City council passed two bylaws related to the establishment of a water utility in Thompson April 26 but not before Luke Robinson had his say.
Robinson, a candidate in the council byelection to replace the resigned Cory Young last December, appeared before council as part of a delegation, along with Bob Good, and disputed some of the information council has put forth as part of its information campaign to explain to residents why the installation of water meters and the imposition of charges for water usage is necessary.
"It seems to us that the issue of water meters was brought on by false information provided to the Manitoba Water Services Board about Thompsonites being excessive users of water," said Robinson. "The City of Thompson claims that we the consumers, use two to three times more water than the average per capita of other similar-sized urban areas."
Robinson also presented council with a list of 11 questions related to the water utility, which covered issues such as the cost of the water meters, the rates the water utility intends to charge and the method by which they were calculated. He closed by saying that, having read the Municipal Act, the delegation found that the City of Thompson was in contravention of Section 169(5) expenditures exceeding budgets.
Deputy mayor Harold Smith, sitting in for Tim Johnston, who was out of town, advised Robinson that council would not be answering the questions during the meeting. He also characterized some of the descriptions in the delegation's presentation as exaggerated.
Later, council approved bylaw 1813-2009 to provide for the expenditure and borrowing of $4,000,000 for the establishment of a water utility system in the city. They also approved bylaw 1831-2010, to amend bylaw 1625-97. The changes included adding subsections stipulating that "all water customers serviced by the City of Thompson must have a water meter installed" and "any property that, after having three reasonable attempts made by the water meter installer, fails to provide access to the property for installation services, will have water service to the property shut off." In cases where water service is shut off, property owners would be responsible for all costs associated with turning it back on.
Both bylaws passed third reading by a unanimous vote of all councillors present. Coun. Stella Locker, like Johnston, was out of town, while Coun. Brian Wilson was unable to attend.
Coun. Oswald Sawh said establishing a water utility would be one of council's most important acts with regard to the long-term future of the city's underground infrastructure.
Also speaking in support was Coun. Erin Stewart who said after growing up in Thompson she thought water was free everywhere, only to find out it wasn't so.
"It's a move towards sustainability," said Stewart. "You really change the way you look at it when you realize how much you're using."
Coun. Charlene Lafreniere said council should be proud of taking steps to establish a water utility, but also that it was inevitable.
"There was no other way to go," she said. "It's kind of like that home reno you have to do but you don't want to do. Is it the most popular choice to make? No, but it's not that unpopular either."
Smith gave the last word on the subject before voting.
"There are people out there who have irresponsible water practices," he said, pointing out that lower consumption would be vital to bringing more people into Thompson. "We miss a huge opportunity in potential growth of the community."
