In mid-January, council made public their hope to bring town water to Niverville, eventually connecting all businesses and homes to the existing water treatment plant. In an effort to promote business growth, council decided to start with the businesses and residents on Main Street up to Sixth Avenue, including a portion of Fifth Avenue South.
To take advantage of a current government grant, council recognized the need to act quickly. The grant requires that the project be complete by March 2017.
Council’s initial plan effectively split the payment for the $2 million project into three parts: the grant would cover two-thirds, the town would kick in $100,000, and the $600,000 balance would be footed by landowners along the phase one route.
The first public meeting on January 18 prompted a flurry of discontent among some landowners. A collection of these came together to request a better proposal, one that would distribute the costs more equitably between the town and property owners.
Council reconvened, taking a hard look at ways they might restructure the proposal without losing the deal.
“Council has repealed our borrowing bylaw,” says Mayor Myron Dyck. “Thus no borrowing for the water project will be done. At this point, council will still go ahead with the project but perhaps different in terms of scope. The town has asked engineers for costs if certain items are removed from the original plan. These numbers have been returned to council and we met this morning [March 22] to finalize an option.”
A letter was sent by council to all affected property owners on March 29. The revamped proposal offers a scaled-down version of the original, including a main water line and fire hydrants which landowners will not pay for directly.
Council is further adding two options: pay nothing now, or pay the full frontage fee now. The first option means that the landowners along the route will have the advantage of fire suppression via fire hydrants, but all costs of hooking up to the main line will be borne solely by the property owner at some future date.
Option two requires that the entire frontage fee be paid upfront, in full, with no payment terms. Council has reduced the frontage fee from the original estimate, $53.44 per frontage foot, to a more palatable $34.80. These savings may not be available at a future date.
The proposed frontage fee will cover the costs of a curb stop as well as a one-inch line from the water main to the curb stop. Hookup from the curb stop to the building will be the owner’s expense.
Landowners wishing to take advantage of option two are asked to contact the town office no later than 4:00 p.m. on April 8.
