Olds town council will be reviewing the business plan for the Mountain View Regional Water Services Commission following a presentation by top MVRWSC officials at Olds town council on March 14.
Rick Blair, chair of the MVRWSC, told councillors that since the commission recently received word that the provincial government would be giving $10 million to the project, a new water rate of $1.33 per cubic metre has been calculated for the Town of Olds from 2012 — the date the debenture will begin to be repaid. The rate is expected to stay the same until 2015.
Coun. Harvey Walsh wanted to know what other plans the MVRWSC has in the works for the system. In addition to the Olds segment, the Didsbury to Crossfield segment is also being planned, councillors heard.
Cliff McDonald, director of corporate services for the town, asked the representatives about the repayment schedules included in the plan. According to Blair, there was a typographical error in the statements, which set the amortization schedule over a 25 years, but the schedule is actually for 20 years. McDonald said he would like to see the 2009 audited statements and the preliminary 2010 statements. In the plan given to Olds council, the rate was incorrectly stated as $1.37 per cubic metre.
Following the meeting, Blair said it was unfortunate that the mistake wasn't caught sooner so that commission members could have alerted town staff sooner. Blair said the 2010 statements are currently before the auditor.
“Each council has a member that sits on the commission so the financials are gone over monthly and distributed … to each commission member. And the yearly statements are given to each town,” he said.
Mayor Judy Dahl said as a result of the discrepancy, council wanted another week to review the plan so council could properly consider it before voting at the next meeting on March 28.
“They have until the end of the month and we have a council meeting on March 28 and we can't rush into something like this because it's millions of dollars,” she said.
The MVRWSC is asking all participating municipal councils to approve the business plan by the end of the month in order to proceed with preliminary construction.
The wastewater line will be constructed between Innisfail and Bowden later this summer and the plan is to have all councils agree to the water business plan prior to wastewater construction so that the two lines can be constructed at once, saving time and about 25 per cent in construction costs.
“We applaud the water commission for the work they've done to date. The plan is about 90 per cent sound in our opinion but we do have some questions … and until that's clear, we're not voting on that,” she said.
Currently, the water commission charges member municipalities $1.20 per cubic metre for water and will raise the rate to $1.33 per cubic metre next year.
Currently, Didsbury, Carstairs, Crossfield and Bowden have approved the business plan. The commission is waiting on approval from Olds and Innisfail.
"The plan is about 90 per cent sound in our opinion but we do have some questions ... and until that's clear, we're not voting on that."Judy DahlOlds mayor
