According to Tim Johnston, mayor of the city of Thompson, implementing the new water utility system the city has been working on will mean the difference between a "Band-Aid" solution and fixing the city's problems with water once and for all.
Ed Sharp, senior project manager at CHM2HILL, which city council retained to manage the water utility implementation process, was at a city council meeting on Feb. 16 where he updated members of council on the next steps to implementing the new utility.
City council is looking at implementing a new system to create a self-supporting water utility and to reduce water consumption overall - therefore meeting more stringent waste water discharge regulations. A water utility planning study was completed by CHM2HILL in 2008. Sharp says the company looked at the city's current situation, including existing infrastructure, operations and maintenance requirements, and the management and administration requirements for the future.
The information the company collected was provided to the public in the form of an open house that took place a year ago. The study is now complete and council is looking to move forward with the implementation of the new water utility - a department water utility, where all the costs associated with the water and waste water services will be allocated to a water department, which will provide the functions of the water and waste water services and include full cost recovery. Sharp says the utility will operate with its own revenue and reduce reliance on property taxes. A user pay system will also be implemented based on water consumption. the future, when the water department becomes a public utility, the city of Thompson's public utilities board will be responsible for its regulation, including regulating water rates and having a general oversight of the operation of the water utility. The city of Thompson will maintain the operation and service delivery, with city administration being realigned to support the water and waste water services.
Sharp says an important part of the new system will be water meters, with every serviced property in the city requiring a water meter support billing system. User fees will be based on the water meters. Approximately 4,000 water meters will be installed throughout the city - 3,000 for homes and 1,000 for businesses. The first step will be for the city to hire a contractor to supply and install the meters, which will be arranged and paid for by the city. The meters will continue to be owned by the city and the city will be able to take readings off of them by utilizing radiofrequency readings. Access to the home will not be required to read the meters, only to install them.
According to Sharp, the new system will help the city cut back on water consumption.
"Currently, the city uses a large amount of water," he says. "The estimated first years of the rate model is 465 litres per capita - that's litres per person for the first year. Because of the water meters, the consumption rate of charging, we anticipate that the consumption rate will drop to 350 litres per capita per day." Sharp goes on to say that the reduced consumption will lower the operating costs for the entire facility.
Costs for water and sewer service will be combined on the water bill based on the consumption reported by the metre. Sharp says that assuming full cost recovery - with Vale Inco treating the water and putting it into the city's distribution system - future operating costs will be spent on capital improvement projects, ongoing management and administration costs and operations and maintenance costs. The city is also looking at applying for various government grants.
Sharp says that this means that, based on a previous study done in 2008 based on preliminary estimates, the average annual bill for a Thompsonite would be around $800 a year, without grants. Right now the cost for water utilities services comes from the city of Thompson's property taxes, but with the new water service a reduction in property taxes would be apparent.
City council is looking at installing all of the water meters this year having the system up and running by next January.
Johnston says there's a lot of rumours and myths about the way water utilities work in Thompson, and the provision of water services.
"It's important that there is a communication process and public consultation in terms of getting the message out of why we're doing the public utility, why we're moving forward with the implementation of water meters, and I think this is a good start to provide that sort of overview," he explains. "I look forward to continued work in terms of public consultation and the opportunity for the public to provide feedback as we move forward with this."
An information package will be sent out to all homes in the city of Thompson in the near future, answering typical questions people might have about the new system.
