communal water and wastewater services and to recognize the creation of a Municipal Service Corporation to oversee this infrastructure. The amendment will include policies in the County Official Plan regarding how communal services can be used and provide enabling policies so that local townships can implement their own policies for how communal services will be used to guide growth and development in their communities.
Lands Affected: The draft Official Plan Amendment applies to all properties within the County; therefore, no key map is provided.
Other Applications: Currently, there are no other County-wide Planning Act applications.
Additional Information about this matter, including information about appeal rights, is available by contacting County planning staff at planning@frontenaccounty.ca or 613-548-9400, extension 350. The draft of the Official Plan Amendment is also available online at the following link: https://www.frontenaccounty.ca/en/business/current-planning-applications.aspx. For background information about the County’s work on communal services, please visit: https://engagefrontenac.ca/communal-services.
Notice of Adoption: If you wish to be notified of the decision of the County of Frontenac on the proposed official plan amendment, you must make a written request to Jannette Amini, County Clerk, County of Frontenac, 2069 Battersea Road, Glenburnie, ON K0H 1S0 or jamini@frontenaccounty.ca.
Notice of Collection: Personal information collected as a result of this public meeting is collected under the authority of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Planning Act and will be used to assist in making a decision on these matters. All names, addresses, opinions and comments may be collected and may form part of the minutes which will be available to the public. Questions regarding this collection should be forwarded to Jannette Amini, County Clerk.
Dated at the Township of Frontenac Islands this 14th day of September, 2023.
Jannette Amini, County Clerk
County of Frontenac -
Township of North Frontenac Council votes to support communal services
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Township of North Frontenac Council voted to join a soon-to-be-formed Frontenac municipal service corporation at a special Council meeting, June 20. The move is a necessary and critical step toward bringing development projects involving communal services in Frontenac to fruition.
Watch Frontenac County Director of Planning and Economic Development Joe Gallivan and Frontenac County CAO Kelly Pender present the plan to Township of North Frontenac Council, June 9.
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Frontenac presents communal services plan at AMO Conference
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Frontenac County Warden Denis Doyle, Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark, and South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference in Ottawa, August 17. (File photo)Frontenac County Warden Denis Doyle and Township of South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal met with Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs Steve Clark in Ottawa, Wednesday. The discussion centered around how a plan for communal services in Frontenac could help to make housing more affordable here and in other rural areas of Ontario that are not served by municipal water and sewer systems.
Communal services are shared drinking water and wastewater systems that service clusters of residences and businesses. As it stands now, residences either need to be on municipal systems, which are cost prohibitive for most rural municipalities, or on private septic and well which limits development.
Since 2018, the County and Township have taken a leadership role in Eastern Ontario to promote the use of communal services to support broader, more affordable housing choices in rural regions to meet critical needs, such as seniors’ housing. The delegation asked for funding to establish a municipally owned regional utilities corporation that would oversee communal water and sewage systems.
“We laid it all out for Minister Clark, who said he is impressed with the range of our proposed projects in Marysville, Verona, and Sharbot Lake,” says Frontenac County Warden Denis Doyle. “We’ve been working on this idea for four years now and we’re confident that it is a game-changer for new development in Frontenac and across rural Ontario. We’re hopeful that Minister Clark and the Government of Ontario will support the idea in Frontenac and champion it at Queen’s Park for other rural municipalities.”
“With the government’s support, the communal services approach could quickly make way for more than 300 mixed-use and affordable housing units in Sharbot Lake, Verona, and Marysville,” says Township of South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal. “Only a fraction of that number of homes could be built without communal services and government support. We are confident that this initiative will change our ability to meet the need for affordable housing in South Frontenac and the Frontenacs.”
To learn more about communal water and wastewater services in Frontenac click here.
Wednesday’s meeting was part of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) 2022 Conference.
Documents related to the 2023 County of Frontenac Official Plan amendment needed to make way for communal services
Documents related to communal services in Frontenac
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FMSC March 7 letter to Ontario Government re. proposed regulation to Environmental Assessment Act (216 KB) (pdf)
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EOWC Briefing Package - 2024 ROMA Conference.pdf (4.56 MB) (pdf)
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WSP Report 2 - 2021 Communal Services Governance Model.pdf (793 KB) (pdf)
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WSP Report 1 - 2019 Communal-Services Study.pdf (11 MB) (pdf)
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County-of-Frontenac---FINAL-Communal-Services-Brochure.pdf (1.14 MB) (pdf)
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County-of-Frontenac---FINAL-Communal-Services-Study---June-12-2019.pdf (11 MB) (pdf)
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MSC Business Case Study - Final - 15 Sep 21.docx (179 KB) (docx)
Communal services business case study public meeting, 13 July, 2022
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The Council of the County of Frontenac public meeting from Wednesday, July 13, 2022, to permit citizens, businesses and other Frontenac stakeholders to come to Council to learn about and provide input into the Business Case Study on Communal Services for the Frontenacs.
Final Report Presentation to Communal Service Committee, 2 March 2021
Watch Communal Service Governance/Operation Model Review Committee Meeting playlist
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Communal Service Governance/Operation Model Review Committee Meetings playlists. Watch on youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgZOfi-4vMwdO_TpL5e7saORARSv3DvpQ
Who's Listening
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Phone 613 548 9400 Email planning@frontenaccounty.ca