Council has permitted an exemption allowing development of new homes on Musselman’s Lake using private wells, which is now headed to York Region for final approval.
Current policy dictates new Musselman’s Lake development must be connected to municipal water to protect homeowners from contamination, and there is worry the precedent set will lead to more well digging for new housing.
Councillors Sherban and Kroon and local Mark Carroll referenced a long history of water contamination issues threatening the health of area residents.
The wells will access the same aquifer York Region uses to supply municipal water, but low capacity has led to legal contests stalling connections to new housing.
Carroll worries about wells acting as conduits contaminating the aquifer.
Smaller septic tanks proposed also present risk: if not maintained annually, they can leak and cause further contamination of the ground, lake, and water table.
The developer and town staff referenced studies concluding no contamination risk was present.
Sherban said, “There were all kinds of [past] technical reports [saying] the water was safe…We’ve done some studies today, [but that doesn’t mean] tomorrow it’s going to be fine.”
Mayor Lovatt expressed hope that litigation over municipal water access would be resolved in time for the building of these new homes—making the wells unnecessary.
Listen to some of Councillors Sherban and Kroon’s comments during the Council meeting by clicking on the image below
