COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING AUGUST 21, 2017 REQUEST FOR CONNECTION TO THE MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY FOR GREEN BRIAR AND BRIAR HILL

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1 REPORT #ENG COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING AUGUST 21, 2017 REQUEST FOR CONNECTION TO THE MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY FOR GREEN BRIAR AND BRIAR HILL RECOMMENDATION That Report #ENG be received; And further that Staff be directed to investigate and report back to Council on the obligations as set out in Section 4 of the Briar Hill West Communal Servicing Agreement dated November 2000, with respect to water supply and back payments, as outlined in report #ENG ; And further that Staff be directed to submit a 2018 Capital Budget Sheet to engage R. V. Anderson Associates Limited and Hemson Consulting Ltd. to investigate the impacts of the request from the Green Briar and Briar Hill Residential Servicing Organizations for connection to the Town s water system with respect to the supply, conveyance, and finances as outline in report #ENG OBJECTIVE The purpose of this report is to update Council on the request from the Green Briar and Briar Hill Residential Servicing Organizations for approval to connect to the Municipal Water System. BACKGROUND The Briar Hill and Green Briar developments are located east of the community of Alliston. The location for these condominium communities are illustrated on Attachment No.1. These are private condominium developments, which were developed with their own groundwater well supply and distribution system. The private water system was designed and constructed by the Developer with approvals from the Ministry of the Environment. Town approvals are generally with respect to the Planning Approvals and there is limited input into the design of the private supply, treatment, and conveyance system. During the approvals of the development it was determined that only the soft service and transportation components of the Development Charges (DC) would be applied to the Development. Water and wastewater DC were not collected as these lands were providing their own private services, and connection to the Town s system was not required. As the subdivision approvals proceeded, the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) required that the Private Communities and the Town enter into a Communal Serving Responsibility Agreement. The initial agreement was executed in 1997 to satisfy a draft plan condition

2 of the Briar Hill Developments Plan of Subdivision. A second agreement, the Briar Hill West Servicing Responsibility Agreement, was executed in November These Agreements provide that in the event of an emergency or in the event of default, the Town has the right to effect remediation with respect to the water and wastewater servicing components of the private servicing system, and shall have the right to fully recover from the Servicing Company all costs incurred. The November 2000, agreement contained text in Section 4 which obligated the parties to the following: 4. Requirement to purchase Municipal water: (a) In recognition of the Municipality's contingent liability pursuant to MOE guidelines and this Agreement and the resultant need to guarantee a minimum water reserve and supply for the Subdivision Lands, the Municipality will be purchasing additional Water Capacity from its supply source in 2005 and 2010 (the "Water Capacity"). The Municipality may be called upon to supply said Water Capacity to the PSS for the Private Servicing Lands from the Municipal water system pursuant to subparagraphs 1(d) or 1 (e) herein. The Developer, or the Servicing Company, may also elect to receive and utilize the Water Capacity from the dates and in the amounts described herein. (b) Beginning January 1, 2005 up to and including December 31, 2009 the Developer and/or Servicing Company agrees to pay for the right to receive, whether actually received or not, 91 m3/day of Water Capacity, calculated daily based on average day demand. The Developer and/or the Servicing Company agrees to pay for this Water Capacity at a rate and in the manner then in force for the Area 1 Urban Service Area, or its successor. Beginning January 1, 2010 the Parties agree to increase the Water Capacity to a total amount of 228 m3/day, calculated daily based on average day demand. Payment will be in the manner described above. (c) The Municipality and the Developer shall in good faith prior to January 1, 2005 determine the appropriate connection point or points between the municipal water supply system and the PSS or other water delivery system. The Municipality makes no representation respecting the fluctuations in water quality or pressure available at the connection point. The Developer shall be responsible, either directly or through the Servicing Company, for obtaining the required approvals, making connection at the connection point and providing any required treatment, storage and pressure adjustment, including all costs. (d) No representations or warranties are made by the Municipality as to the availability of additional water capacity in excess of the amounts stated in 4(b). The Developer and/the Servicing Company may request from time to time additional water supply, and the Municipality agrees to consider such request for additional Page 2 of 9

