Council to consider hiring Veolia to take on Dorchester water as well as Sackville
Town engineer Jon Eppell is recommending that Tantramar expand its contract with Veolia Water Technologies to include the operation of the Dorchester water treatment plant. Tantramar council will consider the proposal at its regular meeting tonight at 7pm in Sackville town hall.
At council’s committee of the whole meeting in July Eppell said a request for a change in position from the current staff person operating the Dorchester plant prompted the town to explore the outsourcing of the service.
“We went to Veolia who we’re all very familiar with in Sackville,” said Eppell. The global water treatment company has been operating the Sackville plant since 2007, and it also operates the Moncton water treatment system.
The Dorchester contract would cost the town an additional $2000 per week, or $104,000 per year, with additional costs for overtime and emergency services. There will also be about $12,000 in technological upgrades for Veolia to take over the Dorchester system. Tantramar currently pays about $245,000 annually for the Sackville Veolia contract.
The Veolia contract amount is not currently budgeted, but a staff report says the funds will come from “salary savings within the Dorchester portion of the Utility Budget,” for 2023, and then will be budgeted accordingly in 2024. Overall, this will be an increase in utility expenses, as the staff person currently operating the plant will be reassigned to other utility duties.… Continue