Council Requests More Information on Water By-Law Before Approving

Thursday, 23 January 2020 07:25

Oxford County council received an update on the development of a water by-law. Among the changes included the billing name on rental account units.

OXFORD COUNTY - An update on a water by-law was brought to Oxford County council.

It's the County's first water by-law, which had been updated to address recurring comments, including the billing name on the rental unit accounts.

The water billing would be forwarded to tenants, while the account stays in the property owner's name who are also responsible for any unpaid bills.

Warden Larry Martin says council are requesting additional information.

"By changing the billing from the tenant to the landowner, there is no responsibility on the tenant's part to conserve water and to pay their bill. And they want to know how much of a problem this really is so if it's a very severe problem, great, we'll look at it and it should be altered. But if it's only about five or six people, is it worth all this? And when we get those numbers back, we'll get that and we'll know for sure what we're doing then."

Council held a public engagement campaign for more than eight weeks in the fall of last year to get feedback from residents. Feedback was taken through a variety of forms, such as social media and on Speak Up Oxford.

Staff's report says existing accounts held in the tenant names will be grand-fathered in under the new by-law until the rental unit is vacated and a new tenant moves in. Their report adds the proposed by-law from the County will put many of the practices they're already following into policy in managing water and wastewater billing accounts.

Government Relations Chair for the Woodstock-Ingersoll & District Real Estate Board William Cattle says they believe the by-law will have a massive impact on the rental market.

"I think council needs to take a longer look at it, a more deep look at it and get stakeholders involved. Speak to tenants, speak to landlords, speak to small investors locally and get their perspective on it. I don't think there's been enough consultation on this."

Cattle adds by getting all of the stakeholders involved, they can brainstorm for a solution.

Other highlights during the public feedback, which took place between September 11th and November 15th, include affordability of local rental units, conservation and the ability to attract and retain investment.

You can view council's full report to learn more about the updates to the by-law and learn more about the feedback on their public engagement campaign.

Following the delegation, Warden Martin says the issues brought up by Cattle, along with most of the issues that were a concern during last night's meeting, will be addressed in staff's next report.

Warden Martin says staff will prepare a report before making a decision.

He adds depending on how long staff is able to put all of the information together, a decision on the by-law could possibly be made by the end of February.