The city will hold a public hearing at the Royal Canadian Legion on March 10 to hear presentations, questions and objections from property owners on a proposed local improvement plan for a new wastewater treatment plant.
The plan would see most residential property owners pay either a one-time payment of $1,625.52 or $127.16 annually for 25 years to cover the cost of borrowing the city’s $12,167,000 share of the project, the other two-thirds of which will be funded by the provincial and federal governments.
The $1,625.52/$127.16 rate is for properties with a 5/8-inch meter and for those properties that are vacant or unserviced but adjacent to sewage collection systems. For properties with five-inch meters, the largest in the city, the cost will be $276,338.01 up front or $21,617.02 for 25 years.
The city will borrow the $12,167,000 at an estimated interest rate of six per cent over 25 years and be responsible for an annual payment of $951,784.48. City manager Gary Ceppetelli says the actual cost of borrowing will likely be lower, but that the higher estimate is used so that a new borrowing bylaw will not have to be passed if interest rates fluctuate from their current level.
The construction will include a centralized wastewater treatment plant adjacent to the existing plant that will provide secondary treatment including nutrient removal. Once the new plant is complete, the current plant will be decommissioned and, depending on whether there is a use for the building that houses it, the structure may be demolished. Also included in the cost of the new treatment plant are a new lift station to replace the current Cree Road lift station and a new force main from the lift station to the new treatment facility, which will process 100 per cent of the wastewater produced in Thompson. Currently, about 70 per cent of the city’s wastewater goes to the treatment plant while the rest – mainly from the Burntwood area – goes to a lagoon. The study for the design of the new wastewater treatment plant determined that it wasn’t feasible to upgrade the lagoon and that sending all wastewater to the new treatment plant was the best solution.
Ceppetelli says that borrowing via debenture is the most economical way for the city to fund capital projects because it doesn’t have enough money in its reserves to pay for large projects. As a result of the decision to go with the local improvement plan, however, the city will be revising its three-year water and sewer utility rate study with lower rates to reflect that fact that the treatment plant is being funded by other means. If Thompson’s share of the project cost is lower than $12,167,000, the cash and finance rates for city properties will be reduced accordingly.
Property owners who wish to make presentations or ask council questions can do so at the March 10 meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. Verbal and written objections to the plan must be filed by mail or in person at City Hall prior to the public hearing and include the name, address and property description of the person filing their objection and the grounds of their objection.