3 water supply from time to time in a fair and equitable manner, having regard to the availability of water supplied to the Municipality from time to time. (e) The reservation and supply of Water Capacity will remain in effect until the Municipality no longer has the contingent liability set out in subparagraph 4(a) for the Lands. To date, the Servicing Boards have not made payments towards the obligations outlined in Section 4 of the Agreement nor has made a request to connect as outlined in the text above. The recent request to connect to the Town s water supply was general in nature and did not reference this section of the agreement. The Belterra Master Servicing Plan (MSP), approved by Council in February 2012, identified the concept of connecting the private communities to the Town s water supply by installing service tees on each side of Nottawasaga River. This would allow for a water connection to each of the private communities. These works were included in the design and the construction, with the associated tees and valves being funded through the water component of the development charges. The tees are currently installed in keeping with the design drawings and no connections have been made to the private infrastructure. This MSP also identified the need for a water booster pumping station, to provide sufficient supply to the Mowder Reservoir. The MSP stated that the additional sizing for the supply of the private communities was outside the scope of the MSP and if the private communities were to be connected, it would require an upgrade of the water booster pumping station pumps and electrical supply. The 2016 Water Supply, Distribution and Storage Master Plan, dated September 2016, (WMP) was developed with the assumption that the current private water supply to the private communities would remain and therefore provisions have not been made to connect the private communities to the Town s overall system. A request had been received to include the two private communities in the WMP. The WMP acknowledged the request and advised that the request was outside the scope of the plan and if the request was to be considered, the additional water demand along with the associated upgrades to supply, conveyance, and financial impact would need to be addressed. In October 2016, Report #DCAO , was presented to Council and outlined the three main objectives with respect to the Town s water supply, being: Present correspondence from the Town of Collingwood about the supply of additional water in accordance with the Collingwood New Tecumseth Water Supply Agreement; A sensitivity analysis for the first 5 years of the Water Supply, Distribution and Storage Master Plan (WMP); Page 3 of 9

4 Seek direction from Council with respect to a response to Essa regarding their request for additional water and to Collingwood regarding their letter of August 30, The report examined how the Town s water demands could be managed over the next five years to ensure an adequate supply was maintained. A sensitivity analysis was competeled looking at the impacts of the following adjustments: Complete a number of smaller projects earlier in the work schedule to increase the Town s water system firm capacity by an estimated 1,000m3/day; Proceed to establish a new water well with an estimated capacity of 3,500m3/day to come on-line in 2019; Industrial development limited to 120 ha instead of 186 ha in the 2022 timeline as outlined in the WMP; Collingwood supply would increase to 10,000m3/day from the current 9,500m3/day; All other assumption made in the WMP would remain unchanged; Supply Essa Township with their requested 400m3/day of water. The report demonstrated that the Town had sufficient water supply to meet its current maximum day demands to year Additional demands on the system would impact on its ability to supply maximum day demands to 2022 and beyond. During this time frame, Tottenham is expected to be connected to the Alliston system and new demands will impact on the blending ratios available to Tottenham. If the Town were to provide the water supply requested by the Green Briar and Briar Hill Residential Servicing Organizations, an additional 2,763 m3/day maximum day demand would need to be added to the municipality's projected supply. Given the WMP did not include the water needs of the Serving Organization, this would create a supply deficit. COMMENTS AND CONSIDERATIONS The Green Briar and Briar Hill Residential Servicing Organizations (RSO) have approached Town Staff to request that the Town reconsider their request to be connected to the Town s water distribution system. Their previous request was examined on a high level as part of the 2016 Water Supply, Distribution and Storage Master Plan (WMP). At that time, a number of issues were identified that needed to be examined in greater detail to determine the impacts of the Town providing the requested supply. These issues are outlined in a general scope below and depending on the review, additional parameters may need to be investigated. Page 4 of 9

