Report to:
SUBJECT: Highway 7 Sanitary Sewers and Stormwater Management
PREPARED BY: Brian Lee,
Alain Cachola, Manager, Capital Administration, ext. 2711
RECOMMENDATION:
1) That the report dated September 21, 2010 entitled “Highway 7 Sanitary Sewers and Stormwater Management”, be received;
2)
And that Council authorize the Mayor and Clerk to
execute funding and construction agreement(s) with the Times Group and/or
Markham Avenue 7 Land Owners Group and/or other landowners groups and / or
group trustees and / or any other parties having jurisdiction, in a form
satisfactory to the Chief
3) And that Council authorize the Mayor and Clerk to execute agreement(s) with the Region of York and landowners group, based on the principles outlined in this report, regarding storm sewers and stormwater management facilities for Highway 7, to the satisfaction of the Chief Administrative Officer and the Town Solicitor;
4) And that Council endorse, in principle, that the mechanism by which the landowners group will be reimbursed for its expenses associated with the ORC land acquisition and construction of the Highway 7 sanitary sewers, storm sewers and stormwater management facilities is through a Development Charge Credit and/or Reimbursement Agreement based on the current Area Specific Development Charge By-laws or, new Area Specific Development Charges By-law to be approved by Council;
5) And that Council authorize staff to prepare a Development Charges Background Study and new Area Specific Development Charges By-laws for Areas 42B-6, 42B-8 and 9 to reflect updated servicing cost estimates and assessment;
6) And that staff report back for authorization to enter into Development Charge Credit and / or Reimbursement Agreements in connection with recommendation 4) above;
7) And that staff be authorized and directed to take all actions necessary to give effect to this report.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Times Development Inc. (1771107 Ontario Inc.) received zoning and draft plan approval to develop Phase 1 of its lands located on the south-east quadrant of Highway 7 and Warden Avenue. The Lee and Treasureland (Sobeys) sites on the north side of Highway 7 at Village Parkway also have zoning plan permissions. To service these developments, a new sanitary sewer is required on Highway 7. This sanitary sewer has been designed and sized to accommodate developments on both sides of Highway 7which staff have agreed to allow the developers to construct subject to conditions. To develop the north side of Highway 7, a new storm sewer on Highway 7 and a new stormwater management pond located on the land acquired from Sheridan Nurseries, are also required. The Region has advised they have delayed the widening of Highway 7 from Warden Avenue to Sciberras Road until 2012/2013 when new storm sewer outlets and a storm water management facility will be available to drain the Highway 7 right-of-way. Staff are working with the developers and Region to try and advance this project. This report outlines the steps and coordination required to implement the various municipal infrastructure and seeks Council authority to enter into various agreements with affected land owners and the Region for funding and construction.
This area is covered by three (3) Area Specific Development Charges (ASDC) By-laws (i.e. ASDC 42B-6, ASDC 42B-8 and ASDC 9), however the infrastructure cost estimates have changed since the last By-law update in 2008 and therefore the current ASDC rates no longer reflect the anticipated cost and proportionate share of the works. Staff is seeking Council’s authorization to begin the process of repealing the existing ASDC By-laws, prepare a new Development Charge (DC) Background Study and new ASDC By-laws for the areas identified above.
PURPOSE:
The purposes of this report are to:
1. Seek Council authorization to enter into funding and construction agreement(s) with the necessary parties to implement the sanitary servicing and storm sewer / stormwater management concepts for the Highway 7 corridor (Warden Avenue to Sciberras Road);
2. Seek Council endorsement in principle on the mechanism to reimburse the expenses associated with the ORC land acquisition and construction of municipal services;
3. Seek Council authorization to finalize negotiation of a shared storm sewer and stormwater management system with the Region of York and landowners along the Highway 7 corridor; and
4. Seek Council authorization to prepare a Development Charges Background Study and new ASDC By-laws for Areas 42B-6, 42B-8 and 9.
BACKGROUND:
Council adopted recommendations on June 26, 2007 regarding
servicing requirements along Highway 7 / Markham Centre area (see Attachment A).
