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Province demands plan from Fieldstone subdivision developer on sewage smell mitigation

April 24, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

The developer behind Mono’s Fieldstone subdivision has until Saturday, April 25, to come up with a plan on how to mitigate odours from its sewage treatment plant that have plagued residents for years.

Councillor Ralph Manktelow said the sewage treatment plant issue has been a significant problem for the subdivision’s residents and Mono council for quite some time.

Fieldstone subdivision residents have been lobbying the town to rectify foul smells from the wastewater treatment facility. They say the sewage odour from the French Drive wastewater plant has worsened.

Residents say the odour engulfs the neighbourhood, regardless of the wind’s direction or the time of the year. As a result, residents can’t open their windows or enjoy their outdoor spaces, especially in the evenings and first thing in the morning.

They last brought their concerns to council in November 2025. A petition was also forwarded to the municipality with as many as 243 signatures from the 337-home subdivision.

The treatment plant was provided as part of a subdivision agreement, but failed to meet the specifications that developers said it would. A pair of rotating bacterial chambers at the facility failed. The water that exits those chambers goes into an eight-acre septic bed. Further equipment failures followed, and problems with sourcing parts exacerbated the situation.

Manktelow said the missive discussed when council met on April 14 from consultants R.J. Burnside and Associates has certain terms that aren’t clear to many people. He asked Matt Doner, the town’s public works manager, to make the letter clearer. Specifically, Manktelow cited an optimization plan report written by WT Infrastructure, a firm hired by Brookfield Homes, that was referenced by Burnside in the letter to Doner.

This is the passage Manktelow broached: “The purpose of the report was to reset the design parameters for the system and determine the changes/upgrades needed to meet treatment objectives. In general, the report lacked the detail needed to assess the alternatives, however it allowed us to review potential alternatives, provide preliminary feedback to guide an updated submission, and upon review we were able to request WT Infrastructure focus their review on specific alternatives.”

“What does that mean?” Manktelow said.

Doner said Burnside and the municipality asked Brookfield Homes, the subdivision’s developer, and their engineers to provide a plan that would show how the subdivision’s sewage plant could be brought up to snuff to adhere to the certificate of approval issued by the provincial Ministry of Environment.

Alternatives were suggested by Brookfield and their consultant, which were reviewed by them and the town and municipal engineering consultants. Those were whittled down to acceptable avenues for action, Doner said.

A sewage treatment plan was a condition of the February 2014 Fieldstone subdivision agreement. In the time since the system became operational, it has been plagued with problems.

Residents have asked repeatedly for the town to do something to remedy their living conditions caused by the treatment plant. The town’s position is that it will not assume responsibility for the plan until its issues have been addressed. And the town’s consultants, Burnside, said Mono should wait for a system that functions as intended before preliminary acceptance and eventual assumption of the sewage facility.

“Until then, the developer, Brookfield Homes, is responsible for the operation and maintenance and addressing the deficiencies of the system,” according to Burnside’s letter to Doner.

Manktelow asked why the back-and-forth over the treatment plant has been ongoing for so many years.

“It’s been a very frustrating thing for residents there and a frustrating thing for council,” Manktelow said.

Doner said, “There’s been a lot of moving parts.” Communication has been ongoing with the developer and engineers for both the developer and the municipality. The Ministry of Environment has also been at the site, he said.

“We have been working with them,” Doner said. “It’s very complex.”

Provincial ministry approval time can vary significantly, and that can have a role in the overall schedule.

“It’s not too often that you have a plant that doesn’t get assumed this far down the road,” Doner said. “But they (Brookfield) are at the table. They’re working with us. They’re working with their consultant. They’re taking guidance from the town engineer. It’s really all we can ask for at this point.”

Brookfield’s Engineer will complete additional sampling at the Sewage Treatment Plant to support remaining design assumptions, which will be used to confirm upgrades required to meet treatment objectives.

A 30 per cent detailed design submission will be provided to town staff and peer reviewed by R.J. Burnside and Blue Sky Engineering and Consulting Inc.

Not until Burnside engineers are comfortable with the design submission will they report back to council, according to the letter.

“A detailed description of the problems that have been experienced with the existing plant and how the proposed solution solves the problems will be required,” the letter states.

It seems operational needs will be considered alongside possible residential wastewater rates resulting from plant changes.

“We would like to have assurance that the proposed solution does not have material impact on the sewer rates,” according to the letter. “Meaning the general operation and maintenance of the additional components have similar needs to the original system. However, it must be recognized that the original system did not meet design objectives and additional infrastructure is needed.”

Mayor John Creelman said many of the issues concerning the facility are between Brookfield and the ministry.

“They’re not between the ministry and Mono,” he said.

The ministry visited the site in February in response to Fieldstone residents’ complaints related to the smell. After an inspection, Environment officials requested that Brookfield develop and implement a community communication plan that includes timely updates and direct responses to complaints.

Brookfield was also asked to submit an odour and mitigation work plan that identifies all known odour sources at the facility, proposed measures, and timelines for their implementation.

The developer was given a deadline of April 25.

Creelman was pleased by both of those requests.

“It’s important that the residents know we’re trying to do the best we can, but, really, Brookfield is in the driver’s seat,” Manktelow said.

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