City of Cranbrook council Oct. 25 passed three readings to a Waterworks Amendment Bylaw that allows for a $4/month increase in water user fees.

In a report covering Waterworks Amendment Bylaw No. 4063, 2021, Charlene Courtney of the city finance department outlined how costs for materials have increased substantially since 2019 with a jump of 30-40% on certain components, including repair clamps and pipe.

“Year over year, there has been a steady increase to infrastructure repair needs which has caused the maintenance of the water system to fall behind. In order to address the backlog, stay on top of new repair needs, and effectively handle the day-to-day operations of the system, staff has requested the creation of three new full-time utility operators.”

The three positions will be funded evenly by water and sewer utility fees.

“Looking forward the next five to seven years, staff is anticipating extra costs if and when the treatment of drinking water is required. UV disinfection along with either bulk hypo-chlorination or onsite generation of sodium hypochlorite, instead of chlorine gas, will further raise the cost of operations for the water system,” the city report stated.

“Staff is proposing a $4/month increase to the water utility rate from $22.50 to $26.50. This increase results in the total monthly combined utility fee increasing from $59.50 to $63.50; the combined rate has not seen any increases since 2015.”

The city’s annual water fund user fee revenue is expected to increase from $2,701,571 to $3,180,687.

Council will vote on a final reading of this bylaw at an upcoming meeting.

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