These infrastructure improvements are included in the
Since the 2008
1. Development of the former Lonsmount lands (now Times) was approved by the OMB and the plan of subdivision has been draft approved;
2. The Stormwater management concept for the Times lands and lands on the north side of Highway 7 has been revised;
3. The Markham Avenue 7 Land Owners Group and Times are prepared to finance the construction of the sanitary sewer and stormwater infrastructure, and the ORC land acquisition;
4. The Highway 7 sanitary sewer design was approved by the Region and the Town;
5. Cost estimates for sanitary and storm sewers / stormwater management have been updated; and
6. Cost sharing for the sanitary and storm infrastructure has been updated.
OPTIONS / DISCUSSION:
A) Sanitary Sewers
The sanitary
sewer design on Highway 7 from Main Street to Village Parkway (Attachment ‘C’) has
been approved by the Town and the Region of York. The only outstanding
technical issue is the property requirement near the railway crossing which is being
resolved with the Ontario
Realty Corporation, landowners group, Region of York and our Legal Department. Times
and other landowners have requested that they be permitted to upfront the cost
and to carry out the construction, subject to Development Charge credits and / or
reimbursement in the future. Staff are seeking Council’s endorsement of this
reimbursement mechanism, in principle, subject to conditions related to public
communication, execution of necessary agreements, financial security, the new ASDC
being prepared and construction / financial agreements being executed.
It is acknowledged
by all parties that the Development Charges update will not be completed prior
to start of construction of the sanitary sewer and there are risks associated
with such. The Town’s Legal Department is finalizing negotiations with ORC
regarding property requirement adjacent to the Stouffville GO line for both the
sanitary sewers and stormwater management. The Town will also enter into a Rail
Crossing Agreement with Metrolinx to cross the Stouffville GO line, (authority
to enter into the Crossing Agreement was received from Council on June 26, 2007).
Subject to Council’s approval in this report, the Engineering, Legal, and
Finance departments will prepare the new ASDC By-laws to reflect the revised
cost estimates and cost sharing. Markham Avenue 7 Landowners Group is currently
tendering this work and will provide contract administration of the sewer
contract to the satisfaction of the Director of Engineering. The construction
of the sanitary sewers will commence after the construction agreement is signed;
this is anticipated at the end of September / early October 2010. The
construction is anticipated to be completed by the end of March 2011.
A new local sanitary sewer will be required on Village Parkway to drain part of the Markham Avenue 7 Landowners Group lands and some of the existing residential lands to the Highway 7 sanitary sewer. The Village Parkway sanitary sewer will be paid for and constructed by the local development. The landowner group has agreed to accommodate the flow from the existing residential lands draining into the Highway 7 sanitary sewer at no cost to the Town or the residents. The re-routing of some of the existing flow to Highway 7 is required to address existing capacity deficiency in the Fred Varley Drive sanitary sewers.
B) Stormwater Management
A revised stormwater
management (SWM) concept proposed for this area provides for Times to manage
its own stormwater onsite. The development areas external to the Times lands
are to drain to the future Sheridan stormwater management pond (see Attachment
‘D’). The concept for Times lands includes a number of Low Impact
In addition to
the drainage of the lands surrounding Highway 7, the Region is in the detailed
design stage for the widening of Highway 7 from Montgomery Court to Sciberras
Road. The widened Highway 7 will have an urban cross-section. Storm drainage
from the Highway 7
The new stormwater management concept has been endorsed by all major affected landowners (except for Sciberras Area landowners, who are currently not part of the Group). The Markham Avenue 7 Land Owners will front end the Sheridan stormwater management pond and external storm sewers in return for DC credits and/or reimbursement from ASDC’s collections benefitting landowners. The proportionate cost sharing will be specified in the new ASDC By-laws.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND TEMPLATE:
The following funding sources were identified for the construction of municipal services on Highway 7 as documented in the report:
Current Cost of SWM facilities and Sanitary Sewers in
2008 DC Background Study
Total construction costs included in the 2008 DC background study for the construction of the SWM facilities and trunk sanitary sewers are estimated at $17,597,439 broken down into the following funding sources:
|
Infrastructure |
Amount in DC Background Study |
ASDC 9 |
ASDC 42B-6 |
ASDC 42B-8 |
Region of York |
|
SWM Facilities |
$10,937,715 |
$6,813,006 |
$1,657,607 |
$1,600,837 |
$866,265 |
|
Sanitary Sewers |
$6,659,724 |
$1,331,945 |
$4,262,223 |
$1,065,556 |
-- |
|
Total |
$17,597,439 |
$8,144,951 |
$5,919,830 |
$2,666,393 |
$866,265 |
The works identified in the 2008 DC Background Study are now outdated due to the revision in the SWM concept, changes in the cost of the infrastructure and adjustments in the proportionate share across the three (3) ASDC’s. The new cost of the works is still being finalized. However, based on the reviews to date, it does appear that the increase will be of sufficient materiality to warrant the new ASDC By-laws. The new ASDC By-laws will also facilitate the inclusion of the current infrastructure requirements and proportionate share of the works as well as allow for the provision of appropriate DC credits and / or reimbursement to the upfronting landowners.
