COCHRANE— A Cochranite seeking a break on an unexpectedly expensive water bill was denied a reduction in fees by Cochrane Council at Monday's (March 22) regular meeting.
Ernest Brucker appeared before council at the March 8 council meeting to appeal the expensive water bills, he received in January and February 2020. The total for the two bills was around $150.
Brucker said his water usage is typically around 6.96 cubic metres— December saw a charge of 47.9 cubic metres and January saw a charge of 47.16 cubic metres.
He discovered his bill was more costly than anticipated due to a water softener leak that he fixed as soon as it was discovered.
Councillor Patrick Wilson proposed the Brucker's bills be charged at the Tier One water rate levels as the tiered system is designed to promote water conversation, not punish people for a unique and unexpected errors.
"It's not the reason we have a tiered system to penalize someone for their one-time very improbable error," Wilson said.
Wilson's motion was defeated and council instead upheld the bills at their current rates.
"The responsibility is on each individual household to maintain their own fixtures," Mayor Jeff Genung said. "Drops in the bucket add up at the end of the day."
Genung noted these requests should not be hitting the council bench and should be dealt with by Town administration. Town administration has been developing a framework for a policy to address similar complaints in the future since January.
Coun. Alex Reed said he is glad administration is creating a policy to deal with complaints of this nature.
"I believe in the democratic process and I love taxpayers who come forward. But, for $150, this many people involved in that kind of decision is just simply a waste of time in my mind," Reed said. "Strategically we should be looking at much more broader issues like the policy around this."
Coun. Tara McFadden noted this is the second water bill appeal to appear before council since January and it highlights the need to have a policy in place to strategically guide Town administration to tackle these types of complaints.
"We definitely need a policy so administration can deal with this because we've already ... Cost the municipality more than necessary," McFadden said.
She noted administration had already worked to alleviate Brucker's water bill by charging at the Tier Two level.
"We have to be careful as a municipality not to assume the ownership of the responsibility of flaws that are happening on the household property," McFadden said. "At the end of the day the municipality paid to have the water treated ... It's not free even if we choose not to collect."
Coun. Marni Fedeyko asked the policy being drafted by Town administration explore steps that can be taken to address what defines a massive spike of water use at a property. She said a framework should be included in the water use policy that addresses unique one-off situations that result in a more expensive water bill for a resident.
"It would be a one-off situation, not a blanketed every resident in town can come and apply because I think we would end up down a really bad path," Fedeyko said.
