Representatives of Brookfield Homes Ltd. gave Mono Council an update Tuesday on plans to develop a 340-unit residential site north of Highway 9.

Peter Schut, Brookfield’s vice president of acquisitions and development, did the bulk of talking, assuring Council that his company is committed to meeting 59 conditions set forth by the town when a development permit sought by Pine Glen Farms Ltd. was approved in 2009.

Brookfield partnered on the project in 2011.

Council also advised the Brookfield contingent that they would like to see the homes handicapped accessible.

“I would strongly encourage you to see that all your buildings have accessibility as a priority,” said Deputy Mayor Ken McGhee.

He pointed to a possible scenario where a resident could have a heart attack or stroke while living in the subdivision and have to move because the home was not accessible enough for his needs.

“I would be reluctant to have certain houses accessible,” concluded Mr. McGhee. “All of them should be accessible.”

One of the chief conditions to permitting the development was that the provincial Ministry of Transportation (MTO) do a traffic study of the area and agree that Highway 9 could safely accommodate the increased traffic.

As well, the conditions called for a traffic signal light to be placed at the intersection of First Line and Highway 9 at no cost to the municipality.

Mr. Schut admitted Brookfield was in “an awkward situation” in regards to the traffic signal, suggesting MTO was reluctant to install lights that would slow the traffic flow on the provincial highway.

“Still,” said Mr. Schut, “we are going to live up to the agreement to put lights in.”

Councillor Bob Mitchell pointed out that developers must ensure that the homes be built with an eye toward installation of fibre optic cables that could help the town reach its goal of total highspeed Internet access.

In addition, Mr. Schut was asked who would be responsible for maintaining the communal septic system planned for the development.

He answered that the developer will carry it until final costs are determined, which Mr. Schut predicted would take about five years.

Then, he suggested a possible formula would see the total costs being divided among the homes on the system.