Business View Civil & Municipal - May 2023

146 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 5 school under one roof, a unique situation in the region. Describing the reasoning behind this new larger building and the amalgamation, Earl says, “A lot of the schools, the physical buildings, and structures, are aging. Also, there has been a decline in attendance for the school boards. So, the amalgamation seemed to fit well with their proposal to merge together.” Kolasa believes this will bring opportunities to build relationships with both school boards. He says, “Their new school is going to be located just a stone’s throw away from our municipal complex, which includes Town Hall, our library, our arena and our sports fields. We would certainly want to provide the students that are in the area an opportunity to take advantage of those facilities we have.” On the housing side, the township has just approved the Bunz Lane Development, which will bring 8 new single-family homes to the community. In the approval stages, the Petit Road subdivision will add another 15 units. With no municipal water and wastewater servicing, developments in Wainfleet tend to be smaller scale, in the range of 15 to 20 units. However, growth is happening throughout the township. Earl acknowledges, “The largest one that we’ve seen as of late would be the Lakewood Beach condominium development, which is 41 condo units. It has received final approval and has currently begun construction. We have a number PREFERRED VENDOR/PARTNER n Spriet Associates www.spriet.ca of additional proposed subdivisions coming online or have had formal pre-consultation meetings, and they’re just getting their applications and required technical studies in order before they can submit for those.” In conjunction with the recently approved Niagara Region Official Plan, the Township of Wainfleet is also working on an Official plan update to designate additional lands in hamlet areas, especially those in Wainfleet Village Hamlet, to allow for future growth and development. Moving forward, the mayor conveys that he would like to see some alternative revenue streams for the township. He elaborates, “We are locked in at 92% farmland, and the other 8% is basically residential. We don’t have a lot of commercial, as of right now. That means the burden of all the costs throughout Wainfleet really just falls on all of its residents. As a township, I would like to see us grow revenue streams, and come up with alternative ways to bring more money into Wainfleet. I’ve got lots of ideas planned.”