On Monday night Sackville town council approved a five year agreement with Mount Allison University to oversee the school’s water distribution system. Though the school uses the same water supply as the rest of the town, the system within the school is currently tested and managed by University operations personnel, and is a “black box” as far as the town goes.
Public works superintendent Michelle Sherwood told council Monday that under the new agreement, qualified town staff will run the testing and oversee any repairs to the school’s water system. For that service, the school will pay the town of Sackville $82,000 per year, enough to hire an additional staff member in the public works department.
Sherwood said that in addition to providing the resources for another staff member, the new agreement will give the town more control over what happens with town water as it flows through Mount Allison’s distribution system.
Councillor Bill Evans was supportive of the new agreement, which he described as a win-win, similar to the arrangement whereby Mount Allison’s IT department provides services for the town. “In that case, Mount Allison university gets to hire an employee and we get the benefit of everybody in computing services. In this case, the town of Sackville will hire an additional employee with the certification that we already need,” said Evans.
Councillors Sabine Dietz and Michael Tower both asked for clarification on potential issues with staffing, especially considering the impending retirement of the town’s utility foreman. Sherwood told council that there were currently two qualified utility workers, and that she was also certified in water distribution and could serve as a backup. Sherwood took over as Superintendent in January of 2021, and the engineering technologist hired to replace her is also slated to become certified, eventually.
The town may need to rely on Sherwood in the short term, once Brian Dobson, who has been with the town for 40 years, retires in April. Dobson’s position of utility foreman has already been posted internally with no takers, and so now will be posted externally, said Sherwood.
Councillor Bruce Phinney was the lone vote against approving the contract. Phinney started to recount some negative opinions of Mount Allison’s water system he says he heard from the town’s utility workers, but Mayor Shawn Mesheau shut him down, saying that feedback should go through the public works department, and not be presented as heresay by a councillor.
Phinney remained unconvinced that the agreement with Mount Allison was a good idea, citing another conversation he had with a resident who brought up the spectre of the water contamination at Walkerton, Ontario in 2000. That disaster was traced to Walkerton’s water supply, something Mount Allison University already shares with the town of Sackville, and which is already managed exclusively by the town.
Councillor Allison Butcher said the increased control and additional staff person provided for in the agreement would only help avoid a Walkerton-type tragedy.
“We need to remember that Sackville and Mount Allison are in the same space and using the same water,” said Councillor Allison Butcher. “What we are in fact doing is helping to ensure that we will not have a horrible event like Walkerton. We will be ensuring that our entire community’s water system is healthy and strong.”
Sherwood also explained to council that the new services the town will provide are covered under the town’s existing $10 million insurance policy for its own distribution system.
CAO Jamie Burke also chimed in before council voted on the agreement, which was signed by Mount Allison back in November 2021. Burke said both the town’s lawyer and insurance provider had reviewed the deal, as well as Entity 40 consultant Chad Peters, and all had given the okay to enter into the agreement.
Burke also said that the town had taken an unusual step by sharing the agreement in council’s public package. “We feel comfortable with the agreement, there’s nothing in it to hide,” said Burke. “So we put it in the public package, and we’re talking about it publicly tonight,” said Burke.
Council first discussed the deal at an in camera meeting last week. “Typically, as you all know, when we deal with something in camera, we don’t talk about it publicly,” said Burke. “A motion hits the floor, and that’s the way we do business. But in this case, it was a third party agreement. We said, you know, we’re all comfortable with it. That way we advanced it publicly and included it.”