City council approved second reading of the water and wastewater rates bylaw at their March 15 meeting by a vote of 5-3.
City manager Anthony McInnis said council was directed to proceed to second reading by the Public Utilities Board of Manitoba (PUB), which is ultimately responsible for establishing the water and sewer rates.
“They’ve asked our chief financial officer to make a change under Schedule A to the table,” said McInnis. “They had recalculated some of the numbers.”
The changes did not affect the water and sewer rates of $3.81 and $1.79, respectively, or the quarterly service charge of $22.20 per water meter, but did raise the minimum quarterly charge for customers with 15 millimetre water lines, which includes 14 cubic metres of water, to $100.60 from $100.53. For customers with 20 to 150 mm water lines, the minimum quarterly charges have increased between 13 cents and $11.73. The changes are a result of adjustments to the commodity water and wastewater charges included in the minimum quarterly charges.
Deputy mayor Duncan Wong, who chaired the meeting in Mayor Colleen Smook’s absence, asked for a recorded vote and was opposed to second reading along with councillors Jeff Fountain and Earl Colbourne. Councillors Les Ellsworth, Andre Proulx, Braden McMurdo, Brian Lundmark and Kathy Valentino voted in favour.
