People who own property in a community on the shores of Pigeon Lake — south of Edmonton — were asked to give their input this week as local leaders wrestle with how to address debt repayments linked to a wastewater project.
The Summer Village of Ma-Me-O Beach will hold a vote on April 13 where property owners will be able to cast a ballot on which of three debt repayment options the municipality should proceed with.
Property owners were invited to take part in a town hall on Monday night to talk about the issues at play ahead of the vote.
Christine Holmes, the mayor of Ma-Me-O Beach, said the debt issues facing the municipality are in large part a result of an infrastructure project that began in 2017 to replace septic tanks with a sewer system.
“The project has been deemed unsuccessful at this point,” she told Global News on Monday night. “We’re dealing with debt associated with not only … the project, but remediating it … (and) now we’re in a place where we need to recoup some funds.”
Holmes said “the project has not been successfully run for a full season since the inception of the project,” and without going into detail, noted that the municipality “went to arbitration with the original contractor,” but pointed out that endeavour was “unsuccessful” and led to the municipality owing more money to the original contractor.
The municipality continues to pursue legal avenues to address the problems its waste water system has encountered.
“It’s a huge problem,” she said. “We’re looking at about $5 million (or) $5.5 million to get our ratepayers or somebody to help us pay.”
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Holmes said the municipality has tried reaching out to various levels of government for support but that has not solved the problem. She said the results of next month’s vote will be used as input to help determine next steps.
The three debt scenarios property owners can vote for next month are:
- Adopt a long-term debt repayment plan that extends for 20 to 25 years
- Pay off the loan in a one-time payment this year that would see the owners of 279 lots each pay between $19,000 and $21,000
- Over the next year, pay only the interest on the loan used to pay for the wastewater project and the arbitrator’s award
In a document sent to property owners, the municipality notes that the first and third option would see taxes go up, and that the third option would also likely require a “large lump sum payment.”
Holmes acknowledged that different property owners will have different perspectives based on their personal situations and the municipality wants to determine “what is the appetite to drag this out further?”
“When we’re looking at one-time payments, let’s say in the range of $19,000 or $19,500 to be specific, it’s a lot of money to ask them to pay when they maybe have a three-season cabin where they’re only out here for a few months a year, and maybe they weren’t originally fans of the wastewater project,” she said. “So you’re essentially saying, ‘Here’s a project you didn’t maybe want or need, and you’re not out here a lot, but let’s, you know, burden you with this overall debt.’
“But we are trying to keep this as equitable as possible.”
Holmes added that the issues that have emerged ever since work on the wastewater system began have been “frustrating” and that she hopes the municipality and property owners will be able to learn from the experience.
“In the meantime … (we’re) exploring every avenue possible to help our ratepayers.”
In the document sent to property owners ahead of the vote, the municipality noted that “regardless of whether the village dissolves and becomes part of the County of Wetaskiwin, the current debt will remain the responsibility of Ma-Me-O ratepayers.”
“While the vote is non-binding, it is council’s desire to proceed with the majority’s decision,” the document read.
In December, Alberta Municipal Affairs initiated a “viability review” for the village to look at its “governance, administration, infrastructure, services, and finances, and outline options for how the community of Ma-Me-O Beach can best move forward.”
The provincial government said the review will include information from the village and the County of Wetaskiwin.
Once complete, the provincial government said “the report will be distributed to summer village residents and property owners” and Alberta Municipal Affairs will hold an information session before “summer village electors vote on whether Ma-Me-O Beach should remain a summer village or if it should dissolve and become a hamlet in the County of Wetaskiwin.”
Ma-Me-O Beach is located on the southeast shore of Pigeon Lake, about 95 kilometres southwest of downtown Edmonton.
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