COLD LAKE - City council approved a new water billing adjustment program policy at its April 8 regular meeting, giving homeowners facing extraordinary water bills due to leaks or unintentional usage, a potential break.
With the recent transition to a new metering and software system, the City of Cold Lake now has the ability to detect abnormal water usage in real-time. Still, Nagoya pointed out that this transition period came with challenges.
“We especially couldn't guarantee it during a time where we’re doing some estimates in order to transition to the new software.”
The new policy (Policy No. 243-UT-25) establishes a formal process for residents to request partial relief on unusually high water bills. It allows for a one-time credit of up to 50 per cent of the bill, excluding fixed fees.
Council heard about several situations involving water leaks, frozen pipes, and tenants gone rogue, which have led to five-figure bills.
“That does happen from time to time,” said Nagoya. “That’s why we always highly recommend insurance companies inspect your home.”
Coun. Ryan Bailey asked about situations involving tenant sabotage. “Imagine I did rent a property to somebody and they felt that I was being an unkind landlord . . . and they turned on all the taps and left the house.” He asked if landlords would have recourse under this policy.
Nagoya confirmed, “It has to be filtered through this policy and decision-making matrix . . . It has to be something very exceptional.”
Mayor Craig Copeland also raised concerns about renter rights.
“My concern is if the property owner doesn’t deliver the bill to the renter for the water use and you’ve got this exceptional usage, where’s the renter’s rights to try to come forward and get the 50 per cent at least deduction there?”
Nagoya clarified that current policy requires bills to be in the property owner’s name unless grandfathered, meaning renters generally need to go through the owner.
The City had previously handled such issues on a case-by-case basis, but Nagoya recalled a specific incident from roughly a decade ago where a resident’s bill was waived due to compassion, despite the absence of a formal policy.
“And there is no bylaw to do this necessarily, but council out of compassion waived that bill.”
The new policy aims to provide clarity and consistency.
“We thought it’d be beneficial if the City of Cold Lake have a policy in place,” Nagoya said.
The policy offers support to those hit hardest by unexpected leaks and high water bills, balancing empathy and fiscal responsibility.
“It doesn’t take long, if you’ve had a pretty significant broken water pipe, to drain out a lot of water. And . . . when a single resident is having that water leaking, the City itself is still paying for that water,” said Nagoya.
Council passed a motion to approve Policy No. 243-UT-25, known as the water billing adjustment program policy, as presented.
