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Council looks at increasing water and sewer dumping rates

Issues involving water and sewer rates were discussed at length during Tuesday's Regular City Council session. During the meeting, council put to committee a new proposed water dispensing rate and sewage disposal rate.
Issues involving water and sewer rates were discussed at length during Tuesday's Regular City Council session.

During the meeting, council put to committee a new proposed water dispensing rate and sewage disposal rate.

Alan Korell, Managing Director of Engineering, Environmental Services and Works, says that water rates payable for the supply of water from the dispensing facility would be set at $3.60 per 1,000 gallons.

The sewage rates payable for the dumping of sewage loads to the facility would also be set at $10.00 per 1,000 gallons for years 2012 and 2012.

In 2011, the City of North Bay constructed a new facility to handle the dispensing of bulk water and septage disposal on Patton Road.

Contractors were permitted to utilize Public Works facilities to acquire bulk water and Memorial Drive is used to dump the septic loads.

Access to both the Public Works facility and to the Memorial Drive facility was closed at the end of June of this year and access to the new dispensing facility commenced.

Commercial vehicles will now be charged a dumping fee as well to get rid of waste that they are hauling in this new facility.

The new rate for dumping sewage is three times that of clean water on a per volume basis.

What this will mean is that all vehicles that were dumping into the North Bay sewer system will now have to pay for the services of disposal, as well as a service fee to draw water onto commercial water tankers for purposes of an industrial nature.

As of yet, it is unclear as to whether the facility will indeed change usage patterns as the costs of filling and emptying commercial vehicles will undoubtedly provide inconveniences for many in terms of time and transportation.

It has been anticipated for a number of years and is expected to be well received with the water and sewer commercial trucking industries here in the city.

However, it is yet to be seen how effective the system will be in that it may add long wait and drive times to the equation of filling and dumping loads in a cost effective manner, never mind the complications of enforcement, if there are any.