5 Water Supply: Town's projected water demand was calculated on the premise that the RSO would continue to supply their needs from their on-site wells as outlined in the approvals for the Developments. The Town s 2031 maximum day projected water demands are expected to be 43,125m3. This supply will be provided by a combination of 23,500m3 from the Alliston Collingwood Pipeline and the balance of 19,625m3 from the Town s existing inground well supply. It should be noted that the Town's average day demands at year 2031 are projected to be 25,451m3. The RSO identified that the private communities require an average day demand of 1,325m3/day. The additional requested maximum day demand of 2,763m3 from the RSO would require the Town to increase its supply by 6.2%. A source for these additional flows would need to be identified, along with any impacts to the remainder of the Town s system. Should the Town elect to supply the RSO with the requested water, there is the potential for impacts. Should the entire additional volume of supply be secured then there would be no impact, however, should only a portion or none be secured, it could have an impact on future industrial development and the blending ratio of water sent to Tottenham once the pipeline connection is made. These impacts would continue until the full supply deficit was addressed. The Town may have a commitment from the Communal Servicing Responsibly Agreement dated November 2000, to provide the RSO with 228m3/day of water. There would be an impact in providing only this volume of water, however, it would be manageable. The status of the requirements along with the unpaid fees from the RSO would need to be reviewed to determine if these obligations have carried forward. Conveyance: The ability of the Town s water system will need to be examined to determine if it is possible to convey water to the connection points of the private communities and provide for the other demands in the system. The Belterra MSP outlined that this supply was outside the scope of the MSP and suggested that upgrades to the future 14th Line water booster station would be required. The report did not determine if the existing pipe sizes in the area would be sufficient to bring the additional water to the area. A comprehensive review of the Town s infrastructure would need to be completed to determine the necessary upgrades to supply this additional water. This would require an update to the Town s water model, along with specific review of existing and planned infrastructure. Approvals: Once the scope of the works had been determined, it is likely that a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment would need to be completed as part of the approval for the detailed design. The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) would require the completion of the Municipal Class EA prior to being a position to issue their Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA). An ECA is required to be issued by the MOECC prior to any connection of the Town s system to the RSO's system. Page 5 of 9

6 Development Agreements: Once the concepts of the necessary works had been identified, a Development Agreement would need to be entered into by the parties to address how the works would proceed and the necessary funding that would be required. There are a number of other financial issues that would need to be addressed such as the previous exemption of Water DC on the units developed in the communities. With the connection of these units to the Town s system, this non-payment would need to be reviewed and any moneys owning calculated with a payment scheme developed. Next Steps: Should Council wish to proceed with the request of the RSO to be connected to the Town s water system, the following next steps could be considered. As a first step, the status of the obligations as set out in the November 2000, Agreement would need to be reviewed. The obligation of the Town to provide the 228m3/day would need to be determined along with the amount of back water fees owed by the RSO. The intent that the agreement was written in, along with the desired outcomes, will have an impact the obligation of each party. This initial step could be started in the near the future and would require effort on the part of Staff, the Town s Solicitor and the RSO s team. The Town s cost associated with external costs for this step would be charged to the Engineering Operating Budget and if it is determined that the Responsibility Agreement allows for these costs to be charged back to the RSO, then they would be recouped. The second step to addressing the request would be to address the longer-term impacts of connecting the private communities to the Town s water system. Staff would recommend that the most efficient method to understand the impact of the request and to determine the required works and approvals is to undertake an addendum to the WMP. R. V. Anderson Associates Limited (RVA) completed the 2016 WMP update and would be in the best position to undertake this step in the process. As part of this second step, once the scope of the system impacts has been determined, the financial aspects of connecting the RSO to the Town s system would need to be determined. Contribution of past and future DC charges along with any one-time payments would need to be determined. Staff would recommend that as Hemson Consulting Ltd. has been involved with the Town s DC updates for many years, they are in the best position to assist in reviewing these impacts and provide recommendations. Staff time to coordinate the addendum and cost for Consultants has not been allocated as part of the 2017 work plan. Should Council wish to proceed with the second step, it is recommended that a Budget Sheet be included in the 2018 Capital budget program to address the Staff allocation and funds for the necessary Consultants. The source of funding for this second step could be from the Town s Water DC Reserve account. This would be appropriate, as should the connection be made to supply the RSO, it would be treated as any other Development within the Town. Page 6 of 9

