A change in the calculation of sewage rates to bring the village more in line with other communities and make the system more fair has begun.
At Boyle’s village council meeting last Wednesday, councillors passed first reading of new bylaw that would see sewer rates charged based upon water consumption rates.
The new bylaw would see the residential and commercial base rates remain at $17 and $19 per month respectively. The change comes with the base covering just the first 15 cubic metres of water used, after that the price for every cubic metre of use would be $1.
According to chief administrative officer Charlie Ashbey, a large number of residential customers would not be affected by the change they don’t reach that limit. And even he admitted, that the biggest residential users might only pay an extra $5 or $10 per month should the new bylaw pass.
Where it will hit the most is the few businesses in the community that use the most water and haven’t really been paying their fair share under the former fixed rate system.
Based upon 2014 consumption rates presented at council, one business that paid just over $3,000 for nearly 10,300 cubic metres would, under the changes, pay close to $10,800. Another business that was charged just over $1,000 last year for close to 4,500 cubic metres of use, could soon seen that cost more than quadruple to more nearly $4,600. The names of the businesses that council used in the examples were left out for privacy reasons.
However, there are a number of businesses in Boyle that will benefit from the change after having overpaid for years with the fixed rate system.
One example is a business that paid close to $4,500 last year. Their cost would fall by nearly 50 per cent based on the slightly more than 2,100 cubic metres of water used last year. A number of other businesses would also see their sewer cost fall, anywhere between 25 and 50 per cent.
The new bylaw will come before council for second reading at their next meeting Mar. 4.
Borrowing for Municipal Centre
Council has directed administration to draw up a bylaw that would authorize the village to finance up to $2.5 million to construct the new Municipal Centre, seniors centre and library.
While it is anticipated that the cost to construct the facility will come in under $2 million, council is being prudent in asking for far more as once they make the application to the Alberta Capital Finance Authority – the government-operated financing arm that provides low-interest loans to municipalities – they can ask for less, but not more.
Once first reading of the borrowing bylaw is passed, which is expected on Mar. 4, the public will have a chance to petition for a vote prior to approval of second and third reading that could only be done on Apr. 1 at the earliest.
It would then be another month before the bylaw becomes official.
Clear your sidewalk
Some Boyle residents got a rude awakening recently when the village gave a little pushback on enforcing their sidewalk snow clearing bylaw.
Earlier this month, the contracted peace officer for the village was asked to conduct an education campaign along a few streets following some complaints about the lack of snow and ice being promptly cleared from the sidewalk in front of a few homes, most specifically along Third Street.
According to Ashbey in his report to council, a number of residents that received either knocks on their door or a bright orange notice were a bit upset about the whole idea.
However, Ashbey believes the campaign was a big success as it showed that residents need to be responsible for cleaning a path on the sidewalk with 48 hours of a snow storm.
“The point was to educate residents and I think we accomplished that. The bottom line is we want them to clear the sidewalk,” Ashbey stated.
