Big win

County gets fair deal for Belleville water—at last

For over two decades, County waterworks customers have paid exorbitant rates for Belleville water supplied to Rossmore and Fenwood Gardens. For example, a stranger pulling up today with a tanker truck to the Belleville water plant will pay $2.49 per cubic metre of bulk water. The County, however, pays $3.91 per cubic metre (m3). Same water. Same outlet. A whopping 57 per cent premium for water going to Prince Edward County.

By some estimates, the County has overpaid for Belleville water by $5 million over 20-plus years. Shire Hall officials occasionally ventured across the bridge, appealing for a proper deal, but there was never a sustained push. So the matter went nowhere. For decades. County waterworks customers overpaying, year after year.

The County’s Chief Administrative Officer, Marcia Wallace, refused to let this arrangement continue to slide. The matter was brought to a head last year when an arbitrator was appointed to adjudicate the dispute. Belleville argued to maintain the rate structure; the County said it should pay what other Belleville water customers pay—$2 .41 m3.

In January, the arbitrator rendered their decision— they pegged the rate at $2.17 m3, 10 per cent less than Shire Hall was asking.

On Monday, Belleville council quietly approved the new deal. And that was that.

In a statement to the Times, CAO Wallace was gracious in victory.

“Providing safe and clean drinking water for the residents of Rossmore and Fenwood Gardens is a critical priority for the County of Prince Edward. We have relied on the City of Belleville over the past 30 years to help deliver that service to residents,” said Wallace.

“We are pleased to arrive at this new bulk water agreement that we believe is a fair deal for residents of Prince Edward County. This agreement will allow us to achieve important savings that we can pass along to our residents as part of the next rate study.”

County waterworks customers, however, may be forgiven for expressing a bit more jubilance this morning—as this sorry chapter in the relations between Belleville and the County is at last behind us.