At the September 26 Champlain Township Council meeting, a motion was carried to increase the water and sewage rates beginning in 2025. The increased amount of 6.5 per cent comes as the council was presented with larger costs associated with maintenance and repairs.
In their report to the council, Treasurer France Thauvette and Director of Public Works Sébestien Levesque recommended that the Township raise the utility pricing to compensate for numerous issues that were unaccounted for in the original 2020-2025 budgeted timeframe. This included equipment that was at their end-of-life period requiring immediate attention and replacement, the global impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak including a general 30 per cent rise in the price of most parts, and overall borrowing interest rate increases.
“Prices have really changed, so we’re affected… this is old infrastructure that eventually needs to be replaced, and it is important to keep the flow alive to be able to serve our community,” Mayor Normand Riopel commented in the council session prior to the vote.
Costs associated with the uptick in weather-related occurrences also were mentioned. L’Orignal, for example, had over 100 millimetres of rain in 12 hours on August 9 and 115 millimetres on August 18 this year, with costs totalling $70,000 in water removal costs.
Additionally, the report cited repeated sewage pump damage due to rags clogging the system which led to the replacement of three pumps in three years, the Hawkesbury water treatment plant costs rising through the increase in materials and labour, and the rapidly aging infrastructure originally installed in 1967. The cost of addressing the issue of improper materials from this period could range and cost the Township between $333,000 and $1 million.
In the original budget for capital and major maintenance from 2020 for sanitary and water works, the Ontario Clear Water Agency (OCWA) contract was averaged at $163,300 over five years. The revised budget shows an astounding $300,995 increase due to post-COVID and increased rain realities the Township faces, bringing the new budget number to $464,300 over five years.
Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Tessier concluded that the increase is absolutely necessary to meet the needs of the Township.
The 6.5 per cent increase in water and sewage treatment would then balance the budget for the next six years.
Council, with none opposed, voted to include an annual increase of water and sewer rates by 6.5 per cent per year on the next user fee revision report. In addition, a report will be brought to the council in 2025 to suggest another rate structure for 2026.
