While costs to build in Chatham-Kent will likely rise across the board, there's one particular group concerned about the potential increase.
A number of individuals representing greenhouse farmers spoke at Monday night's council meeting to express their worry about a proposed new by-law from the Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission (CK PUC) regarding water and wastewater.
"Greenhouse growth will stop with this proposal," said Greg Devries the owner of Truly Green Farms.
The proposal from the CK PUC and a third-party consultant would see development charges (DCs) rise and be phased in over the next five years.
For new greenhouses, this means the current DCs for water and wastewater which total $0.36 per square foot would rise to $12.74 in 2029.
Industrial, commercial, and institutional costs would go from $3.51 per square foot to $8.30 per square foot. Residential costs would rise based on the number of bedrooms. An average one-bedroom or semi-detached home would see costs rise from $6,711 to $11,515.
"Today in CK, there is 473 acres of vegetable greenhouse production," Devries said, adding that greenhouse farming has created around 3,000 direct or indirect jobs in the area.
"The driving thrust in development charges has been about driving economic development, which creates jobs and stimulates growth," the farmer noted. "The rates we pay today reflect this approach."
George Dekker, a representative of Mucci Farms in Kingsville, said the company is aware of the need by the municipality "to expand water and wastewater infrastructure to support its current needs and future growth." He then asked council to reconsider the CK PUC's recommendation.
"Specifically with greenhouses, we develop bunkhouses to house our migrant workers and we build greenhouses," Dekker explained. "We have no issue with the proposed charges for the bunkhouses, as we find them fair across all residential types of housing. We do however have a grave concern with the proposed development charges as they pertain to greenhouses."
Dekker said that the 2,300 per cent increase over five years "makes the development of greenhouses practically impossible here in Chatham-Kent."
The Mucci Group does not currently have any greenhouses in Chatham-Kent. Dekker said that the company was looking at the area to expand its operations, but if these proposed development charges go through as they are it will have to look elsewhere.
Multiple members of council raised their concerns about the balance of keeping DCs lower to stimulate economic growth and recovering enough cost to keep everyday taxpayers from paying for new infrastructure.
Darren Galbraith, the General Manager of CK PUC confirmed that if the DCs aren't increased, taxpayers will pay more for water, wastewater, and monthly service charges.
"It has to be collected somewhere, to pay for the infrastructure at the end of the day," Galbraith said.
"I go back and forth on this," said Ward 1 Councillor Lauren Anderson. "We want growth and we want to encourage it and we see the massive opportunity for our economy to grow with the greenhouse industry coming. We see there being food security... it makes a more stable agricultural market that we could then provide to not only Chatham-Kent but Ontario, Canada, and potentially the rest of the world."
Anderson added she also sees the benefit of spin-off jobs that would come to the area along with greenhouse farming. "I see the benefits to this. But I don't see how I can ask an 80-year-old widow who's getting half of her [deceased] husband's pension to pay double, triple water rates to accommodate this growth," she said.
Ward 2 Councillor Anthony Ceccacci brought up the possibility of provincial or federal government funding mitigating some of the cost, but that idea was shot down by the municipality's Chief Financial Officer.
Gord Quinton stated that there simply aren't any grants available that would make a difference, especially since there's a tight deadline for passing the by-law.
Council has two weeks to wrap their heads around the new, recommended DC by-law and its effects, as the current one expires at 12:01 a.m. on March 25.
Councillors will vote on CK PUC's proposed by-law on March 18.
When the by-law passes there is a 40-day appeal window for stakeholders to go to the province to state their grievances.