Kincardine council faces pipeline debt decision Wednesday night in Underwood

It's ironic that Kincardine council will be in the Underwood Community Centre, Wednesday night, facing a decision on whether to repeal a bylaw connected with the lakeshore drinking water pipeline.

This is the same location where the pipeline project began over a decade ago, in August, 2001.

Now, council must determine whether it will uphold a bylaw approved in April, forcing all landowners along the pipeline route to pay a capital charge of $7,200 each, whether or not they connect to the pipeline. This will pay off the $1.5-million stranded debt from the project which was completed in 2004.

At the December planning meeting, council discussed a motion brought forward by councillor Randy Roppel, asking for staff to prepare the necessary documentation to repeal Bylaw 2014-044, including a staff report outlining the alternate options for eliminating the Kincardine shoreline pipeline debt, the composition of the Fund 68 water reserve fund, and the financial implications of the refunded premium payments.

At that meeting, Roppel and deputy mayor Jacqueline Faubert, along with the crowd in the audience, believed council was going to vote on whether to repeal the bylaw. However, the motion did not stipulate that. It called for staff to draw up documents and do a report regarding the implications of repealing the bylaw.

Roppel demanded that the issue be resolved as quickly as possible – at the latest by the Jan. 14 meeting – to ward off the looming Jan. 21 court date by the “Broken Promise” group.

That group launched a legal action Oct. 19, stating that Bylaw 2014-044 was beyond the legislative power of the municipality; violated the rules of procedural fairness owed to the affected landowners; and made charges that were not meaningful under the Municipal Act.

“There is a pile of stuff to consider here,” said councillor Laura Haight. “It's not just the narrow issue of the pipeline debt we need to look at, but also the Inverhuron water and sewer project which just got approval to go ahead.”

Councillor Maureen Couture agreed full information is required to make a proper decision on this issue.

“I'm not sure why the money (to pay off this debt) has to come from the Kincardine water reserve and not the Tiverton water reserve,” she said. “I don't support taking it from any reserve fund.”

Roppel said there are two water reserves – Ward 1 Kincardine water capital reserve, and Fund 68 water reserve. The money to fund the stranded pipeline debt should come from one of those, not Tiverton, in order to address this issue, he said.

“Are we not repealing this bylaw tonight?” asked Faubert.

Mayor Anne Eadie explained that Roppel's motion called for a staff report and information regarding the repeal of Bylaw 2014-044.

“We could repeal the bylaw tonight,” said Roppel.

Haight called for a point of order, noting that the current motion on the floor does not call for repealing the bylaw at that meeting.

“Repealing the bylaw will affect a lot of other constituents in this municipality,” she said. “We have to consider the documentation that led to this decision.”

Council agreed to have the necessary documentation and information brought forward, pertaining to the implications of repealing Bylaw 2014-044.

That information comes before council at its Jan. 14 meeting at the Underwood Community Centre.

There are five options available:

• Uphold Bylaw 2014-044
• Repeal Bylaw 2014-044 and fund the stranded debt from reserve funds
• Repeal Bylaw 2014-044 and allocate a capital charge for all properties in the municipality to fund the stranded debt
• Repeal Bylaw 2014-044 and revert back to the provisions in Bylaw 2005-142
• Another option determined by council

Staff's preferred option is to uphold Bylaw 2014-044.