September 21, 2011
Council members get
calls on water meters
by Denise Walker
Water meters are a hot and cold topic in Laurentian Hills.
News that the town is considering installing them in Chalk River has
had residents reaching for their phones.
Several councillors said they have been receiving a lot of feedback on
the issue of water meters. Most of the callers are against the idea.
Councillor John Hoyle said many of the residents who called him were
concerned about the cost of putting in the meters.
He said several callers suggested the town was not doing enough to
enforce the watering bylaw.
Callers wondered whether stricter enforcement would make the meters
unnecessary.
Deputy Mayor Anne Giardini said the town should be enforcing the bylaw
with or without meters. The issue for the deputy mayor was the
likelihood that the province might make water meters mandatory.
“At least if we install them now, we will only pay a third of the
cost,” she said.
The provincial government has agreed to cover the other two thirds of
the cost.
Mayor Dick Rabishaw said there were lots of ways to implement the
system, and the town would look at all the options.
He explained that Arnprior had recently installed water meters. Mayor
Rabishaw said town officials were willing to share their experience.
“The meter installation went fine,” said Rabishaw, “but they have had
some problems with the software for the billing system.”
Rabishaw said the town will host a meeting this fall once all the
needed information is in place.
“It’s great that we are getting all this feedback,” he said. “I hope we
get a good turnout.”
Rabishaw noted that he had had some positive comments from the public,
saying, “Many of our new residents come from places that already have
water meters and they like the system.”
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