Since not enough residents volunteered to have a water meter installed in their home, the City of Châteauguay will hold a random draw in each neighbourhood to find the 350 or so residential buildings where this equipment must be installed for statistical purposes.
Translation Amanda Bennett
Châteauguay mayor Eric Allard explained at the October municipal council meeting that this was a government directive to obtain an accurate picture of water consumption in the municipality. « Many people think that this installation will lead to taxation, but that’s completely false […]. If the intention was to tax, there wouldn’t just be 350 meters, let’s be logical, » explained Mr. Allard on October 16th.
« If we don’t comply very quickly, it will be very difficult to get subsidies for water treatment, » he added. In the absence of subsidies, drinking water expenses will be paid for by taxpayers through their tax bills, the mayor reminded.
The town has made several unsuccessful appeals for volunteers over the past year. Since this summer, the installation of a water meter has also been mandatory in order to obtain a permit for the construction, extension or renovation of a kitchen or bathroom.
The municipality was selected by the Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Habitation as a reference city in order to collect precise data and information on consumption habits, the state of drinking water production infrastructures and the water supply network. »
This portrait will help better define the « real » sharing of drinking water production and distribution costs with neighbouring towns. Châteauguay is obliged to supply water to Sainte-Martine, Mercier, Saint-Isidore and Saint-Urbain-Premier. It also has a contract with the town of Léry, which expires at the end of the year.