Much Ado in Middleton

A $4-million sewage treatment plant is one of several major construction projects underway in Middleton.

The treatment plant is scheduled to be turned over to the town in March 2011. Work has already started with the clearing of 1.2 hectares. Plant construction will begin in March.

"We've been looking to build a treatment plant for the last four years," said Clayton MacMurtry, the chief administrative officer for the Town of Middleton. "This will really enable the town to expand."

The federal, provincial and municipal governments will share equally in the cost of the plant, which will have a capacity of eight million gallons a day.

"We have a 40-year-old plant right now that just does not have enough capacity to treat all the sewer and stormwater that the town generates," Mr. MacMurtry said.

The new plant will be built adjacent to the existing one. Some of the buildings and infrastructure of the old plant will be incorporated into the new one. Several other major projects are underway or ready to get started in Middleton.

In a joint project with the Municipality of the County of Annapolis, the towns water and sewer services will be extended to Highway 101.

This is, in part, to accommodate a new development planned for a site near the Exit 18 interchange that will include a Petro-Canada service station, a convenience store and a fast-food outlet.

Work should begin on that project in March.

"This will all be visible from Highway 101 and were hoping that it will encourage other commercial development in that area, as well as the Middleton Industrial Park," Mr. MacMurtry said.

The $12-million Gem Health Care nursing home project is already under construction on North Street. It is replacing the North Hills Nursing Home in Granville Ferry and will bring more than 100 jobs to Middleton.

That project is expected to be completed next summer.

The new nursing home has spurred other infrastructure upgrades.

"Weve got a $500,000 project to build a lifting station and sewer line on North Street to service the new home," Mr. MacMurtry said. "That project will start in January."

There is also a $750,000 project in progress to build new sidewalks on North Street. That project began this fall with the installation of a storm-sewer system. Sidewalk construction will start in April and the work will be finished in the summer.

The town is experiencing steady growth in its industrial park, with the addition of Savage Oil Sales, the expansion of Kings Processing Ltd. and a new building for a truck business.

"We have two different offers to purchase land in the industrial park," said Mr. MacMurtry. "They have both been accepted by council."

The town has a population of 2,000.

Article by Gerald Parker, courtesy of the Chronicle Herald