Belleville council wants more information before supporting a motion that would help existing homeowners on roads where the city will be expanding water/sewer services.
As a by-law stands now, an existing homeowner has to pay for a connection to municipal services going by, even though they’ve been on a well and septic system for years.
Those charges include almost $12,000 for the city, plus the cost of bringing the services into a home on private property. That work costs thousands of dollars more.
Councillor Paul Carr’s motion would allow existing homeowners to delay connecting to the service until they can afford it.
Councillor Chris Malette likes the idea in general but warned septic systems can be dangerous.
“All of a sudden your neighbour’s septic, your neighbours neglected his upkeep on his septic … you’ve got migrating issues off site on to your property. Those are things I think we have to consider and from a health standpoint they’re very real.”
Malette added that other residents who were forced to hook up in the past might come looking for a refund from the city.
A staff report on the issue will come to council at a future meeting.
