Arnprior council passed a motion last night (Nov. 17) to designate the Water Pollution Control Centre upgrade as the town’s highest priority infrastructure requirement.  
The town will submit an application on Friday to the Building Canada Fund, a government-run program, which targets the infrastructure needs of communities with populations of less than 100,000.

Employees of J.L. Richards Mike Duivenvoorden and Sarah Gore attended council to present the findings of their Environmental Study Report.
Concerns over the WPCC date back to 1992, when the town completed an ESR for the expansion of the centre, but could not afford all of the recommended upgrades during the 1996 upgrades construction project.
Since the 1996 upgrade, routine maintenance and replacement of parts have been necessary, but the new concern is the population growth of Arnprior and the need to increase the centre’s capacity.
“The existing WPCC requires additional wastewater treatment capacity to meet current residential, commercial, industrial and institutional growth projections and sewage flow demands, in addition to upgrades to continue to meet regulatory requirements,” Duivenvoorden said.
The population of Arnprior is expected to grow to 11,000 from just under 8,000 as it currently stands, over the length of the design period, running from 2007 to 2027.
With this in mind J.L Richards conducted an environmental assessment of the area, taking all local businesses and community into consideration and came up with several criteria.
It is recommended that the process include an activated sludge sewage treatment plant with a capacity to accept 9,700 cubic metres per day.
It is also recommended the town decommission their existing outfall to the Madawaska River and construct a new outfall with access to the Ottawa River.
The existing disinfection process (chlorination and dechlorination) should be altered to accommodate increased flows and to control the odour, which some residents have complained about to the Ministry of Environment and the town.
“Odour is not a constant issue though,” Duivenvoorden said.
In relation to several of J.L. Richards’ suggestions Mayor Terry Gibeau said, “the town is not there yet…but I think this is a big step towards meeting the needs of the town of Arnprior.”
J.L. Richards estimates the entire cost of the project to come in just over $15.2 million.
It is estimated the project will take three years to complete.