Residents steamed over cut in water delivery schedule
Cost reduction measures cause upset for homeowners without piped service
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Monday, August 31, 2015
IQALUIT
The city cut Wednesday water deliveries to trucked-water homes this month in an effort to reduce its ballooning debt load but the abrupt move has many people upset and demanding answers.
Anne Crawford and about a dozen supporters crowd Iqaluit council chambers last week looking for answers about why water-truck deliveries on Wednesdays were stopped. By the end of the council meeting, she got her wish and council agreed to hold a public consultation meeting in the near future. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo |
Resident Anne Crawford led a group of about a dozen people filling city council chambers and spilling into the hall.
"The issue here is, do we have reliable access to water?" asked Crawford, who represents one of the 491 Iqaluit homes with trucked-water services.
She came to council asking that the city have a public consultation meetings with residents, so that people could ask questions and get direct answers.
"Trucked water people are not the people you're looking for if you're trying to reduce overall water consumption," said Crawford, anticipating the issue was about costs.
Coun. Terry Dobbin agreed with the idea of a public consultation.
"I consider water delivery an essential service," he said.
Dobbin raised concerns about daycares not being able to afford the $250 callout fee and needing a steady supply of water to do their job and maintain sanitary conditions.
"A lot of these daycares might probably be forced to shut down," he said.
Matthew Hamp, director of public works, told council that the move was designed to save money in the face of the city's growing multimillion-dollar deficit, which is increasing by about $1 million per year.
He said there is a "disproportionally high cost of delivering water by truck," adding that 40 per cent of the city's operating costs for water go to trucked-water homes, which account for only 11 per cent of the demand.
Responding to the concern about daycares, Hamp said it's not what anyone wants to hear, but, "It's the cost of doing business. It's a higher use, it's a higher demand. There's a cost associated with that."
He said callouts, which cost people $250, cost the city between $470 and $680.
"We're introducing efficiency here," said Mayor Mary Wilman. "I really don't know what the issue is."
Hamp said he had received two phone calls and e-mails from six people complaining about the change but that caused a stir of disbelieving murmurs in the crowd of onlookers.
All city councillors present voted in favour of a public consultation on the change in the near future, where residents will be able to ask questions, with the exception of Wilman, who voted against the motion.
