New Water/Wastewater Contracts Approved

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Thursday, 15 February 2024 10:41

The City of Woodstock and the Town of Tillsonburg will continue to employ the staff members who handle the day-to-day operations and maintenance for fire hydrants, water meters, and more.

WOODSTOCK/TILLSONBURG - Oxford County has reached an agreement with the City of Woodstock and the Town of Tillsonburg in terms of water and wastewater services.

The County owns all of the water and wastewater infrastructure, but Woodstock and Tillsonburg will continue to employ their own staff to handle day-to-day operations and maintenance in their communities. They will oversee the watermains, valves, fire hydrants, water meters, gravity sewers and manholes.

Woodstock Mayor Jerry Acchione says this is great news for the Friendly City.

"Under the new agreements, we’re pleased to see our highly skilled City staff continue to support the delivery of safe, clean drinking water to our community through the daily operation and maintenance of the County’s water systems. I look forward to continued collaboration and coordination so that all those living and working in the City of Woodstock and across Oxford County receive high quality, efficient water and wastewater services."

Tillsonburg Mayor Deb Gilvesy says it's also good news for residents in her community.

"The Town of Tillsonburg would like to extend a thank you to the County throughout the negotiating process which resulted in maintaining a partnership where the Town of Tillsonburg and our local personnel who have the knowledge and expertise will continue to oversee the operations under the authority of the County to ensure all provincial standards are met. Maintaining local operations is paramount to delivering quality services to our community.”

The County will continue to be in charge of supply wells, the water/wastewater treatment plants, and parts of the water distribution and wastewater collection systems including pumping stations, water towers, and wastewater forcemains.

Warden Marcus Ryan is also happy with the end result of the contract negotiations.

"As our communities grow and the demands on municipal infrastructure increase, new approaches are a way to ensure we can continue to meet the servicing challenges of the future while delivering value and results for the community today; in fact, collaboration with our partners and communities is a goal of the new Strategic Plan for this reason. In this case, all parties put forward a great effort in reaching a model for moving forward that delivers excellent service and long-term sustainability for our growing communities."

Warden Ryan explains how the new contracts will affect residents.

"They will have already seen, as part of the budget process, changes to water/wastewater billing because part of that is related to these agreements. But in terms of service, the intention with water and wastewater is always that nobody notices anything, that they turn on their water and it's safe to drink. I would absolutely expect there would be no change in service."

The previous water and wastewater contracts for Woodstock and Tillsonburg expired a few years ago.