A public meeting held Sept. 20 provided Thompsonites with some answers about what they will be charged for water starting in 2011, but perhaps not as many answers as some were expecting - and also raised one more question.
"The idea is to get feedback from the community with respect to the rate-setting for the utility," explained Mayor Tim Johnston in his introduction to the evening. There were nearly 100 Thompsonites in the audience at the Letkemann Theatre.
Johnston then threw to Ed Sharp of CH2M Hill, the engineering consultants whom the city has hired for assistance on the water utility project, for a 50-minute presentation on how the water utility would work, as well as laying out potential expenses and revenues.
As water utilities in Manitoba are mandated to be break-even propositions, the amount charged to Thompsonites for water will ultimately be tied to how much the city chooses to spend on its water-related infrastructure; items such as replacements for aging pipes and a new wastewater treatment plant.
CH2M Hill set out three potential rate/expenditure combinations. One would see the average Thompson homeowner charged in the neighbourhood of $600 per year for water, with only minimal expenditures. The recommended option sees a cost of just under $700 to the average homeowner, while the third sees that number rise to around $825 and the most aggressive infrastructure plan.
Under the recommended option, the break-even point would be $1.8 million. The cheapest option would see the break-even point lowered to $1.3 million and the average homeowner save roughly $80 per year.
The projected start date for the Thompson water utility has always been Jan. 1, but as local lawyer and Public Utilities Board (PUB) vice-chair Bob Mayer revealed at the meeting, it is looking less and less likely that the city will be able to charge Thompsonites for water on a metered basis that soon.
"How can you tell this crowd that you are on track to go live Jan. 1?" asked Mayer as part of an audience question-and-answer session. "The PUB will not get to your application before Jan. 1. It has to be reviewed by one of the staff people, who told you that she is at this point in time reviewing an application from May."
Sharp replied that he believed the Jan. 1 was still feasible, at the very least for an interim order to carry the city over until a regular rate could be set.
"You can't get an interim rate until your application has gone at least to the board for an interim rate hearing," responded Mayer. "You cannot charge, you cannot set rates. The PUB sets the rates. You can apply for them, but you can't set them, and you can't charge for them until the PUB has issued an order."
"If you sought an interim order at that time, the board is relatively busy in light of the fact that virtually all of January and February would be tied up with Hydro general rate applications," he continued.
"We've always said Jan. 1 is a target," responded Johnston. "We still have to follow the process that we're in today, to seek that feedback to initiate that process. Our hope is the board will find time to approve the rate and issue the order until they issue that order, whether it's an interim order or a full order, we will not be able to proceed with charging for the system."
Mayer also pointed out that a slide in the presentation still made reference to Jan. 1 as a "go-live" date. Johnston agreed that the date should be removed from the slide.
In response to an audience query about the possibility of the PUB meeting not being public, Johnston noted that it is up to the PUB whether or not they will hold a public hearing.
"I believe these are the right choices," said Johnston in response to a line of questioning about the necessity of the water utility. "I can't afford to continue to pay increased taxes because this community wants to lag behind with the status quo. You cannot defend the status quo. This community has to change, we have to grow, and it's going to cause some pain, but until this community wakes up and realizes you cannot continue to depend on fate or something else to determine where you're going, this council has shown real leadership - finally - by addressing the challenges that many others choose to ignore until they pack their bags and left."
The audience was also given surveys to fill out, regarding what they thought of many aspects of the water utility, including its cost and its usefulness. The CH2M Hill presentation is available on the city's website. The city must now pass a bylaw accepting one of the CH2M Hill recommendations to progress to the next stage with the PUB.
