Christian Gammon-Roy
Tribune
Development of the old mill site in Sturgeon Falls has been in the planning stages for a few years now, and on June 16, WN Council got an update on just where the project stands. The site, sitting at around 27 acres, is the municipality’s largest development project – a huge empty lot to be transformed into a hub for new housing, commercial space, and parkland. Most recently, the land has been undergoing environmental assessments, and at the town’s Committee of the Whole meeting, council received a report on the Phase Two Environmental Site Assessment, outlining the viability of the site to accommodate construction, and whether or not remediation would have to occur to get it up to that standard.
The report also broke down the total cost of the project to date. So far, $359,493 has been spent, with this recent assessment making up the largest portion at $235,872. However, the municipality contributed only $190,438 of these costs, thanks to funds from FedNor at $50,000, and the Green Municipal Fund at $119,055 to ease some of the burden.
Council acknowledged that the project is taking a long time. Developing the mill site was a topic of discussion during the last municipal election nearly four years ago, when this council was voted in, a fact that councillor Kris Rivard noted. However, it does seem that things are set to move along now that environmental assessments are nearing their end. According to the staff report, supplemental Phase Two assessments are set to be completed by September.
