HEDDY SOROUR
At the March 11 committee of the whole meeting, Carleton Place council received important updates on the town’s drinking water, stormwater management, and recreation plans. Key reports were presented, and proposals for future development were discussed, with council members weighing in on the best course of action for the town’s growth and infrastructure.
Drinking water
The Town of Carleton Place received the mandatory annual Drinking Water System Report at the March 11 committee of the whole meeting. The report prepared by The Ontario Clean Water Agency or OCWA, the company that oversees the town’s drinking water has to be filed by March 31.
“I’m pleased to report that in 2024, there were no adverse water quality issues whatsoever with our drinking water system, nor were there any discrepancies with our guidelines (about) the water parameter that we have to meet,” Guy Bourgon, director of public works, told members of council.
The report is available to the public through the town’s website.
Storm Water
The committee received the annual Stormwater Management System report. The mandatory report has to be filed with the Director of the Ministry of the Environment each year by April 30.
“This year we have nothing but good news to state, all our town-owned and assumed infrastructure is operating as intended. We’ve done scheduled maintenance on our ponds just to make sure they’re operating properly,” Bourgon noted.
Council members accepted the report as presented and had no questions for the director.
Recreation Concept Plan
Facing $6.5 million in remedial work on the town’s pool over the next 10 years, Ross Rankin, property and project manager presented council with a proposal.
“Staff is recommending approval from council to develop a multi-use recreational facility concept plan to establish a conceptual design and determine budget pricing of any required relocation of amenities which may impact it,” Rankin shared with members. The idea would be to build an addition to the existing facility that incorporates a more appropriate pool and other features.
The current 40-year-old pool already fails to meet the swim meet standards of Swim Ontario and Swim Canada. Given the projected growth for the town, staff suggested the money could be better spent on designing a more functional recreation facility to meet the needs of the town.
Other options Rankin presented included remedial work on the pool which would require closing it or looking at building a whole new recreational facility at a cost of upwards of $80 million.
“This is really exciting. This is step one. We’ve been talking about this for a long time. This is the beginning of what we can do with what we have,” said Andrew Tennant, deputy mayor.
The proposal met with unanimous consent from members of council.
“I think anytime that we can evaluate what we already own and leverage that to create something we need and make it future ready I get excited about it, even if we don’t know what the cost is,” said Coun. Sarah Cavanaugh. “We can all agree it will cost a lot less than a brand-new building.”
