Mountain View County council has given first and second reading to the new Netook Business Park (NBP) Water and Wastewater bylaw.
The move came during the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
The park is located east of Olds on the south side of Highway 27 and west of the QEII.
“The original developer has maintained management of the Netook Business Park since it began operations approximately eight years ago, however, following signing of the final acceptance certificate, which is expected to occur in October 2018, the county will be responsible for servicing and maintaining infrastructure contained within the park,” administration said in a briefing note to council.
“This means that the county will be responsible for operating the water and wastewater systems.”
The water system is currently not functional, and each lot is serviced by a dedicated well on each lot. The wastewater system consists of a collection system connected to a 60-cubic-metre tank which is trucked to a disposal site as required.
“The amount of wastewater removal presently charged back to the lot owners is based upon 80 per cent of the amount of water used and the attached bylaw is set up on that premise,” administration said. “This was once an ‘industry standard’ in municipalities but some are now charging 100 per cent.”
The bylaw also outlines the conditions which would allow the county to operate the wastewater system.
“Recently the county arranged a meeting with all of the present lot owners to acquire their suggestions on moving forward with the wastewater system,” administration said.
“As the turnout was low, a questionnaire was sent out to all of the lot owners to further attempt to solicit suggestions but, to date the county has not received any responses. In light of this, it was decided to proceed with a bylaw based on the present method of operation.”
According to an administration note on possible budget implications, the net cost to haul and dispose of wastewater, at 80 per cent recovery, would mean that the system will need to be subsidized approximately $14,000 per year by the county to continue operating the system as the developer has in recent years.
“The county is predicting a cost of $84,000 per year for operating the wastewater system, with revenues of $70,000 from wastewater producers. Within the projected annual operating costs are $15,000 of system maintenance costs and $8,000 of long-term capital replacement costs.”
Municipal tax revenue generated from the properties tied into the wastewater system is approximately $119,000 per year, council heard.
“There may be unknown additional one-time costs associated with taking over operation of the system, however the budget estimates are based on information provided by the developer who is currently operating the system.
“Subsequent to the county assuming responsibility for operating the water and wastewater systems further analysis will be completed and rate adjustments will be recommended to council as required.”
The complete proposed bylaw can be found on the county's website.
The proposed bylaw will come back to councillors for further consideration, including of the budget implications, at an upcoming council meeting.
