An Elnora resident spoke to council during their regular June 13 meeting regarding getting water to his property. Doug Mose is trying to get water to his property to ensure that there is water for the horses on his acreage. There is currently no water line going to Mose’s property. He said he does not need a lot of water on the property but it would be something he would like to have.
Rod Rintoul, the public works foreman, attended the meeting to provide information on water lines and locations.
“I guess what the town has indicated to me that sure I can get water up to the acreage if I come back to the hydrant on Fifth Avenue and dig a ditch all the way up to the road and then cross over into the acreage which sounds ridiculous to me,” Mose said. “But knowing that that line is maybe not adequate, I don’t know what the regulation is; apparently, you can’t service more than two houses off to a one-inch line.”
Bose told the council that the water he would be using is minimal and that the neighbour has no issue letting him hook onto the line going to her house as she has lots of water pressure.
Bose told the council that he would only need water for his horses on the property, which would require approximately 24 gallons daily.
“I would certainly think that you know, there could be some bit of leniency to bend the rules a little bit. You know very well that me hooking up here is not going to make any difference,” Bose said.
Rintoul asked Bose what would happen if he sold the land, saying that the service would not be enough.
Elnora Village does not want to allow leniency as it has been done in the past. Mayor Jul Bissell said they are trying to do things right.
Rintoul said, “I said, you hook on post that hydrant where there’s a six-inch main because that’s the proper way to do it.”
Councillor Lisa Ferguson then said they would look into the regulations for what is required for water lines and mains, and then they will figure out what to do from there.
“You’ll probably find that the regulations now are supposed to be at one each fee to every house and this line probably should have been bigger, but that’s not really my problem,” Mose said.
Councillor Ferguson responded to Mose, saying if regulations allow him to hook up to the line, she does not see it as a problem. Still, they need to find out the regulations first.
“But we got to find something that says you absolutely cannot do it and we can’t do it, I’m not,” Mayor Bissell said.
Council accepted the delegation as information.
Water restriction notice
Council has issued a water restriction notice due to tripling water consumption.
Other communities are also issuing water notices due to water consumption, which is much higher than in the past.
Due to the amount of watering, the village is also going through a lot more chlorine.
Council will be sending out a notice to residents about the restrictions once they determine the exact restrictions.
They are looking at implementing similar restrictions that other communities are doing. Council is considering only allowing people to do handheld watering during certain hours or days.
Jessica Campbell
ECA Review