Heather Wright/The Independent

Even with major changes to its design, the rebuild of the Courtright wastewater treatment plant is going to cost an extra $2 million.

That’s according to St. Clair Township Director of Public Works, Brian Black, who gave council the news Monday.

In 2024, the township approved plans to expand the wastewater treatment plant anticipating Diago would be building a new Crown Royal plant in the township. While that project has been put on hold, the province continues to encourage more housing construction.

In August 2024, the township received a $33.87 million ‘Housing Enabling’ grant for the project. The expansion would allow 600 new homes to be served in the area.

Black, in his report to council, said it became clear when the project was 30 per cent designed that the rebuild would be far more than the anticipated $46.4 million cost. The cost was then pegged at $65 million.

So, the engineers went back to the drawing board and changed some of the project, including retrofitting existing aeration basins instead of building new ones. But the cost estimates were still too high – then about $58 million.

Now, Black said, the project has moved to a “three-phase approach” with the initial project expanding the capabilities to 9,000 cubic meters and planning for two more phases of the project, one of 12,000 cubic meters and the other of 15,000 cubic meters. It’s not clear when they would occur.

The change will save another $6 million, leaving the project still about $2 million more than originally anticipated.
Monday, council decided to sign a guaranteed maximum price contract for the $48.9 million build. It includes a clause which would see the contractor and the township sharing any savings from the cost. “Now, saying all that, there’s no guarantees there’ll be savings at the back end,” said Black, “but the contractor is kind of hinting there will be.”

Mayor Jeff Agar is also hoping there will be more funding from the federal government. “We are hoping that our new Liberal MP can get a little help from the Liberal government…I’ve conversed with her a few times on that, and I’m hoping she’ll come through,” he told council.

Black told council the project should be complete by the end of March 2028.

When the provincial grant was first awarded, officials expected the upgrade would be complete in March 2027.