By Cecilia Nasmith
Both sides of the question of replacing water meters were strongly debated at Monday's committee-of-the-whole meeting of Cobourg council.
Ken Strauss of the Cobourg Taxpayers Association (CTA) made a lengthy presentation setting out objections that went beyond cost considerations in Lakefront Utility Services Inc.'s request for a $2.3-million loan for this project.
The timing of the request was one issue, occurring about a year after the board determined it was needed - at a time “when our councillors were happily celebrating the holidays with their families.”
Strauss urged Lakefront to consider repairing the meters, both for the lower cost and as a sustainability measure.
He also expressed concerns about more accurate readings having adverse consequences for many local businesses.
“Lakefront has under-billed commercial customers by over $600K in the last decade,” Strauss said.
“Under Lakefront's proposal, Cobourg businesses will pay over $114,000 more each year.”
It concerned him that Lakefront's proposal did not mention the expected lifespan of the replacement meters at a time when such modern electronic devices as computers and cellphones only have a lifespan of five to 10 years.
As well, he noted the lack of a mention in the proposal as to why Neptune was selected as the supplier – was there a tender, he wondered.
“I urge council to reject this proposal from Lakefront and request that a fiscally responsible alternative that addresses the issues raised in this delegation be provided.”
Asked by Councillor Adam Bureau if he had run any of his figures or his assertions past Lakefront Utilities, Strauss said he'd had no contact with them.
Cobourg resident Bryan Lambert attacked the lack of a multi-vendor system, adding, “the proposal is seriously flawed with errors, sloppy or missing analysis – in my opinion this proposal reflects quality-control issues in the preparation of this.
“In summary, don't waste time on this, council. Send it back to staff for a redo.
“As a Cobourg taxpayer, I am appalled at the cavalier manner this proposal suggests spending money. Cobourg taxpayers deserve better – much better.”
Council voted to refer the issue back to staff for a report but, in the meantime, treasurer and chief administrative officer Ian Davey took the opportunity to remind council that the $2.3-million would essentially have no impact on taxpayers either in terms of affecting the town's cost of borrowing for other purposes or means of repayment.
“The repayment of the loan will come strictly from water rates so there is no impact on the budget the town is shaping or future budgets,” Davey said.
“Water services are fully funded from water rates.”
Lakefront president and chief executive officer Dereck Paul felt it incumbent upon him to defend the utility's reputation, which he took the opportunity to do during the committee-of-the-whole open-forum portion of the meeting.
For one thing, Paul said, the waterworks is operated as as fully self-sustained nonprofit system run on a nonprofit model in a way that is consistent with provincial legislation under which its predecessor organization, the Cobourg Public Utilities Commission, was replaced some 18 years ago.
The water-meter replacement initiative began more than three years ago at a cost of $475,000 per year to change 1,000 meters annually. The turn-over is about half-completed, but the costs of running the service with half-antiquated and half-updated meters is becoming an issue.
“A business analysis indicated we are at the tipping point, and it did not make sense to continue,” he said.
Paul also took the opportunity to remind council that Cobourg has one of the province's very few utilities that (until now) has never borrowed funds for its waterworks. But the utility has underspent in some areas to sustain its water rates – which, he added, are among the lowest in the province.
“But if we continue to ignore major issues, the system will be compromised.”
He denied the request was submitted on the sly, saying discussions had taken place with treasurer-chief administrative officer Ian Davey last year. A request was submitted Nov. 15, he continued, long before anyone was off celebrating the holidays.
“So there's no intent to have anything done under the cloak of darkness or some sinister planning. We explored all alternatives,” Paul insisted.
“We investigated all alternatives with all vendors.”
The meters that need replacing are 30 to 40 years old for the most part, though 20% of the ones that are left are about 50 years old and well beyond their useful life. They would cost far more to repair than to replace. And in any event, Paul said, it is as pointless to repair a meter that old as it is to repair a 40-year-old television or computer.
The new meters have an expected lifespan of 30 years, as well as a 20-year warranty.
“This only demonstrates the lack of knowledge from the CTA on this issue,” he said.
“Our water staff are the experts, with a combined total of over 160 years of experience. I would trust them to know what they are talking about.”
Accurate usage reports may well result in higher bills for some businesses, he allowed. But that is a positive thing in that it allows them to better track usage patterns and predict water-usage costs.
“There's no sleight-of-hand here, or hidden agenda. We are proud of our board and staff for running an extremely efficient system.”
These efficiencies, along with automation, have allowed them to reduce staffing costs by 25% over the past decade, he said, helping maintain costs at 2011 levels. Furthermore, “Lakefront has done more for greenhouse-gas reduction for this community than the CTA is aware of.”
Increases have come along regularly to catch up on past underspending, he said, and this is true of utility organizations in many jurisdictions.
“It seems to me the CTA is positioning themselves as subject-matter experts,” he said.
“Council should make the determination of whose experience can be trusted. The CTA should allow the experts that were hired and have the experience to do their job.”
