County News
‘Unforeseen and uncontrollable’
Trunklines project still isn’t finished, but all the money is gone
When it was still just an estimate on paper, the water and wastewater lines stretching across the village under the Millennium Trail were expected to cost $12.2 million. That was 2021. By the time the work was tendered, two years later, the project’s cost had risen to $16.1 million. The scope of work had also widened. In the interim, municipal staff discovered that the rock is hard in Wellington— the sewer line could not be buried deep enough for gravity to carry its flow to the waste treatment plant.
It meant a pumping station was needed. Another $6 million. The cost of the trunkline project had risen to $22 million by January 2024
Today, the estimated cost to complete the trunkline project is $31 million. Quite a bit more than double the original estimate. It may rise further.
When the project commenced at the beginning of 2024, it was expected to be finished within 18 months. Two and a half years later, however, there is no end in sight.
According to a report delivered to Council on Tuesday, the delays and cost overruns were the result of “unforeseen and uncontrollable” events.
Specifically, the contractors found railway steel under the former railway line. Hard boring conditions were encountered under Lane Creek. The contractor found “two significantly different rock conditions than were identified in the geotechnical and hydrogeological investigations”. Further, the contractor was deluged with “significant and unexpected” groundwater infiltration in the trenches.
The original project design anticipated 20 cubic metres of water infiltration per day. At times last year, crews managed more than 3,000 cubic metres per day.
Conflict between construction crews also led to delays and cost overruns. Blasting was stopped as the trunkline crew approached the pumping station team. The pumping station contractor was concerned that explosive rock breaking might impact its work. The resulting standoff between contractors ultimately led to the reassignment of the pipeline work.
Furthermore, crews had to work around an “unlocatable” fibre-optics line running under the Trail and a pre-existing shelter for Millennium Trail users at the top of West Street.
The upshot is that the project requires $5 million more than has been budgeted so far. According to Shire Hall, $26.9 million has been spent to date on the project. They feel that the extra money will see the project to completion, including the rehabilitation of the Trail.
The current target for completion is September.
Stay tuned.
Follow the money. Who is benefiting from this?
The primary contractors involved in the Wellington Trunk Watermain and Sanitary Sewer Project (which heavily impacts the Millennium Trail) as of June 2026 are:
Strong Brothers General Contracting Ltd.: They are actively handling the primary infrastructure work. In late June 2026, Prince Edward County Council officially transferred the remaining watermain and sanitary sewer installation work along the Millennium Trail entirely to their contract to resolve workspace conflicts and expedite completion.
Clearway Construction Inc.: They were originally contracted for a major section of the trunk main project. Due to significant groundwater delays and structural constraints on the trail near West Street, their remaining $1 million scope of work along the Millennium Trail was removed and transferred to Strong Brothers.
Associated Consultants and Previous Contractors
Cambium Inc.: The consulting engineering firm responsible for the initial detailed design and geotechnical investigations (boreholes) along the trail.
Cobourg Development Services (CDS): While not on the main Wellington section, they were previously contracted by the municipality to build the temporary bypass and handle watermain connections on the Picton portion of the Millennium Trail.
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Who Exactly is Benefiting?
The financial landscape of this project underwent a massive shift following a $5 million budget overspend. The primary beneficiaries include:
Regional Heavy Civil Contractors:
Strong Brothers General Contracting Ltd. (Belleville) is the primary beneficiary. After Clearway Construction ran into unforeseen rock and severe groundwater issues, Council transferred a $1.8 million contract extension to Strong Brothers to finish the Millennium Trail portion.
Large-Scale Developers:
Companies like Kaitlin Development, who have massive planned subdivisions stalled in Wellington, benefit significantly. The entire 20-year, $192.4 million master water plan is structurally designed to expand Wellington’s wastewater capacity from 2,100 users to over 8,000. This unlocks the ability for these corporations to secure building permits.
Engineering and Specialty Firms:
Firms dealing with groundwater dewatering, advanced environmental permitting, and heavy equipment repairs (due to buried steel rail lines damaging boring drills under Lane Creek) are reaping extensive unforeseen fees.
Who is Paying (The Downside)Local
Ratepayers: While the federal government stepped in with a $20.6 million grant via the Build Communities Strong Fund, existing Prince Edward County water users are carrying millions in debt servicing costs for the overruns.
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What Percentage of the Workforce Lives in PEC vs. Surrounding Towns?
While the municipality does not publicly track the exact residential addresses of individual subcontractors, regional economic and employment data for Prince Edward County highlights a stark reality: the vast majority of the specialized heavy-civil workforce commutes into the County from Belleville, Brighton, Napanee, and Cobourg.
The actual workforce percentage living within Prince Edward County is estimated to be under 15% to 20%.
BOTTOM LINE: Mass transfer of PEC taxpayer money to businesses and workers who live and pay taxes elsewhere. All because of false projections and narratives sold by outside consultants and developers to a Mayor and Council that is, at best, gullible, and at worst, well, worse.
Interesting. Certanily worth to keep “following the money”.
However, part of PEC’s problem is that we’ve elected politicians coming from the entertainment industry; people like Ferguson and Grosso who have no business acumen and believe their press releases and others, like St-Jean, who demonstrated zero financial experience and little judgement in the Affordable Housing initiative.
They have hired grossly incompetent people at Shire Hall; people like Wallace who then turned Shire Hall into a utter dysfunctional bureaucracy.
Yes, “following the money” is important but if we leave the same people in place this October they’ll make sure to cover their mistakes, the taxpayers won’t get anywhere and keep paying for their delusional ideas.