Governments ‘pooled’ resources to build Georgetown’s lagoon

Investing in infrastructure -

Overlooking Georgetown’s bustling harbour a few blocks from town hall is its new wastewater lagoon – a modest feature that will play a big part in the town’s future.

“We are really excited about this,” said Dorothy MacDonald, Georgetown’s chief administrative officer, pointing to the lagoon’s high-tech and environmentally sound filtration system. “Not only does it help us reduce our footprint, but it gives us room to grow.”

Georgetown’s is one of 26 Island projects receiving combined federal and provincial funding through the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund (CWWF). The fund allows communities to tackle important water and sewer projects with the help of 50 per cent assistance from Ottawa and 25 per cent from the Government of Prince Edward Island.

According to the last census, 555 people call Georgetown home - and they’re fighting to retain and attract residents to keep the historic seaside town alive and thriving. They’ve been busy rewriting their bylaws, drawing up some new planning rules, and replacing aging infrastructure.

The CWWF has allowed Georgetown to invest in water and wastewater at a time when it can be done efficiently and effectively, along with other Island municipalities that have completed projects like Summerside, Tignish, Slemon Park, Kinkora, North Rustico, and Souris.

Because of the investments of the federal and provincial governments, Georgetown's municipal tax funds were also stretched to put in drinking water upgrades. The work involved adding a new well to the town’s drinking-water distribution system to increase capacity and offer more reliable services to residents year-round.

Mayor Lewis Lavandier says the new well helped create new industry at the timber yard.

“They're going to tie into this new well,” the mayor said. ”That creates industrial development, and certainly it goes a long way to help us in the area so we're pretty excited about that.”