After 20 years, $5.4 million construction work to start on South Innisfil Creek Drain improvements

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By Robin MacLennan

Ontario Construction News staff writer

After almost 20 years of studies, debate, protests and revisions, construction will begin shortly on improvements to the South Innisfil Creek Drain.

Innisfil Council approved the project on Nov. 28 – a landmark decision for a project that hung over five successive council terms. It is expected that the tender will be issued within two weeks.

“The Innisfil Creek Drain has almost a 20-year history with the town with lots of twists and turns,” said Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin

“Council gave the bylaw last reading after receiving decisions from the tribunal in regards to appeals. This will allow us to tender the work.”

One important aspect of the project is that the culverts running under Highway 400 need to be lowered and that is the responsibility of MTO crews.

“Since workers are mobilized in this area currently, it made sense for the province to do the work now, but they would not proceed until we approved the bylaw which we did last night,” Dollin confirmed. 

The approval ends a difficult process that started when a local farmer requested a clean-out of a section of the drain after a severe flood in Summer 2000. According to appeal documents, a budget of $11,000 was approved by council for the clean-up, but it never happened – launching legal battles, after the Town of Innisfil failed to meet its obligations under the Drainage Act.

Flooding occurred again in 2002 and 2004 resulting in severe damage and total crop loss of about 100 acres of farmland. That’s when landowners took their concerns to the Drainage Referee who ordered the town to hire an engineer and complete a report.

The cost of the project ballooned to over $7 million and residents in the South Innisfil Creek drainage area fought back with protests and an appeal to the province’s Drainage Referee. They hired R.J. Burnside & Associates, a Barrie-based engineering and environmental consulting company, to review the findings.

A February 2019 report included a $5.4 million cost – $160,000 assessed to the province, $195,000 to the County of Simcoe, $2 million to Innisfil and $3 million to landowners who would benefit.

In addition to opening the door for construction to begin, Innisfil Council has also approved a 10-year debenture for any portion of costs not covered by benefitting landowners. The costs of borrowing will be recovered from the landowners on their taxes, over the 10-year period, at the going rate of interest obtained by the town.

Prior to the unanimous vote to approve the drain project, Councillor Rob Nicol said the drain project “could have been a clean-out back then,” instead of a multi-million-dollar nightmare.

Dollin publicly thanked R.J. Burnside & Associates for “coming to our rescue.”

Town officials will meet with the MTO to finalize details of the culverts under the highway.

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