Development Charges
The infrastructure (sanitary sewers, storm sewers, and stormwater management pond) required along Highway 7 span three (3) areas which have ASDC By-laws in place, namely Area 42B-6 (South of Highway 7), Area 42B-8 (Sciberras) and Area 9 (PD 1-7), (see Attachment ‘B’). The landowners in these ASDCs will be required to contribute their proportionate share to the updated cost of the works.
The current ASDC By-laws were prepared using cost estimates based on the known infrastructure requirements at that time; this included the previous concept for one stormwater management pond. The recent change in the stormwater management concept for the area will see two facilities instead of one (P2 and P3); the first to service the Times property (Area 42B-6) and the second to service the other two areas (Area 42B-8 and Area 9). The stormwater management solution that determined the ASDC rates is therefore now outdated and does not reflect the current scope and anticipated cost of the works to be undertaken.
The cost and scope of the sanitary sewers included in the current ASDC By-laws has also changed and no longer reflects the infrastructure requirements of the areas.
Update of ASDC By-laws
The landowners have indicated that they intend to upfront the construction cost of the sanitary sewers from Main Street Unionville to Village Parkway and ORC land acquisition and as such have asked for DC credits and / or reimbursement to cover the cost of the works based on the updated cost and proportionate share of the works. Development Charge credit and / or reimbursement agreements will be required, consistent with the Town policy, for the landowners to recoup their expended funds, and staff are requesting Council’s endorsement of this reimbursement mechanism in principle.
In order to provide the appropriate DC credits and / or reimbursement and to correctly reflect each area’s contribution to the required infrastructure, staff are now seeking Council approval to prepare new ASDC By-laws for Areas 42B-6, 42B-8 and 9. Since the Town is not required to review these By-laws until 2013, the landowners have agreed to finance the cost of this accelerated preparation of the DC Background Study, with the understanding that its contents are under the control of the Town. Hemson Consulting has agreed to prepare the DC Background Study and its associated ASDC By-laws, which are expected to be completed by the Spring of 2011. Hemson Consulting has prepared all of the Town’s DC Background Studies dating back to at least 1996 and is therefore best suited and equipped to undertake this task; they will be working for the Town and not the landowners group. Hemson and Town staff cost will be paid by the developer.
HUMAN RESOURCES CONSIDERATIONS
Not Applicable
ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:
The construction of Municipal
Services provides necessary infrastructure requirements for the timely
development of vacant lands along Highway 7 east of Warden Avenue. These
developments are within the growth centre of Markham Centre and are in line
with the
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
The
RECOMMENDED BY:
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Alan Brown, C.E.T. Director of |
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Commissioner of Development Services |
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment ‘A’ Key Map with Land Ownership
Attachment ‘B’ Area Specific Development Charges for Planning District 1-7
Attachment ‘C’ Highway 7 Sanitary Sewers
Attachment ‘D’ Highway 7 Storm Water Management for
Planning District 1-7
Highway 7 Sanitary Sewers and Stormwater Management
for Area 9 Second Draft.doc