Eastern Ontario organizations receive funding to support communal servicing
A newly funded collaboration, Rural Impact, will bring changes to water and wastewater management supporting rural and small municipalities in eastern Ontario.
The Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN), 2B Developments, the Frontenac Municipal Services Corporation (FMSC), and the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC) announced today, Wednesday, Jul. 17, 2024, the awarding of Stage 1 funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Housing Supply Challenge to EORN and 2B Developments for the project.
According to a release from the organizations involved, EORN and 2B Developments will be working together on the collaborative project, Rural Impact. The funding totals $1 million, and will support water and wastewater management through the creation of municipal services corporations, which will support communal servicing in rural and small municipalities.
“I am very excited about the partnership with FMSC and the funding that was received,” said Jennifer Murphy, Chair of the EORN Board of Directors. “This will enable us to use municipal service corporations and study how decentralized communal systems can be effectively managed within this framework to enable dense and diverse housing development in rural and small municipalities. We greatly appreciate the support of the EOWC and its members as Stage 1 moves forward.”
As previously reported, communal servicing is a way for clusters of homes and businesses to share dedicated and local water and wastewater treatment facilities. Communal service approaches and technologies represent an alternative middle ground to the large-lot and well-and-septic approach traditional to rural areas, and to the hugely expensive centralized water and sewer systems approach used in cities, according to the release.
“On behalf of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, this is an exciting step forward for our region to unlock water and wastewater infrastructure that will help build housing in small and rural communities,” said Peter Emon, Chair of the EOWC and Warden of Renfrew County. “We are pleased to continue to work in partnership with our municipal members, like Frontenac County, as well as the Eastern Ontario Regional Network, to advocate for and deliver projects that enhance our region’s growth and prosperity, such as this communal services initiative. Thanks to funding from the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation and to all involved.”
According to the release, communal servicing has several advantages for rural and small municipalities including lower cost, time, and regulatory barriers for developers as well as new possibilities for economic growth through the construction of mixed-use-development of residential, public, and commercial units for residents of small towns and hamlets. Communal servicing is reportedly a fair and sensible way to grow and build a much-needed public tax base for rural municipalities. Also, regulated and professionally operated and overseen systems can help protect the natural environment in ways well and septic may not, the organizations said.
Today also saw the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the FMSC and EORN, who will be working together with 2B Developments to understand FMSC’s experience in establishing a municipal services corporation, and to integrate lessons learned into a program to share with other municipalities, according to the release.
“We’re very grateful to the CMHC for their confidence in the communal services initiative and for helping to fund these important next steps,” said Frances Smith, EORN vice-chair, FMSC president and board chair, and warden of the County of Frontenac. “Shared water and wastewater systems represent a safe, clean, and reliable alternative to complex and prohibitively expensive centralized systems. This is a bold and novel solution to a whole basket of issues facing residents of rural municipalities, like us.”