Shelburne Council met Monday night but spent most of the time behind closed doors to discuss the Town's reduced sewage allocation with engineers and lawyers.

Mayor Ed Crewson was hoping to have an update about the situation but said Wednesday afternoon that won't happen until at least next week.

"It's a delicate process, but we are working with the engineers and developers to find a solution," he said.

Earlier this month council learned that future population growth may be capped as the result of news the Town received from R.J. Burnside and Associates about the limits on its sewage treatment capacity.

According to a Town press release April 2, "prior to January 29, R.J. Burnside had set the available capacity for allocation to the Shelburne North and Northridge Estates development at 570 units." (A unit is considered a household and is rated on flow or how much sewage is being produced and how much water needs to be treated.)

"The MOE [Ministry of the Environment] rates each system based on the capacity of the plant, which is calculated by averaging the last three years," said Larry McGregor, works supervisor.

Shelburne council used the information, and in accordance with the town's Official Plan, approved the draft plan of subdivision for the Northridge Estates, allocating 285 units (half of the available capacity), with the other half going to Shelburne North.

On January 31, Burnside sent correspondence saying the capacity had to be reduced by 140 units because of a higher-thannormal rainfall in 2006 and an arithmetic omission made in calculating the capacity of the plant.

The reduction in capacity left the Town in a position to potentially be sued by the developers and Shelburne Council, through Town staff, sought legal advice from an independent source.

R. J. Burnside and Associates met with council, in an earlier closed session, on March 26, and after reviewing the numbers for a third time, Council learned that further research and recalculation showed that "only 250 units of sewage treatment remains available to the Shelburne North and Northridge Estates development."

In light of the information received, the Mayor recommended Town staff start a peer review of the report from Burnside, as a first step to resolving the problem.

"We need to confirm the numbers and we need to know what it is we are dealing with before we talk about a solution." Mayor Crewson said in an earlier interview. "I wish I had better news, but I don't."

He said if the numbers are right and the capacity is only 250 units, Shelburne's growth is nearing its limit.

"If you consider what the province wants to do in its Places to Grow initiative, then they are going to have to find a solution, because Shelburne won't get any bigger than 6,500 as it is."

"I am sorry it has to be like this," Mayor Crewson said Wednesday concerning the lack of information. "As soon as I am able, I want this information out there and when I can release it, I will."