East Luther Grand Valley is poised to proceed soon with employment and residential development thanks to a $10.4- million Canada-Ontario infrastructure grant that'll pay two-thirds of the $15.6-million sewage plant development.

The sewage plant, more correctly called a waste water treatment plant (WWTP), will enable developers to proceed with employment and residential subdivisions that have for a long time been in the planning stages.

Both kinds of development are required under the provincial Places to Grow legislation and the county's Growth Management Plan which still appears to need some fine tuning for a consensus of Dufferin's eight municipalities.

(Plan B of Dufferin's Grow Plan reduces original planning by 1,400 units. ELGV has already requested that it be given 500 of the "unallocated" 1,400.)

Apart from the need for additional sewage allotments in East Luther Grand Valley's urban centre, the plant has long been seen as an essential replacement of the old one that's reached its capacity and is situated in the flood plain.

It will be built well back from the road leading into Grand Valley, somewhat south and east of the fire hall on the southern rise above the village, and hidden from view by a planned industrial development.

Mayor John Oosterhof described the announcement as "a great day that's been a long time coming (but) it takes a while to get things through." He gave credit to the perseverance of both the council and the township staff over the past eight years.

Deputy Mayor John Ince said Mayor Oosterhof had a vision "when I came on council" and wanted to proceed with preparations, "something previous councils hadn't done."

He said a lot of work on the project had been done on a lot of fronts over the years and indicated this had led to a flurry of activity pressing for the grants, which had brought a lot of pressure on CAO Jane Wilson.

MP David Tilson said the grants were "part of the government's plan to stimulate the economy" and also an example of what could be accomplished when all levels of government act in partnership.

MPP Sylvia Jones said the township had been a long time lobbying but its "persistence paid off." Her comment might have been an allusion to the numerous approaches the councillors and staff had made to various ministries in efforts to access any and all sources of funding.

Developer Tom Krizaan of Thomasfield Homes said the government funding should not be seen as "a grant" but as "an investment in the community." He said the upper levels of government would recover their investment through various taxes, including the GST and provincial sales tax as well as income taxes from new employment.

Mr. Krizaan said the announcement came at a good time. He said it takes about 10 years to develop industry. He had apparently begun to do so for Grand Valley eight years ago.

Now, he said, it will take another two years to build the WWTP, so services would be available at just about the right time.

Burnside engineer Jeff Langlois described the new plant as being just about double the size of the old one.

He said it would be a benefit not only to the community but also to the environment.