Stratford made right sewage choice, mayor says

Stratford Mayor David Dunphy says the town's decision to build its own sewage treatment plant is the right one.

Town council voted Wednesday in favour of building its own plant instead of shipping its sewage to Charlottetown's plant.

• Stratford sewage solution: Town to build new wastewater treatment plant

Speaking on CBC News: Compass Thursday, Dunphy said "cost was definitely a factor" in the town's decision to build its own plant.

"The cost impacts the rates the sewer customers in Stratford will be paying, so it wll be less of an increase," he said.

Rates going up 

Sewer rates will go up from $329 to $472 a year, phased in over three years, Dunphy said. The other option would have increased rates to $544 for a single-family home.

The plant will cost about $15.2 million to build, about $1 million less than the Charlottetown option. The town will also save about $3 million in operating costs over the next 20 years under the new system, Dunphy said.

"It has twice capacity of current system, which will do us for 20 years," he said, adding the design will allow it to be easily expanded.

'Aesthetically pleasing'

He also said the plant would be "aesthetically pleasing." The functional part of the plant will be underground, out of sight, and the building housing the operating controls will look like a home, not an industrial facility, he said.

As for the existing lagoons, they will be filled in and likely used as green space, Dunphy said.

"The odour issues will be eliminated and the effluent quality will be much better going into the Charlottetown Harbour," he said.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | P.E.I. students lead country in binge drinking, pot use

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | Barn at York Point Farms in Cornwall destroyed by fire