On March 3, Niverville’s council had a productive meeting, voting unanimously in favour of awarding a tender for the Highway 311 construction project as well as proceeding with the sale of land on which the lagoon currently occupies.
Highway 311 Reconstruction
Council awarded the reconstruction of Highway 311, from Wallace Road to Mulberry Avenue, to Maple Leaf Construction Ltd, which submitted the lowest bid at just under $10 million before taxes.
“They are hoping to put shovels into the ground this year, and in the next two years to complete the project,” Mayor Myron Dyck told council. “This is the first step in a multi-scope process. There are still other costs yet to be incurred.”
Those additional costs, he says, will include things beyond Maple Leaf’s responsibility, such as the installation of street lighting and the relocation of utility lines that run underground along this stretch.
Dyck says that the total cost of construction will be shared between the Town, the province, and multiple developers in this area. At this point, he is not at liberty to indicate the province’s share, since they intend to make that announcement themselves in the coming weeks.
Over the course of the two-year project, the entire stretch of highway will be widened, with a traffic circle installed approximately halfway between Krahn and Wallace Roads. The roundabout will connect to Highlands Drive, a north-south street proposed for the new Highlands West development.
Early designs of this project also indicated an intention to close the intersection at Highway 311 and Wallace Road and install traffic lights at Krahn Road.
“For the next two years, for commuters going west, I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be a mess,” Dyck says. “But it’s going to be much better when it’s done.”
Selling Lagoon Land
Council also approved the sale of land on which the town sewage lagoon sits. While currently owned by the town, this land is situated immediately north of Niverville in the RM of Ritchot. It was purchased from the neighbouring municipality in years past at a cost of just under $500,000.
This tract of land is also the proposed site of the new regional wastewater treatment plant, the tender for which was recently awarded to Aecon Group Inc.
In preparation for the treatment plant’s construction, the town is proposing to sell the land to the Red-Seine-Rat Wastewater Cooperative (RSRWC), comprised of Niverville and the RMs of Ritchot, Tache, Hanover, and De Salaberry, as well as the community of La Broquerie.
“The amount is just over $1 million, I believe,” Dyck says. “What it will do is lower the amount of Niverville’s contribution to the entire RSR project. The land that the lagoon is on is needed by everyone and it’s not just in Niverville’s interest. It’s in the RSR’s interest.”
The 160-acre parcel comprises the entirety of Niverville’s current lagoon. Since sewage containment cells spread out over only a portion of the land, there is already available space here to construct the treatment plant without compromising those cells.
Once the plant is built and fully functioning, Niverville’s sewage cells will be repurposed as auxiliary overflow storage.
“When you get a seven-inch rain, and you have a whole ton of water, where are you storing that [excess]?” Dyck asks.
For this reason, he adds, likely every community within the RSRWC will retain their existing lagoons for overflow purposes.