Regarding one of the most hotly debated island issues of the young year, there may be a compromise in store.
The Snug Cove Sewer Local Management Committee (SCSLMC) met for the first time in three years last week to discuss sewage upgrades at the Snug Cove Wastewater Treatment Plant. The first phase of the work, which will run $1.64 million, is underway. The plant has reached sewage capacity and needs a series of upgrades to relieve current pressure and allow for future hookups to the system.
The source of this funding has been a source of discontent for many Bowen residents living outside Snug Cove. At the end of January council decided it could be paid for through the municipality’s general funds, specifically $1 million from the Capital Renewal and Replacement Reserve (CRRR) and $640,000 from Unappropriated Surplus. Typically utilities work benefitting a local service area is paid for by residents of that area, however in this case the unique nature of Snug Cove was used to justify levying costs against every taxpayer on the island.
“Snug Cove is more than a local service area, we all use the shops and the restaurants and the pub and so on. So it seems reasonable for us to be paying to some degree,” said Coun. David Hocking.
Chief administrative officer Liam Edwards added past decisions have forced the current council’s hand. “Perhaps the most pressing reason is that capacity that was once there was given away to projects that were deemed to be strategically important to the island, but there was never any funding identified to fill in that capacity that was given away.”
“So here we are at the day that we have next to no capacity left, and inadequate funding in the Snug Cove Sewer Reserve. So then the question is, ‘who is responsible to pay?’” asked Edwards at last month’s council meeting.
Edwards added he consulted the municipality’s legal counsel and a Ministry of Finance officer and was assured the funding approach was legal. Council voted to approve the project with Coun. Alison Morse the lone objecting member.
CFO to propose Snug Cove residents pay extra to replenish general reserves
But at the SCSLMC meeting March 3, Bowen’s new chief financial officer Kristen Watson voiced her opinion on the use of general funds for the project.
“I was a little bit surprised by the decision… given our history and how we’ve always self-financed utilities of local service areas. We’ve just finished a very significant infrastructure project in Cove Bay – another area that has significance island-wide, but that was attributed 100 per cent to the local service area. It just surprised me that it was a departure from previous policy,” says Watson.
“There is some sentiment out in the community that perhaps part of the costs should be attributed or assigned to the local service area. So I think it’s fair to move forward with council with a proposal for some kind of cost allocation to see what we could determine could be attributed to existing users versus future users, and kind of divide up the costs a little bit,” she says.
Watson says these extra payments from Snug Cove residents could come in the form of a parcel tax, user rates, or a combination of both. She’ll present her plan to council March 14, where it will be up to them to decide if they wish to pursue repayment from the local service area, or leave the funding plan as is.
Edwards pointed out that either way the $1.64 million for Phase 1 will be coming from the municipality’s general funds. But if council approves Watson’s plan, the additional payment from Snug Cove residents will go toward restoring those reserves.
“Will that be repaid entirely by all the taxpayers on Bowen, or will the local service area have a dedicated charge, either through a parcel tax or user fees or something, to help contribute a little more than all the other taxpayers. In the same way that every other utility on the island is effectively asked to pay for their upgrades within their service area,” summed up Edwards.
The SCSLMC also heard about where the $6.57 million needed for Phase 2 upgrades to the treatment plant will come from. In addition to the traditional parcel taxes, user fees and latecomer agreements, development charges will be the important number to nail down to see where the municipality stands. Edwards says discussions are taking place with the development community to get a sense of what projects are expected in the future.
The meeting adjourned with chair Glenn Cormier observing the group should not wait three years until their next meeting. He suggested getting together every six months instead.
The committee also put a call out to Snug Cove residents interested in volunteering, as the SCSLMC currently only has three members and would like to reach five. The group is also exploring changing from a management committee to an advisory committee.
