Based on a survey conducted by the Town of Niverville in March, the majority of Niverville’s well owners are content to keep the status quo with their well water systems, at least for now.
According to the town, approximately 700 households in the older section of Niverville currently derive their water from private wells.
Roughly 51 percent of those homeowners took the time to respond to a survey which asked if they’d be prepared to hookup to the municipal water system if the cost was subsidized by the province.
The majority, 79 percent, said no to the question. The remaining 21 percent were in favour.
“I want to say thank you to all the residents who took the time to respond to this survey,” says Mayor Myron Dyck. “Council listens to its residents and has decided to not proceed with this proposed project at this time.”
It wasn’t an easy decision for council, Dyck admits, since there was $3 million in provincial funding at stake. This would have covered half of the cost of water main infrastructure installation throughout all the unserviced areas.
Still, a commitment was made to the residents, and council is keeping to that promise.
With the survey results in, Dyck says they’ve spoken to the Manitoba Water Stewardship board, the agency providing the grant monies, and informed them of their decision to not proceed.
According to the mayor, the board has since graciously decided to keep the $3 million offer on the table until 2026, should council decide to reintroduce the idea to residents down the road.
At this point, council is resigned to letting it go. With cost-of-living concerns at the forefront of so many homeowners’ minds, they will broach the subject at a later date if interest is shown once residents are no longer under such financial duress.
The question begs asking, though, whether the $3 million offer from the province will still cover half of the water infrastructure cost in a year or two, or if residents will be on the hook for more than 50 percent at that point.
Dyck is quick to admit that the topic of water main installation has not been an easy one for council. Discussions over the last few months have been lively, he says, but always respectful even when council has struggled to agree.
It’s a nuanced issue, he says, when evaluating the individual’s rights versus what might be considered the greater good—for example, the safety consequences of not having fire hydrant installations across the entire community.
Deciding how to interpret the survey, Dyck says, came with its own struggles. When half of the residents weren’t inclined to voice their opinion via the survey, what is council to make of their position? Is 80 percent of half the homeowners still a majority vote?
In this case, council decided that it was.
The 20 percent voting in favour of municipal water hookup are not residents living in close proximity of each other, according to Dyck. So council doesn’t anticipate that specific streets or sections of the community will pursue hookup anytime soon.
If, at some point, a neighbourhood does approach them on the subject, Dyck says that the town would need to seek the province’s permission to use some of the $3 million for a partial retrofit. The lump sum was offered, Dyck says, based on the province’s anticipation of full buy-in.
At the end of the day, the mayor is proud of his council and the way they worked together on the town’s behalf.
“The town of Niverville should be very thankful for the councillors that they have,” says Dyck. “They are engaged, they are knowledgeable, and they have done a lot of research and taken a lot of time to talk to people. I just want to say thank you to council for all that they have brought to this discussion.”