7 FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS As part of the normal development process, development charges are collected in conjunction with development approvals. Development charges are collected for the four main components which are soft services, transportation, water and wastewater. These DC are then used to fund the necessary improvements to support growth in the Town's system to ensure that there is adequate supply and conveyance in the area. It was established when the Town started collecting these DC charges, that since the private communities would be supplied with private services, the water and wastewater components would not be collected. As such, these communities did not contribute to the development of the Town s system and no provisions were included to provide any water supply or conveyance to them. Should the private communities be connected to the Town s system, it will be necessary to determine the amount of back DC that are owed to the Town. This would ensure that the private communities contribute their appropriate share of DC, and ensure that the cost to provide the service is not subsidized by other developers or the Town s tax base. The exercise of determining the back DC payable to the Town would need to be calculated and provided to Council as part of a future report. A similar review of the Communal Servicing Responsibly Agreement dated November 2000, will need to be undertaken to determine the back payment of water fees that are required under the agreement. The exercise of determine the back water fees payable to the Town would need to be calculated and provided to Council as part of a future report. As noted in the next steps above, the cost to determine the obligations from the November 2000, Responsibility Agreement could be started in the near future and the cost incurred by the Town associated with external costs for this step would be charged to the Engineering Operating Budget. If it is determined that the Responsibility Agreement allows for these costs to be charged back to the RSO, then they would be recouped. The cost to address the second step would be identified as part of a 2018 Capital Budget Sheet. The cost would be for RVA and Hemson to complete their respective roles in the process. RVA has provided a preliminary cost of $37,000 depending on the scope of the assignment. The variable being their involvement in the securing of the additional source of supply. The current cost estimate only included the identification of the volume of the supply and any necessary upgrades to the Town s conveyance system. The cost for Hemson to complete the Financial review would be in a similar range and would be impacted by the scope of the necessary upgrades identified by RVA to provide the supply and conveyance. Page 7 of 9

8 The cost for RVA and Hemson would be presented as part of the 2018 Capital Budget process for Council approval. Respectfully submitted: Rick Vatri, C.E.T. Director of Engineering Attachments: GBBH_locationMap Approved By: Department: Status: Mark Sirr, CPA, CMA, Treasurer/Director of Finance Finance Approved - 17 Aug 2017 Blaine Parkin, P. Eng., CAO CAO Approved - 17 Aug 2017 Page 8 of 9

9 Attachment No. 1 Green Briar/Briar Hill - Location Map µ Greenb riar Rd. Highway 89 Kindlers Rd. Forest Link Summ erhill D Green Briar Dr. ale rkd Pa Briarwood Dr. e rac Ter llo e b nte Mo Tr. ista V lla Be Glenwood Dr. Bif fis Ct. Riverview Rd. r. r. td Dr. unt Mo y Wa ge Rid Renaissance Point s cre st We Hill Vista Ga rde ns Ridge Way. Blvd Briar Hill Heigh ts Tanglewood Tr. Napa set Sun Briar Hill West Dell Arbor Cres. Ln. Artisan Ridge Briar Hill 14th Line Arnold Cres. Belve dere Blvd :12, Page 9 of M Willoughby Way rand e Peacock Tr. Way Hoard Ave. S. Hoard Ave. N. ny G Malibu Manor Tus ca Via Amici C W Leach Rd. Briar G ate Sideroad 1 0 Mackenzie Pioneer Rd. Adams Rd. Cauthers Cres.