Essex is ready for new homes to go up after a year long moratorium in the town ended, put in place as solutions were chased for a flooding problem.
Director of Infrastructure Chris Nepszy says the impact of new home builds on the upgraded sewer system will be negligible.
"We've made our system much more robust, we've put in millions of dollars of improvements for those severe, intense storms," says Nepszy. "Definitely an improvement and enhancement to that system."
The roughly $4-million project is expected to wrap in the fall.
A new gravity sewer has been installed on Brien Ave. E while a new forcemain and pump station are being built on Fairview Ave. The town is also working on new storm water modeling.
"The town is open for business," says Nepszy. "We're willing to work with all developers to ensure we meet their needs and move forward and keep building here."
Essex Mayor Ron McDermott is happy to see the ban on new home builds in the town come to an end.
"It's about time. It's good news for sure," says McDermott.
Council was assured the sewer upgrades would prove to be a significant improvement, but whether the flooding concern in the town can be erased is still up for debate.
"Until we get that torrential down pour, we won't really know," says McDermott. "We're told it's going to do the job — well I'm praying that it does."
While McDermott is happy to see the moratorium ended, he doesn't think the town missed much by having it in place.
"Personally, I don't think so. There may have been a few houses [we missed out on]," says McDermott "But, you know what we did over in Harrow Centre — withdrew development charges and how many builds did we have there? You could count them if you had no fingers."
The ban on new home builds in the town's Ward 1 — also known as Essex Centre — ended on September 1, 2016.
