In June, Council authorized the early termination of an agreement between the municipality and the City of Peterborough for the operations of the municipal Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant to take effect on March 31st, 2025. Under this agreement, the City handled regulatory requirements, operational and maintenance issues. The termination was not initiated due to dissatisfaction with the services received but a desire to bring the responsibilities in house. Both parties agreed that this transfer was in , but both parties agreed that the anticipated growth in the demand on this facility Staff sought to bring these responsibilities in house for a variety of reasons.
At Regular Council Meeting on June 24, 2024 Council passed the motion to authorize staff to terminate the agreement between the Corporation of The City of Peterborough and the Township of Cavan Monaghan, dated April 4, 2022 (By-Law No. 2022-18) in accordance with Article 6, Section 6.01(d) and section 6.02 of the Agreement.
Termination has been provided with an end date of March 31, 2025. The financial analysis of the Water and Wastewater internal operations concluded an estimated $500,000 in savings over the next 5 years. The goal is for the Township to provide these services in-house. Senior staff completed a thorough review of the following items for consideration, the costs are estimated.
This service agreement specifies that the City will handle the day-to-day regulatory requirements and contacts with regulatory authorities with respect to operating issues concerning the facilities, support the Township’s Capital budget development and implementation, regulatory reporting requirements, as well as operational and maintenance duties.
The Township has worked with the City of Peterborough through this agreement and the operation has been generally good with no issues regarding inspections from the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks and annual reporting. We hav expressed we are satisfied with Water and Wastewater Operations services provided by the City of Peterborough; however, staff would like to explore other opportunities which would include bringing this operation in-house to support the Township’s rapid growth.
The City Peterborough staff are in support of this direction even though the operations agreement has gone well, it has been a lot of work for the City staff to manage and operate the Township’s facility.
An Accredited Operating Authority (OA) must oversee the drinking water system as regulated by the Ministry of Environmental and Parks (MECP). To become accredited, the corporation must develop a quality management system (QMS) that meets the requirements of Ontario’s Drinking Water Quality Management Standard (DWQMS).
This accreditation is provided by a third-party company. The purpose of the DWQMS is to ensure the corporation takes a proactive and preventative approach to management strategies that identify and manage risks to public health. The standard ensures documentation of procedures is complete and are always up to date. The standard identifies roles and responsibilities within the corporation and establishes continual improvement of the QMS going forward. The City of Peterborough (City) is the current OA for the Millbrook system and the QMS they developed would act as a reference and basis for the QMS for the Township, with any required revisions. This QMS must be endorsed by Council.
To obtain OA the Township will apply for a Limited Scope Accreditation to begin, which allows the Township to operate the system until full accreditation is obtained. The Certificate of Accreditation will be issued with the condition Full Scope Accreditation will be obtained within six months. A Full Scope Accreditation is based on a system audit including the QMS, as well as an on-site verification audit. This on-site verification audit will ensure that the daily operations and practices adhere to the QMS.
The Township has a valid Municipal Drinking Water System license (MDWL) in good standing, this license will need to be amended to change the operating authority from the City to the Township. The requirements of maintaining a MDWL include:
– Maintain status (or employ) an accredited operating authority;
– Have a financial plan approved by Council;
– Have a valid permit to take water; and
– Operate your system in accordance with any conditions in the license. The Township’s existing license is valid until 2026.
The Township will have to recruit the necessary staffing complement. The proposed structure will be two new full-time staff members that are licensed to operate, that includes an operator and a supervisor/lead hand position. The Water Wastewater Technician will remain, and support will be provided by the Director of Public Works.
This structure has been established to ensure proper operational coverage is achieved. The Township currently owns most of the laboratory equipment utilized by operating staff. The Township would need to acquire miscellaneous tools and a second vehicle.
The costs for these items are identified under the Capital Costs (initial investment) line in the Financial Analysis table.
The transfer of information and records will be very important in the beginning. To ensure proper control of documents is met, which is a part of the QMS. There may need to be a transition period for staff to ensure daily operational activities are maintained.
During the transition process we will continue to have support from the City of Peterborough where needed.
With the adoption of the Growth Management Study and the completed Master Servicing Study, it has been identified that Millbrook will see a large increase in population size with new developments. With this growth comes infrastructure. Ensuring proper maintenance and operation of the existing and new infrastructure is vital. Having internal staff will ensure attention to detail and the proper preventative maintenance activities are completed. The limiting factor when it comes to an outside contractor is the time and attention dedicated to our system, it will become more challenging for an external contractor to fulfill and maintain this level of service moving forward.
With the addition of the Water Wastewater Technician position 3 years ago, the Township has been able to dedicate more time and attention to its water and wastewater systems. This includes necessary repairs on overlooked equipment, processes and underground infrastructure. It is very important as part of the asset management plan and long-term cost-saving benefits to properly manage the existing infrastructure and have direct influence over new and proposed infrastructure.
It should be noted that most water and wastewater systems in the province are operated by municipal departments, many of those having transitioned from contracted services to in-house services over the years. In conversation with other municipalities, we have received similar feedback about the benefits of moving to an in-house service delivery model from those who have taken this step in recent years (i.e. Township of Selwyn). Having direct control of these operations offers numerous benefits and would provide for certainty and continuity of service for the community moving forward.
An analysis of the costs of internal versus external operations indicated an estimated net savings of $505,376 over the five year period from 2025 to 2029.
The cost of water and wastewater services are funded through fees charged to system users, so there is no impact on the tax levy related to this decision. In 2025 the Water and Wastewater Rate study and Financial Plan will be completed for the next five years.