BOWDEN -- Town officials are looking at utilizing their bylaws to "encourage" five property owners to hook up to the community's water system.
The plan is also to update those bylaws to cover situations like this and to obtain more information on the matter from Alberta Health.
That decision was made during a March 11 town council meeting.
All five properties are not residential — they're commercial — according to a memo from Arno Glover, the town’s assistant to the chief administrative officer.
Councillors first learned about the problem about a month ago. See related story: https://www.oldsalbertan.ca/article/properties-unhooked-to-water-system-raise-concerns-20190226
They were alarmed by the potential ramifications of the situation.
“A lot of them out there have their own wells so these wells are not being tested like our own water is being tested, if they’re on our sewer system only, there could be contamination. And they’re not being charged because how do you meter (sewage),” interim chief administrative officer Jacqui Molyneux said at that time.
"I don’t think we want to end up on the front page of the paper saying we didn’t address this because they were drinking unpotable water," Coun. Wayne Milaney said.
“So I think that’s why within the bounds of our town, we need to make sure that everybody is on potable water and all the sewer running through the Red Deer (Regional Wastewater) Commission.”
Milaney repeated that concern during the March 11 discussion.
"It's all about safety; it's about nothing else. Health and safety — that's all that matters," he said.
