The Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh is moving forward with Phase 1a of the Port Albert Servicing Master Plan. This project, known as the Wellington Street Improvements, includes roadway urbanization and installation of storm drainage infrastructure. 

Port Albert Servicing Master Plan

The Port Albert Servicing Master Plan provides a system-wide approach to infrastructure planning to ensure proper drainage and lot grading for existing landowners and future residents of Port Albert. This Servicing Master Plan process began in May 2018, and involved public consultation, including questionnaires and public meetings before being adopted by Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Council in April 2022. This Servicing Master Plan creates one plan and applies it to every property, road allowance, drain, and existing infrastructure in the study area to ensure they all interconnect cohesively. The result of this plan will continue guiding sustainable growth, in line with the goals and policies of the Official Plan, further building on the strengths and unique character of Port Albert creating a vibrant, safe, and healthy place to live for all landowners. The Port Albert Servicing Master Plan is available to view on our website at https://acwtownship.ca/government/strategies-plans/port-albert-servicing-master-plan. 

Wellington Street Improvements

This project was approved as a part of the 2023 Township Budget on March 20, 2023. A tender was issued publicly, and 12 companies requested the plans for the project. On July 6, 2023 Township Staff alongside Township Engineers opened and reviewed the tender documents. On July 18, 2023 Council considered the tenders received and accepted the lowest tender in the amount of $3,693,313.47 including H.S.T from Roubos Farm Services Ltd. The contractor plans to begin work shortly and is anticipated to be completed November 2023 with some work to follow in 2024. 

Activities included in the Wellington Street Improvement project include:

• Road reconstruction items including curb and base asphalt 
• Storm Sewers
• Culverts at the Port Albert Drain / Victoria St Drain
• Topcoat Paving (in 2024)

Below is a copy of  By-law 53-2023 being a by-law to authorize the construction of and provide for the estimated levying of the capital costs of the Wellington Street Improvement Project. This by-law outlines the estimated cost of construction and engineering as well as the estimated assessment which shall be paid by the Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh and benefiting landowners. Included in the by-law are details on the payment schedule and estimated cost assessed to your property. 

The estimates provided will be adjusted to reflect the actual cost of construction and engineering once the project is completed. Following the completion, the Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Council will amend Schedule A of By-law 53-2023 and approve an amended assessment schedule to reflect actual costs. More details on the payment of costs levied against your property will be available after Council considers the amended assessment schedule in 2023. 

The Township will provide Financing Options to the residents once the final amounts are determined after the project completion.

Note: For road projects on roads that are currently owned and maintained by the Township of ACW, such as Wellington Street, 100% of the road reconstruction costs and 50% of the storm drainage cost will be paid by the Township. With the remaining 50% of the storm drainage costs to be paid for by residents. The residents share will be determined based on the size of the parcel located within the drainage catchment, plus a $4000 base charge per property, which is subtracted from the resident's share of the costs (exert from page 99 of the Port Albert Servicing Master Plan). 

For drainage projects, such as the upgrades to the Victoria Street Drain, 50% of the project will be funded by the Township of ACW and 50% contributed by residents located within the drainage catchment area associated with the outlet. The resident's share will be determined based upon the size of the parcel located within the drainage catchment (exert from page 99 of the Port Albert Servicing Master Plan). 

Contact

The Municipal contact for this  project is Public Works Superintendent, Thomas McCarthy, contact information listed below.