Nottawa residents’ meeting draws full house

There was a packed house last Friday for the inaugural meeting of the Nottawa Area Residents Association (NARA).

Organizers report close to 100 people in attendance, resulting in a standing room only capacity at Nottawa Memorial Community Centre.

The association is concerned about the impact a 500-home development will have on the village.

Members of the NARA steering committee outlined five key areas of concern: water supply; sewage capacity, impact on local schools; traffic and safety; and the threat to the character of the village.

Georgian Communities recently purchased the Delzotto lands and hopes to proceed with developing a first phase of single detached dwellings as planned under the new project name Village of Nottawa. The development received draft plan approval in 2011 for 192 single detached dwellings, 278 condos and two mixed use blocks for commercial and 30 residential units, one block for rural/rural industrial/ open space uses; one block for open space; one block for park, and blocks for walkways/trails, drainage, stormwater management facility, future development, reserves, and roads. The subdivision lands consist of 89.1 hectares and has frontage on County Road 124 and Blackburn Avenue. Approximately 49 hectares of the subject lands are within the settlement boundary of Nottawa with approximately 40 hectares outside the settlement boundary along the eastern portion.

NARA steering committee chair Jeff Shearer reported that the majority of the 90-minute meeting was focussed on servicing.

Residents are concerned about a proposed expansion of the existing municipal supply well system in Nottawa, the McKean Water System, to supply drinking water to the new homes rather than connecting to the existing Town of Collingwood water supply system, as was the original plan.

“Georgian Communities approached the township in 2021 to conduct a test well location investigation program which was subsequently undertaken by Crozier Consulting Engineers (Crozier) in May 2022,” reported Clearview Township’s Director of Public Works Dan Perreault last year. “The findings of the investigation indicated that expansion of the existing McKean water supply system is feasible, and that this solution could service both existing and future drinking water supply demands. As such, expansion of the existing municipal supply well system in Nottawa (i.e., McKean Water System) is being recommended.” 

Residents fear this could result in decreased water levels, dry wells or reduced flows, water quality issues and increased well maintenance. 

Shearer reported other residents were very concerned that there was no agreement from Collingwood to handle sewage until at least 2035. 

Residents asked, “how can a development be approved to move ahead without a public meeting with Nottawa residents, despite a fundamental change in water supply and no sewage disposal plan?”

There is currently no agreement between Collingwood and Clearview about wastewater servicing for Nottawa, confirmed Collingwood’s Director of Public Works, Engineering and Environmental Services, Peggy Slama.

The Town of Collingwood is beginning the study process for a waste water treatment plant expansion and expects a potential expansion to be completed the earliest of 2035. This timing will depend on the study and design of the expansion and will be refined through each step of the capital project.

Perreault told The Echo that Clearview Township has sent a Letter of Intent, endorsed by council, to further engage the Town of Collingwood on their requirements for a possible connection from Nottawa.

He said if the township is able to make a case for being allocated any surplus sewage capacity the Town of Collingwood may have available it could proceed with the development as planned, otherwise it would have to wait for serving expansion in Collingwood.

NARA has doubled its membership in the past month, for a total of 60 families. 

Shearer said there was also strong support for retaining a hydrologist and a lawyer and to consider a formal request by NARA to the township for a formal Impact Study on the fallout of such a large development. 

For NARA, the next step is to meet with the developer and council to get the answers they are looking for.