Perth environmental services garage plans sparked questions about long-term water infrastructure and environmental risk
Concerns about Perth’s proposed new Environmental Services garage resurfaced during a public open house Tuesday, with some residents questioning whether the planned location near the town’s water filtration plant is the right long-term choice.
The May 19 session gave residents and neighbouring property owners a closer look at the proposed $4.25-million Environmental Services garage and office building planned for 15 Sunset Blvd. Town staff say the current Public Works garage, built in the 1960s, no longer meets operational needs and has significant building code issues. Since 2022, staff have been working out of a temporary trailer after the existing mezzanine office space was deemed unsafe.
Plans for the new one-storey facility include five drive-through garage bays, a wash bay, meeting and training rooms, office space, accessible washrooms, and improved ventilation and energy efficiency features.
But resident Richard Schooley said his concerns are less about the building itself and more about where it is being proposed.
“I’m looking for opportunities, not objections,” Schooley said at the open house. “And I think that there are a lot of opportunities that happen in this community if we don’t put the new Works Department garage where our water filtration plant is.”
Schooley argued the site was originally acquired specifically for potable water treatment and should remain available for future expansion of Perth’s aging water infrastructure.
“If we have to replace that facility, the only place to put the new facility is where the existing one is,” he said. “You can’t shut that system down while you build a new one, or you shut the town down.”
He said the normal approach would be to build any future expansion beside the existing plant, in the area now proposed for the new garage.
Schooley also raised environmental concerns tied to the proximity of the proposed garage to Perth’s water intake system on the Tay River.
“The intake for our water is 150 metres from where we’re storing 7,000 litres of fuel oil,” Schooley said. “That site has a risk level of 10. It is the highest rated risk level of any of them.”
Town staff, however, said the design includes several layers of environmental protection intended to prevent runoff or spills from reaching the river or water intake.
Marten Doornekamp, manager of Surface Operations for the Town of Perth, said the site design includes catch basins, an oil grit separator and a proposed stormwater management pond to contain and treat runoff.
“So if there was a fuel spill, we would have more containment,” Doornekamp said. “All the surface water or spills or anything on the surface runs through this oil grit separator. If there are any drips or anything like that, it’s captured.”
Currently, vehicles are washed outdoors at the existing site. The new building would include a dedicated indoor wash bay, eliminating that potential hazard.
Doornekamp also noted the proposed building sits upstream from the outlet, making it unlikely runoff would naturally flow toward the intake area.
Other concerns raised included the loss of vegetation, but Doornekamp assured residents that only the cedar hedge would be removed. Trees forming a buffer between the environmental services garage and nearby residential properties would remain undisturbed.
Meanwhile, according to Cathy McNally, director of Community Services, the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority has been contacted and is reviewing the proposal to ensure it meets all regulations related to floodplain areas.
While council has authorized staff to proceed with tendering for the project, no final financial commitment has yet been approved. Staff say the tender process will provide a clearer breakdown of project costs.
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