Water Standard will be added expense for municipality
By Bill Rea

King Township staff in general, and Director of Operations Jody LaPlante in particular are going to have heavier workloads in order to comply with provincially mandated rules regarding drinking water.

LaPlante recently made a presentation to Township councillors outlining the responsibilities.

The Drinking Water Quality Management Standard was one of the products of the Walkerton inquiry, and is now mandated through the Safe Drinking Water Act, according to LaPlante's report to council.

Imposing the Standard will have a huge impact on King's delivery of water, LaPlante said, adding it will involve more time and resources to manage.

"Our drinking water is 100 per cent safe," LaPlante declared, citing the Chief Drinking Water inspector's annual report for 2005-'06, which stated all the tests conducted met Ministry of the Environment standards, and drew a 90 to 95 per cent inspection rating.

The Standard calls for the establishment of a municipal drinking water licensing programs, which LaPlante said requires the development of an operational plan. It is to outline the owner and operating authorities for delivery systems and processes and procedures for the overall management and operation of them. As well, he said the operating authority must be accredited, successfully completing an audit and receiving a stamp from a third-party accrediting body.

Another element in the licence program is an approved financial plan. LaPlante said he understood it was to be completed by July 2010, although he added this was a recent development and admitted he didn't have all the details.

LaPlante explained the Township is the owner and municipal drinking water licence holder, and he is the operating authority. In that capacity, he will be expected to undergo 35 hours of training, which he said might be tricky to accommodate. His role will be to work with the owner to come up with the operational plan and make sure the terms and conditions of the licence are complied with. There will also have to be top management and a quality management representative appointed.

The Standard contains 21 elements, including provisions for continual improvement. LaPlante added it will be necessary to reapply for the licence every three years, and some improvement will have to be demonstrated. "This is not a small, one-time operation," he commented.

Councillor Bill Cober was concerned about the money involved in this, calling the imposition of the Standard a "significant provincial to municipal download."

"This is a significant amount of money," he added, pointing out it will oblige the Township to hire more staff, and he said the province should be coming up with the money to cover that.

"Again, it's going to go back to the taxpayer," he added. "This is costly. This is very costly."

Township CAO Scott Somerville added he's been to a number of sessions, and the message he's been getting is the province is telling the municipalities what to do and what to set up. "The total cost is on the municipality," he observed.

Somerville added staff will be looking to take the necessary money from the water operating system, as opposed to the tax base, although the money will still be coming from the same people in the long-run.

LaPlante told Councillor Cleve Mortelliti that water service in York is a two-tier system, with the Region supplying the water and the local municipalities (like King) delivering. This is different from Peel Region, where there is a single-tier system.

Somerville added it might make sense for York to go single-tier, but there are no plans for that to happen. LaPlante added he has brought it up too, with representatives of other municipalities in York, but there's been little interest shown. He said if there's going to be a changes, it's a long way off.

Cober added it shouldn't make a lot of difference in terms of money. "The municipal tax dollar is the same tax dollar," he said.

Mortelliti also observed the Region has a bigger budget, so it would make more sense to York to handle the whole thing, rather than have nine different work plans.

Mayor Margaret Black pointed out the two-tier system was established for York when the region was formed in the early '70s, for reasons she couldn't explain. All the regions are different, she added. York's system could be changed, but she pointed out it would require a majority vote among Regional councillors, representing a majority of the municipalities and a majority of the assessment in York.

But she did agree this is an interesting issue, as she wondered how more than 400 municipalities in Ontario are going to come up with their individual plans.