Barbara Roden
Free Press
Village of Clinton council recently voted in favour of approving a development permit for Clinton Hangyang Zhengong International Investments, allowing the company to move forward with a proposed water bottling plant near the Village.
The plant has been a subject of concern for many Clinton residents who attended a public hearing and special Committee of the Whole meeting to ask questions. Council gathered all the questions, directed them to the appropriate person, and Mayor Jim Rivett read them out at last week’s meeting.
“Council has really worked hard at this,” says Clinton resident Andrew May. “The questions were all answered satisfactorily, so people may be more relaxed.”
The plant will have no impact on Clinton’s water system, as it will be drawing from an aquifer at the south end of town, away from the Village’s water source. It will also be taking less than 30 per cent of the aquifer’s capacity, so anyone using water from that source should not be affected.
May, who has a background in manufacturing systems, questions the developer’s claim that the plant will produce 40 to 60 jobs.
Rivett says that a more realistic projection is 24 jobs when the plant begins operation – hopefully in spring 2017 – and another 24 when a second shift starts.
Construction of the 85,000-square-foot plant is scheduled to begin in April 2016.