Business View Civil and Municipal | April 2021

96 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL ARIL 2021 development. When it comes to commercial and retail land development, it’s very high risk so most developers don’t want to dip their toe into that. While residential land is very profitable, sometimes they have to sit on those commercial lots for a while before they can sell them off, so the municipality is hoping to reinvest into that.” The developers in the RM have also invested in housing with a new residential development including multi-family homes, single family homes, and townhouses. But the growth in the last decade has come too quickly, leaving the five wastewater lagoons nearing capacity, despite their original intended 25-year lifespan. Every community in the municipality will outgrow their lagoon within the next two to five years. To address the issue, the RM joined forces with Tache, Ritchot, and Niverville to form the Red- Seine-Rat Wastewater Cooperative (RSRWC). The cooperative will create and maintain a regional wastewater collection system and plant that will improve wastewater management to meet environmental standards and will also include affordable utility rates for customers in the four municipalities. The facility is projected to cost $110 million, but is dependent on government contributions of about $43 million from the