Connected

Trunk line update

The pipes are in the ground. Bolted together. Two kilometres. Through hard rock, under creeks and streets. Water and sanitary mains are now installed and connected across the breadth of Wellington from Belleville Road to the water plant and wastewater treatment plant on the western edge of the village.

The pounding has stopped. Finally.

There is still work to do. Grading, fencing, electrical hook-up. Final testing and commissioning of the sewage pumping station will follow. The Millennium Trail between Wharf and Consecon Streets will remain closed until the handover is complete.

According to Shire Hall, commissioning of the station is tentatively set to begin November 23, followed by up to 12 weeks of testing before the County assumes responsibility for the trunklines.

The trail is expected to reopen in early December, with intermittent closures as needed and cleanup continuing into the spring.

Cost continues to rise

It has been three tough years since the tender was issued. One contractor has walked away. Another has been tasked to finish it. And through it all, incessant rock pounding.

Meanwhile, spending continues to churn.

When the project cost was originally estimated in 2021, the price tag was $12 million. The winning contractor bid $16.1 million to do the work in the fall of 2023. By then, it was already understood that a pumping station would also be needed to move the waste through the line. Another $6 million was needed, pushing the cost to $22 million. Earlier this year, Shire Hall reported that the project was already a year overdue. The estimated cost had risen to $31 million. But the work wasn’t yet complete. The spending was still flowing.

Now, according to estimates in the Water and Wastewater Financial Strategy, costs are expected to rise to $37 million.

The County has now committed to at least $53 million to upgrading Wellington’s waterworks. This much is gone already. Spending has already more than doubled the original estimate for the entire project—the water tower, overflow tank, and water and wastewater trunklines.

A developer has contributed $12 million toward this work. Existing waterworks customers meanwhile are currently on the hook for the balance, roughly $30 million or about $5,800 per household.

In the new year, Council will talk about expanding the wastewater plant in Wellington. The federal government has committed $20 million to this facility.