In 2006, the County considered a water treatment plant off Sandy Hook Road, on the Warings Creek headwaters.

Concerned, the WCIA approached the Ministry of the Environment in 2007, worried a sewage pumping station and sewer line along the watershed would lead to contamination: leakage into the water supply to hundreds of residential wells and agricultural operations, as well as contamination of the creek itself.

The creek is also a tributary to West Lake and provides important spawning shoals for Lake Trout.

The MOE agreed that an environmental assessment was in order — and a negotiated solution. Together, the Council of the day and the WCIA wrote the ground rules regarding development on the environmentally sensitive watershed. That became the MOS. 

Meanwhile, the proposed WTP was moved to its current location, on Champlain’s Lookout, on the Army Camp Hill escarpment.

Over 15 years later, and with two high-density residential development proposals near approval, Council has agreed to seek a legal review of the MOS to ascertain that it met its terms when it executed the  Picton-Hallowell Urban Area Secondary Plan and updated the County’s Official Plan, which zones the land around the watershed Future Development.

County CAO Marcia Wallace told Council she felt outsourcing this question to a qualified third party was the appropriate choice. “As you are aware, our in-house counsel is not a planning expert. There are funds in the CAO budget for third party reviews like this,” she said, adding an answer could be delivered in time for the February 11 meeting of Council.

Minutes of Settlement

The MOS called for the County to undertake studies to establish a natural heritage designation for Warings Creek, its tributaries and the watershed as part of the preparation of the Secondary Plan and any changes to the Official Plan.

The County would also propose natural heritage policies and schedules identifying the Creek and its tributaries as a cold water watercourse. No development is to take place in lands zoned Environmental Protection.

The parties agreed to establish an at least 30-metre wide buffer between any development and the creek. 

WCIA’S Cheryl O’Brien and Dr. Rice said they appreciated Council was unanimous in its agreement to seek a legal opinion on the MOS in relation to the Cold Creek and Loyalist Heights development proposals.

“The MOS clearly states there are obligations to be undertaken by the County and the WCIA believes some of them have not been fulfilled,” Dr. Rice said. 

“We sincerely believed when we reached that agreement in 2008 there would be long-lasting and permanent protection agreements in place and clearly we were naive because it hasn’t happened.”

Ms. O’Brien noted the discussion started with a Wastewater Treatment Plant proposal in 2007 and the concerns of leakage into the creek headwaters. “There are two developments that are going to have sewer lines and pumping stations and we feel we are back in the same spot we were in 2007.”