Posted on August 2, 2020
Background work continues to secure permits, funding ahead of expected 2021 start
The Lake Scugog Enhancement Project, an environmental improvement initiative that will involve dredging portions of Port Perry Bay, is expected to begin in 2021. Background work, including securing the necessary permits and fundraising, will continue through 2020. The Scugog Lake Stewards, represented here by Rob Messervey, left, and Bill Eull, are partners in the project with Scugog Township and its mayor, Bobbie Drew.
SCUGOG — The Lake Scugog Enhancement Project is gaining momentum and financial support as background work for the ambitious Port Perry waterfront initiative continues.
While the lake rehabilitation project was expected to get underway this November, township officials now anticipate work to begin in 2021 as efforts continue to secure the necessary permits from various government agencies, as well as funding.
The Lake Scugog Enhancement Project is an environmental improvement and dredging project planned for Port Perry Bay, stretching from the south end of the lake to the municipal boat launch near the Scugog Memorial Public Library. In a January presentation before the regional finance committee, representatives from the Healthy Lake Scugog Steering Committee said it’s estimated the project will cost about $4.7 million, with an overall fundraising goal of $5.25 million.
During that delegation, finance committee members were asked if Durham could commit $2 million to the project, a request they agreed to mull over.
To date, the project’s fundraising committee – a subcommittee of the Healthy Lake committee and spearheaded by the Scugog Lake Stewards – has garnered $715,000 through outreach to various businesses, corporations, agencies and individuals.
“We’ve had some very, very successful fundraising activities over the last while,” said Rob Messervey, president of the Scugog Lake Stewards. “We are really appreciative of the contributions and the commitments to date. It’s terrific.”
That figure does not yet include large sums from government sources, as Scugog learned last month that its application for $1.7 million through a joint federal-provincial funding program had been denied. The township intends to reapply for that grant funding in 2021, said Messervey, and municipal staff have told councillors they are looking for other sources – possibly including economic stimulus funds – to help cover the project costs.
“We don’t know for sure what funding is out there, but, you know, over time there will be other grant opportunities, and we will definitely try to apply this project for them,” said Carol Coleman, Scugog’s director of public works, parks and recreation.
The township is also continuing to work with Durham, providing the region with requested additional information as it considers the $2-million request. If the funds are approved, said Coleman, it’s likely they’ll be included in the region’s 2021 capital budget.
Messervey said it’s essential that upper-tier government funding be secured for the project before the community is asked for support.
“We need to ensure we have in place, first and foremost, those government grants and contribution from the region,” he said. “We need those demonstrated commitments and funds from our senior levels of government, I think, (so) we can really impress upon the community that we’ve got really, really solid support.”
At this time, continued Messervey, it would be “premature” to estimate how much money the community will be asked to provide for the project.
“We have to wait and see what we receive in terms of those major government-level grants, and then with the final cost estimates in hand, we can indicate what that local campaign figure is,” he said.
In past presentations, Messervey has explained simply that Lake Scugog is eutrophying: excessive nutrients and phosphorus in the lake, frequently due to run-off from the land, have caused a dense growth of plant life and difficulties for fish and other life in the lake.
To help remedy the issue, the Lake Scugog Enhancement Project will essentially dredge 15 acres of the lake bottom along the Port Perry waterfront. It’s estimated that the 35,000 cubic metres of dredgate removed will then be used to create a four-acre enhanced wetland in the southwest corner of the lake, near the Water Street tennis courts and ball diamonds. That wetland is expected to include a 245-metre berm with a walking trail.
In her latest update to Scugog councillors at the end of June, Coleman provided an overview of the project, in which she touched on the design process, necessary permits and fundraising efforts.
In her update, the director said that “detailed design work for the LSEP is well underway” and listed off where the project is at in the permitting stage with the various provincial and federal agencies, which range from Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to Parks Canada, Transport Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
According to Coleman, one complication is the discovery through sediment sampling of metals near the Port Perry Marina that registered higher-than-approved ministry levels for reuse. A large portion of the LSEP includes the vacuum dredging of the Port Perry waterfront to deepen the bay; the materials sucked up from the bottom will then be shuffled to the south end of the lake, where they’ll be used to create a man-made wetland.
The project would cost less, noted the director, if the dredged materials could be reused in the wetland instead of being trucked away.
However, as a direct result of the sediments exceeding ministry guidelines, a human health risk assessment must now be carried out as part of the project.
Coleman said that tests have shown the metals are not mobile – “It’s in the sediment, but it’s not going anywhere,” she stressed – and told councillors that “we think the risks are very low once it’s in the wetland. People won’t be going into that area and there’ll be very little contact during the construction phase as well, so we think the risk is low, but we’ve been asked to do this study.”
As well, added Coleman in her report, the MECP has indicated “they are unable to finalize their comments at this time until the federal agency reviews are complete.”
When the necessary permits and funds have been secured, work will be restricted to tight time frames mandated by the various government agencies. As a result of the timing windows, any work on land involving the removal of vegetation must be done between Sept. 1 and March 31 while any in-water works must be done between July 15 and Sept. 30.
As a result, “the earliest start date for the project would be winter 2021 for the removal of vegetation and summer 2021 for berm construction and dredging,” said Coleman in her report.
Added Messervey about the project timing: “We’re definitely not going to be able to proceed this year, (but) I think the time frames (Coleman) offered are practical and realistic for us.”
He said that if the project gets underway next summer, a big community fundraising push should begin in April or May of 2021.
“We remain very optimistic, very motivated and very excited to proceed with this in 2021,” said Messervey. “The project has tremendous potential benefits to the lake, to the waterfront, to the community (and) to the region. This is going to have significant benefit to the Lake Scugog community.”
Source: durhamregion
