(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Water supply

Water shut-offs for accounts in arrears suspended last week

Mar 25, 2020 | 2:31 PM

Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne insists there have been no water shut-offs in the past week, nor will there be any for the time being. This comes as an online petition, launched Tuesday, calls on the city to hold a special city council meeting to address the matter.

Earlier this week Coun. Terra Lennox-Zepp tried to bring a motion suspending water shut-offs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. That motion died on the floor without a seconder. Shortly after, two councillors left the room, forcing proceedings to stop, as there was not the minimum five-person quorum in the room.

Lennox-Zepp supports the petition and wants council to call a meeting on water shut-offs as soon as possible.

“Time is of the essence, the public knows that,” she told paNOW. “There is no sense in waiting around on this, members of the public want us to take this action for their safety and they want us to take this action before it’s too late.”

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But Dionne says there’s no rush to hold a meeting, as no one’s getting their water shut off right now. He plans to call a meeting in a week’s time when he has more information, and a broader plan for taxes and utility payments in light of the pandemic.

“We don’t have to make these decisions in a 24-hour period,” he told paNOW. “We are not cutting anybody’s water off, tax bills are not due until the end of June. I want to make sure whatever we do is sustainable and does not financially hurt the city where in return we’re going to have to go to the residents with a big tax increase to collect the shortfall.”

Statement from the city

The City of Prince Albert told paNOW in an email Wednesday that shut-offs for accounts in arrears had been suspended as of Friday of last week, but five properties where no one had applied for an account had had their water shut off in the past seven days.

“The city has been contacted by the previous occupant to advise that they are moving and to remove their name from the account. The water is shut off if there is no new applicant to assign the water account to,” the email said in part.

“While we are suspending water shut-offs for accounts in arrears for the time being, we continue to tag properties in arrears to notify them they are past due. We encourage anyone in arrears to discuss payment plan options with us by calling the Water Department.”

Mayor promises no more walk-outs

As for whether there will be enough councillors around the table for when the next council meeting is called, Dionne told paNOW he was confident there would be a quorum.

“I will assure the general public what happened on Monday night will not happen again,” he said.

As of early Wednesday afternoon there had been no formal public communication from the city regarding their position on water shut-off.

PAGC calls for suspension

Later the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) Executive sent out a media release asking the City of Prince Albert to reconsider the motion “raised by one of its council members to suspend water shutoffs during the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.” That was the motion raised by Lennox-Zepp on Monday but did not get a seconder.

“We are living in unprecedented times, and we are requesting that any disconnections are postponed until a later date for the safety and well-being of all citizens in the city,” Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte said.

“Access to water is absolutely vital in combatting this disease. Without it, our most vulnerable can not access safe drinking water, or practice essential sanitation and hygiene measures, such as simply washing their hands. It is already uncertain times for our at-risk and vulnerable members and families living in the city, and this is the time we need to work together and ensure that all citizens have access to water no matter what the circumstances,” Hardlotte said.

“We recognize that this pandemic may have not been responsible for utility bills going into arrears. In spite of this, we are asking the City of Prince Albert to look at ways to defer payments, or to extend a longer grace period in light of this global emergency and its impacts.”

Editor’s note: this story was amended at 4:15 pm Wednesday to include the media release from the PAGC.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom