Conservation money going to RD Water Service rather than coming back to Courtenay and Comox for rate reductions.

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We are still paying over a $ million per year because of this decision and the lack of action of the current Water Committee to roll this back.  This is where that big reserve is coming from
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On May 31, 2011 the Regional District board passed a bylaw (wording of the bylaw) (minutes of the meeting) to 

• let the Water Service keep the funding that was intended for (unnecessary) water metering 
• increase the bulk water rates for 2012 and 2013 due to the loss of revenue due to projected water conservation.   

Voting to give the funds away rather than roll back the home water rates were the following directors

• Paul Ives - Comox mayor
• Patti Fletcher - Comox
• Greg Phelps - Courtenay mayor
• Murray Presley - Courtenay
• Bruce Jolliffe- Area A
• Jim Gillis - Area B
• Edwin Grieve - Area C

 only Larry Jangula, Courtenay, voted "No".

We need to share our water??

"We need to share our water" is on the back of Comox Valley Regional District truck(s).  We need to share our water - with whom? Is that why we have such severe water restrictions?

The Comox Valley Water Service (function 300) is funded by the Bulk Water rates paid by the users.  About 90% of the funding is from Courtenay and Comox.  The RD staff seem to be cutting our use so we can share it with those projects that lie outside the current water service.  Kensington, Sage Hills and others lust after our water.

I have demonstrated that we do not have a water shortage and we now use less than the average per capita use for BC and Canada (systems under 50,000 users).  For details see other posts on this Blog.

  

The Comox and Electoral Area directors support the Water Restrictions and the Courtenay directors do not.  Let the directors know what you think. 

Richard

Delegation: Call to turn off funding tap for water conservation & CVRD Challenged about 'water facts'

The subject is from the headlines of the newpaper coverage of my delegation to the Water Committee.   The point I was making was that CVRD staff used incorrect and misleading data to trick the WC and the CVRD board to spend lots of our money on unneeded water conservation activities.

Philip Round's (Comox Valley Echo) coverage is [here] and Scott Stanfield's (Comox Valley Record) is [here].  They saw the presentation from different perspectives.  Together they both did a good job.

I want the increase in bulk water rate for water meters, 12 cents per cubic metre, almost a million dollars, removed from the bulk rate.  That would reduce the water cost for Courtenay, Comox and the Electoral Areas.  They should then reduce their local rates or apply it to other local requirements.

The Bylaw not only lets the Regional District keep those funds but also proposed future rate increases to make up for the anticipated loss of their revenue by use using less water.

Update:  In spite of the delegation and the facts presented, the Water Committee supported the bylaw and it was approved by the Board on May 31, 2011.  The only director who opposed it was Larry Jangula.

Richard

Water metering in the Electoral Areas

In Debra Oakman's Oct. 5, 2009 Staff Report [link]to the Electoral Areas Service Committee she said there would be substantial savings if water meters were installed. 

To fund the meters project money was taken from

• Bulk water rate increase funds       $318,515
• Capital works reserves                  $654,032
• Community Works funds               $435,753

More than $1,000,000 came from funds that could have been used for other qualifying projects in the EAs, inside or outside of the Local Water Service Areas.

In this email conversation in March 2010, I tried to convince the EA members of the Water Committee that

• Universal water metering would cost more than it is worth
• Meters won't reduce water use unless the rate structure penalizes those who use too much.  
• Even if water use is reduced, the water service needs/wants the same revenue as before, therefore rates will rise.

Oakman's recommendation that this would save money was wrong. 

Last month the Regional District board passed a bylaw (wording of the bylaw) (minutes of the meeting) to 

• let the Water Service keep the funding that was intended for (unnecessary) water metering 
• increase the bulk water rates for 2012 and 2013 due to the loss of revenue due to projected water conservation.   

Voting to give the funds away rather than roll back the home water rates were

• Paul Ives - Comox mayor
• Patti Fletcher - Comox
• Greg Phelps - Courtenay mayor
• Murray Presley - Courtenay
• Bruce Jolliffe- Area A
• Jim Gillis - Area B
• Edwin Grieve - Area C

 only Larry Jangula, Courtenay, voted "No".