Village Toasts with Fresh Pugwash Water
The water is on in Pugwash. Cumberland County engineer Justin Waugh-Cress made the announcement at tonight’s Annual Meeting of the Pugwash Village Commission.
Cress was on-hand to provide an update on the water system. As his name was called, he leaned into the kitchen area and retrieved a pitcher of water and several glasses. As he poured, he said, “As of 4:45 today we got the final blessing from Nova Scotia Environment to start serving water to the people of Pugwash.”
The engineer admitted, “The last year has been a long, hard road ensuring the water we are providing is safe and potable.”
Earlier in the day, county workers ran a water line in the basement of the village hall to provide water to the staff kitchen, the first official connection in the community.
The Chair of the Village Commission raised his glass and proposed a toast to the Municipality of Cumberland on behalf of the elected officials and residents of Pugwash.
Waugh-Cress said the bills for the local improvement charge (LIC) will be sent out later, separate from the municipal tax bills. The LIC is a flat fee of $4,054 for every lot that has access to the water system. Ratepayers may spread payments over ten years at 5% interest.
As people hook to the system, the water will be free for the next few months, until there are enough customers to warrant the installation of water meters. Costs after that will include a flat, quarterly service rate of $123 that meets the provincial average, plus the cost of water metered for consumption.
Waugh Cress reminded the meeting the delay centred on air bubbles in the water along with a decision to replace the chlorine injection system. He warned the system will likely generate air bubbles in colder weather, but it is simply cosmetic as the water is perfectly fine for drinking. He joked that the system might occasionally offer soda stream.
Contractors are aware of the news and people are urged to begin hooking their laterals to their commercial or residential water systems.
The photo (courtesy of Lisa Betts) shows the toast by Village Commissioners, L to R: Charley Gould, Roger Mundle, Tracey Mundle, and Bill Martin.
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