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Turner Valley utility rate gets public input

Data provided showed potential changes to the Town's Water Utility and Sewer Service Bylaw will incorporate all related costs to operate.
Turner Valley Sign
Turner Valley residents provided their input at the Town's utility rate review meeting on Sept. 12. (BRENT CALVER/Western Wheel)

A public meeting that revealed administration’s ideas on updating Turner Valley’s utility rate bylaw had a small attendance, but plenty of questions last week.

Eleven residents attended the Town’s utility rate review open house Sept. 12 as the Town works to update its Water Utility and Sewer Service Bylaw, re-evaluating fees and charges issued to users as it lays out how the utility rates will be calculated in the future.

Residents are currently charged a fixed rate and consumption costs for both  water and wastewater.

Information posted at the meeting showed the draft bylaw calls for water rates to include the cost of water leaks, infrastructure repairs and reading meters, as well as the cost to purchase water from the Sheep River Regional Utility Corporation (SRRUC) and deliver water to users.

Similarly, wastewater rates could include the purchase of service from Westend Regional Sewage Services Commission, costs to collect wastewater from users, metered charges versus water meter use and infrastructure costs.

Resident Kevin Gelinas expressed concerns about paying the same fixed rate for waste water as water, as well as the potential to pay for storm water costs as is suggested in the draft bylaw. The current bylaw does not take into account storm water costs, which include cleaning, repairs, pumping and infrastructure.

“Now I’m going to be charged for my water, my waste water and the storm water,” said Gelinas.

Gelinas, who owns a home that’s been vacant for three years, said allowances should be made in such instances.

Resident Rob Strom said allowances should also be made for residents on fixed incomes.

Strom expressed frustration that information presented included a comparison of Turner Valley’s utility rates to other southern Alberta communities of varying sizes, saying it’s like comparing apples to oranges.

“Comparing rates is totally ridiculous,” he said. “We don’t have any idea what the systems are like unless you do an entire system cost analysis.”
Rick Wiljamaa, project manager with MPE Engineering, agrees it’s difficult to compare Turner Valley with other communities when it’s unknown what the payment structure is for the other municipalities.

“Is it 100 per cent recovery? Are they paying for infrastructure?” he said. “As nice as it is to compare community to community you don’t know the details of how that community has calculated those rates.”

Among some of the questions Wiljamaa received during the two-hour open house was why the Town is considering introducing the storm water utility fixed rate.

“Really it’s to account for capital replacement of storm water infrastructure,” he said. “Right now that would either be covered by the town’s tax rates or a portion of the utility rates that are currently charged.”

Wiljamaa said some attendees expressed concerns about the potential of increased costs, with the review stating the importance of cost recovery for infrastructure.

No decision has been made regarding increasing utility rates, he said.

Gerry Melenka, Turner Valley planning co-ordinator, had some residents in attendance ask him  why the Town is charging sewer costs based on water consumption when all of the water is not going down the drain.

“The Town has been applying the 100 per cent water/sewer calculation since 2016 and the draft bylaw is set up to apply the same calculation,” he said. “What residents may not know about sewage collection is that infiltration from damaged sewer lines, and direct flow from storm water runoff into the sewer system via eavestroughs and sump pumps, can and do occur and have resulted in sewage intake exceeding water usage.”

Once the review is complete, administration will present a recommended rate and formula to determine the rates to council and hold a public hearing this fall.

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