Blake Ellis/The Independent

Residential growth in Oil City is something Enniskillen Township Mayor Kevin Marriott expects will be a long-term goal for the township.

Marriott is in the process of setting up a meeting this summer with Thornhill MPP Laura Smith to talk about the issues with Enniskillen’s lagoon system. She’s the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Rob Flack and
Marriott is hopeful there may be some provincial housing money available to help cover the costs.

While Smith’s office has confirmed a meeting to see the lagoon is a priority, a date has not yet been nailed down. Marriott is still waiting to hear when exactly Smith can come to inspect the Oil City sewer system and lagoon, as he speculated a visit in June is probably not in the cards.

Marriott attended a Western Warden’s meeting at Queen’s Park in early May, when he first broached the subject of having more housing built in Oil City.

The township’s lagoon system must be upgraded for new housing to be built. And that’s a big hurdle.

Marriott suggested to Smith that it would cost at least $1 million for the project.

Even if the pending meeting with Smith goes well, Marriott said getting a proposal to the province for the sewer system and lagoon upgrade will likely take another two or three years, given the time it takes to plan a project of this size.

As for whether the township has received any inquiries from individuals and developers wanting to build new housing at Oil City, the mayor said no one has contacted the township expressing interest.

Often people are basing their inquiries on existing real estate listings and currently there are no vacant residential lots for sale at Oil Springs.

The municipality is looking more at the local trends.

Marriott has looked at what has happened in Oil Springs and Alvinston in terms of new housing starts to gauge what interest might be there for Oil City.

“We feel we have a nice little spot there,” Marriott said about Oil City.

Within the existing footprint of Oil City, Marriott thinks there is a possibility of 50 to 60 new lots being surveyed with the same size of lots that exist in the hamlet now.