West Flat resident Nicole Bouchard says this jug, sealed with a plastic bag, was the only water supplied to her by the city during a month long boil water advisory in her neighbourhood. (Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Infrastructure issues

Fifty West Flat homes to receive refund on monthly water bill

Mar 23, 2021 | 5:41 PM

A group of West Flat residents are set to have a portion of their water bills refunded after an incident the mayor calls an “embarrassment.”

Resident Nicole Bouchard appeared before council on Monday night representing a group of neighbours who were affected by water disruptions related to the replacement of a sewer main in the area in October and November.

Despite the area being under a drinking water advisory beginning Oct. 24, Bouchard said she never received notice from the city and didn’t learn her water might not be safe to drink without boiling until she called the city on Nov. 12. The advisory was rescinded on Nov. 26.

Additionally, she said water was shut off to her and her neighbors’ homes multiple times without warning, culminating in a Nov. 20 incident that shocked council.

Bouchard said she arrived home from work at 5:30 p.m. to find her toilet wouldn’t flush. The contractors completing the sewer main replacement had gone home for the day, so Bouchard called the city’s afterhours line and was put through to a foreman.

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“In your notes it says I was provided water,” said Bouchard, referencing a report prepared by city administration on her complaint.

“This is what I was provided, a dirty jug from the shop, covered in a baggy with tape,” she continued, placing the now empty vessel on a table beside her at the speakers’ podium. She added she didn’t blame the foreman who delivered it who she called “professional and helpful.”

“This is the only water that was ever provided to anyone on 18^th Street West by the city in all of this, in a complete one-month boil water advisory during a pandemic,” she said.

It turns out the water line to Bouchard’s home had frozen and the contractor was unaware. Crews defrosted the connection the next day and taps started running again. But Bouchard said she was approached days later by an elderly neighbour who asked her if the water had been turned back on. Unlike Bouchard, the neighbour hadn’t complained to the city and had been without running water for four days.

Mayor apologizes

“I personally want to apologize,” Mayor Greg Dionne told Bouchard. “That jug sitting beside you is an embarrassment to me. And I’ll tell if it was delivered to my house—and I understand [the foreman] did what he could—I wouldn’t have accepted it.”

Dionne said he believed the contractor should be responsible for any costs the city incurred reimbursing residents’ water bills.

“I believe that whatever motion we make tonight, the contractor is libel, the contractor allowed the line to freeze,” Dionne said.

City responds

Capital projects manager Nykol Miller said the city had provided notice to residents about the drinking water advisory and a planned water shut-off on Nov. 4. She said as per city procedure the foreman who delivers the notices checks off each address they are dropped off at.

“If there were residents who did not receive it, I can’t answer as to why they didn’t because all of the check boxes that I have on the sheet from the foreman that delivered them indicated that both the notices were delivered and the rescind notices were delivered after the project.”

She also explained that the freezing of a service connection, like what occurred at Bouchard and her nieghbour’s homes is rare.

Residents to be reimbursed

Coun. Charlene Miller, who represents West Flat, made a motion that fifty houses along 18^th Street from the 600 to the 800 block be reimbursed for 1 month of their water bills.

“We have young families that have been greatly affected by the situation,” she said.

Council unanimously supported Miller’s motion to refund the residents. A final decision on the issue will be made at the next regular council meeting.

Looking ahead, Miller said she plans to ask the city to buy a water truck to supply areas affected by similar infrastructure projects in the future.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom