Karla Daley has the same question many in Midhurst have been asking lately: When is the construction going to be complete in the village?
Since the beginning of February, the Finlay Mill Road resident has watched construction crews come and go as they work to install five kilometres of force main from the Midhurst Heights development to the wastewater treatment plant on Snow Valley Road, north of Barrie.
According to information presented during a public information session at the Midhurst United Church in January, hosted by the developer Rose Corporation, the installation was to be rolled out in three stages.
Stage one was supposed to take 12 weeks and would cover the area of Finlay Mill Road between Wattie Road and Doran Road. Stage two was scheduled to take six weeks to complete and would cover Doran Road between Finlay Mill Road and Gill Road. Stage three was scheduled to take 17 weeks to complete and would cover Finlay Mill Road between County Road 27 and Wattie Road.
“Like construction of any kind, it’s been a bit of a pain in the butt,” Daley said of the months-long project, which has reduced the majority of Finlay MIll Road to one lane and forced folks to find detours through the village.
“It’s been OK overall, but nobody seems to know when it’s going to be done," she added.
Daley says there hasn’t been much communication about the project, aside from the public information session held earlier this year.
“We haven’t received any progress updates of any kind,” she said.
Bryan Martin, who lives across the street from Daley, says that while he’s had no issues with the construction — “nothing negative about it at all,” he said — he would also like more information.
Martin says he’s talked to some of the workers on the project, but they aren’t in the position to give him an clear update on the whole project.
“They’re great guys and they’re always polite and co-operative, but they don’t have that information,” he said.
Tony Schaschl lives next door to Martin.
“It looks like they’re done in front of my house, but the road hasn’t been opened up,” Schaschl said. “It makes you wonder why.”
Daley, Martin and Schaschl all live in the area between Wattie Road and Doran Road, which would be part of stage one according to the construction schedule.
The section of Finlay Mill Road in front of their homes looks sort of finished, but it’s still just one lane of traffic and construction equipment can be found farther up on the street.
At the corner of Finlay Mill Road and Doran Road, a large portion of the intersection is fenced off and heavy equipment is on site.
Some Midhurst residents suspect the project has hit a snag, based on a letter that was dated Aug. 12 and was hand-delivered to some villagers from Crozier and Associates Inc., the project engineers.
The letter advises those who received it that there will be “upcoming water-taking activities at the site located to the west of Russel Road, to the east of Gill Road and to the north of Doran Road in Midhurst, Township of Springwater.
“A new water supply system is being constructed at the site. To ensure this new water supply system causes no adverse effects to surrounding properties, water-taking activities, such as well development and pumping tests, must be completed on each new production well," it adds.
The letter says these testing activities are anticipated to begin sometime in late August to early October and will last for up to approximately 36 hours.
C.F. Crozier & Associates says it will be monitoring water levels during the pumping test. Anyone who experiences any issues with their water supply well related to water quality or quantity during that time frame is asked to contact the company.
“As part of this testing, we are also interested in monitoring surrounding water supply wells to understand the impact of the water-taking activities on the local aquifers," states the letter. "With your permission, Crozier would like to collect information about your well. This may also include monitoring the water levels in your water supply well or sampling from an untreated portion of your water supply system over the duration of the testing period."
The letter also notes participation is voluntary and the information will be kept confidential.
BarrieToday reached out to Crozier for an update on the project and more information on the letter that was delivered to some village residents.
“Crozier is not in a position to comment,” Menah Kerr, manager of executive communications for Crozier, said in an email.
