ST. PAUL – The Town of St. Paul passed the first reading of a bylaw that could potentially lower the recently instated water and sewer capital replacement levy, during a council meeting on Aug. 12.
On July 7, council passed a water and sewer service bylaw, which saw the addition of a new $17 water and $9 wastewater capital replacement levy to replace the Town’s water and sewer infrastructure in the future.
During the Aug. 12 council meeting, revisions to the bylaw took place to remove service charges the Town no longer provides, or service charges that have become redundant as they are already covered under the Public Works Policy – which will be presented to council at a later date.
As council is already considering changes in the water and sewer bylaw, Mayor Maureen Miller requested council go into closed session to discuss other portions of the bylaw with a consultant, particularly looking at changes to the water and sewer capital replacement levy.
The closed session lasted for over half an hour.
After council reconvened after the closed session, Coun. Brad Eamon made a motion to direct administration to review the water and sewer capital replacement contribution monthly fee.
The motion was carried. A second reading of the bylaw will be held at the next council meeting.
Miller said, “To clarify... we were looking at [saving] 25 per cent [of the] replacement value for [future replacement] of water and sewer facilities,” which was reflected through the $17 water and $9 wastewater capital replacement levy.
“But given feedback [from the community], we may have felt that it might have been a little aggressive, and we are now going to review and send this back. That’s what the long conversation with our consultant [was about],” said Miller.
What does the 25 per cent replacement value mean?
In a follow-up interview with Lakeland This Week, Miller explained the replacement value is based upon the present estimated cost of replacing the Town’s water and sewer infrastructure, which she said the Town could not afford currently.
She said funding from the provincial and federal governments would likely only cover 75 per cent of replacing infrastructure.
In the past, Miller said the provincial government’s Water for Life program would have covered the building of a water treatment plant at 100 per cent, but that is no longer the case.
“That’s the challenge... so now we need savings.”
She added, “We were [originally] going to continue to save 25 per cent, which we expect to be [reached] in another 17 years and have that ready-to-go when we are able to rebuild.”
Council is now proposing to save 10 per cent of the replacement value starting at the beginning of September.
This means, if the bylaw passes, the water and sewer capital replacement levy will go down from a total of $26 to $10.50, according to Chief Financial Officer Mitchel Bachelet in a follow-up with Lakeland This Week. So, $7 for water capital replacement, and $3.50 for sewer.
And since the cost of replacement may go up further into the future, Miller said council will be reviewing how much the levy should be every five years. Saving money now will also help the municipality from incurring debt later, she said.
“It’s going to gradually get up [because] we have to get to 25 per cent somehow, unless the government starts handing out money, which I don’t think things are going to change,” said Miller.
