Big Lakes County council:
I would like to discuss the overinflated water rates you are charging to Big Lakes County residents.
I have attached water rates for surrounding areas for your reference. There is no need for our water rates to be at $7.20/m3 for water, and the minimum 10 cubic metre charge.
The excuse you gave to residents was you were trying to break even on the costs associated with water treatment and distribution. But yet the rates are continuously going up (twice in one year recently). If this is true, please explain to me how every other county except the M.D. f Smoky River have less than half the rates you are charging.
This proves there is no need for the inflated rates, and I am asking for a complete review of rates, and explanation of hikes. I will remind council, the majority of water the County supplies to county residents, comes from Lesser Slave Lake, which is easily accessed. The rates in Falher are understandable as they have no fresh water source around them that is easily accessible.
I am also asking council to reduce water rates back to a reasonable and acceptable rate. The water you provide isn’t even the quality it should be at, and in Enilda, the water is not drinkable as it has a foul smell most times, and a yellow tinge to it. I have been forced to buy 15-L bottled water for my family to drink, as the water out of the tap was making us sick. I called several times to complain about the water quality, and a member from the County came out and flushed lines, this would help for maybe a month at most, and then would be back to the same thing again.
I am looking forward to hearing council’s response to this matter.
Eric Corbiere,
Enilda, AB