Water was a big focus of the January 22nd Corporate Planning and Policy Manual Committee meeting, with discussion about water meters and billing for water services in the Mission starting off the night.
Resident George Fedoruk made a delegation to Council, questioning first when the Municipality planned to switch to water meter-based billing, with Mayor Ron Rody replying that it would certainly not be this year, as staffing issues have delayed the process and he's waiting for KPMG to re-send data used for its rate study, in order to set the new rates.
Rody did note the rates would be a mix of fixed and variable costs - KPMG had recommended to Council that the fixed component initially cover 75% of water and wastewater costs, with the variable - the meter-based component - to cover the remaining 25%, though it also recommended phasing that to a 50/50 ratio after three years, which would benefit lower consumers, who would start seeing their bills drop sizeably.
Fedoruk - and fellow Mission resident Nick Veldt - then discussed the current billing system for that part of the community, as it appears to be based on estimated usage, though it was unclear where the estimated amount actually comes from - Fedoruk in particularly stated that his billed rate since the installation of the new water meters is far higher than he believes possible.
Suggesting he believed the Mission was billed on a flat rate like the rest of the community, Infrastructure Services Director Cory Stainthorpe stated he'd need to discuss that with the Finance Department, as billing isn't under his purview and there were no finance representatives at the meeting.
Mayor Rody promised staff would look into the situation.