By Tessa Swanton (Townson),
Bruce Peninsula Press
Chris Wilson, WSP Project Manager, and Leo Paul Frigault, Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) Operations Manager, appeared before Council at the August 11 Special Council Meeting. Wilson presented a project update on the partnership between OCWA and the Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula (MNBP) to undertake the Water and Wastewater (WW) Master Plans for the two villages. Wilson explained that the goal of the plans is to develop a strategy to provide water and WW for today and into the future, approximately 2046. The plans consider climate change, social and economic impacts, community growth, and current limitations of the existing water and WW facilities and distribution systems. The project is currently in Phase 2 where project leads will facilitate public and stakeholder consultation to present their recommendations.
The preferred solution for Tobermory includes reviewing, assessing, and optimizing the existing level of service while expanding drinking water and WW service to the downtown core and community area. An alternative includes expanding water and WW to existing residents, commercial and municipal buildings, and all new developments.
Councillor Laurie (Smokey) Golden voiced concerns with the dense rock in Tobermory and its potential to create difficulty when installing water systems. She said, “We desperately need a water system, just on a safety perspective for those businesses regardless of anything else that might happen in the future.” Wilson noted that construction “does create noise, dust, traffic issues – all those things can add to the public’s frustration.” He explained that there are mitigation options that can be explored to ease negative impacts on the public, such as trenching once for both watermain and sewer systems while enforcing ministry standards for system separation distances to avoid contamination.
Lion’s Head’s preferred solution includes reviewing, assessing, and optimizing the existing level of service; expanding the drinking water system to service new growth in Lion’s Head and providing fire flow; and constructing a new WW treatment facility to provide service to downtown Lion’s Head. Other alternatives involve expanding drinking water into Ferndale or Isthmus Bay and Barrow Bay.
Mayor McIver acknowledged that during the Isthmus Bay Road Reconstruction Project, the public indicated limited interest in installing a water system along Isthmus Bay Road. Wilson explained that the evaluation matrix reviewed by the team indicates that the preferred solution in Lion’s Head does not involve expanding to Isthmus Bay Road. The evaluation matrix addresses the natural, social, and economic environment; technical suitability; constructability; and cost.
Unsure of the exact costs of the projects, Wilson said that depending on the work, it’s likely to be in the tens of millions of dollars range. Councillor Golden stated, “Everybody knows that it’s going to cost a lot [of money] and everybody thinks we should get funding because tourism is going to be more and more important to the county, and when you tell people there’s no water system in Tobermory, it just blows their mind. Our biggest issue [in Tobermory] is providing safe water and providing washrooms for hundreds of thousands of people.”
Wilson estimates that funding opportunities will be more obtainable once the master plans are complete.
Two Public Information Centres (PICs) are planned for the public to review the Tobermory and Lion’s Head Water and WW Master Plans project. Both will take place on August 27: a morning session from 10am to noon at the Tobermory Community Centre (7420 Highway 6) and an afternoon session from 1:30pm to 3:30pm at the Lion’s Head Rotary Hall (59 Main Street). The PICs offer the community an opportunity to attend an in-person event and ask questions pertaining to water and WW systems in the villages. Municipal staff, Council and project leaders will be present to discuss the Master Plans, existing infrastructure and future opportunities, and preferred solutions.
Project information including presentations and public notices will be available for review on MNBP’s public consultation website, https://letstalknbp.ca where the public can submit comments until September 26 at 4:30pm.
Liverance Haulage and Rydall Contracting Awarded Snowplow Contracts
Liverance Haulage and Rydall Contracting were the successful bidders of Tender PW 2025-05: Rental of Tandem Snowplow Trucks with One-way Plow, Wing, and Sander with Operator and the Rental of a Sidewalk/Parking Lot Blower and Sander with Operator.
Liverance Haulage will be covering the Pike Bay area at a cost of $173.50 per hour for the 2025-2026 season. Rydall Contracting is serving the Cape Chin and Dorcas Bay areas, along with Tobermory sidewalks, parking lots and handwork with hourly rates ranging from $60.00 to $175.00 based on the work. These contracts are subject to gradual yearly increases and will remain in effect until the 2027-2028 season.
Liverance and Rydall were the only two submissions for this tender which means that in the future MNBP may consider in-house work by municipal staff or hiring seasonal workers, which is difficult to achieve. An 18% increase in snowplow rates are observed from the 2024-2025 season to the 2025-2026 season.
