Caboto Club 3pm to 8pm
City among highest in water, sewer rates
But officials say Windsor’s new rates are high because its the first to come to grips with the common dilemma of deteriorated sewer and water pipes and increased environmental requirements.
“One thing to be clear is you can’t make comparisons with other municipalities not doing the (infrastructure upgrades),” Coun. Ken Lewenza Jr. said. “This isn’t a Windsor problem. It’s a North America problem.”
The reasons cited for the Windsor increases are the crumbling pipes, years of maintenance neglect and the rehabilitation of the Lou Romano Wastewater Treatment plant. The backlog in infrastructure improvements plagues most North American cities, officials said.
Few municipalities have tackled the problem yet. Lewenza said Windsor is at the forefront of municipalities addressing infrastructure deficit.
Call me skeptical, but I don't buy that line. This one definitely merits some more research over the next month or so. It should be interesting to see what other municipalities are spending on their capital projects in comparison to Windsor.
I noticed the ad in the Star the other day for this meeting. It mentioned a watermain replacement levy increase, which surprised me as this was the only levy I hadn't heard was increasing. Currently at 13% of your fixed meter and water consumption charges, it should be interesting to see what this one is going up to.
