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.<\/p>\n
At council\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went to Veolia, who we\u2019re all very familiar with in Sackville,\u201d said Eppell. The global water treatment company has been operating the Sackville plant since 2007, and it also operates the Moncton water treatment system.<\/p>\n
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 system.<\/p>\n
The Veolia contract amount is not currently budgeted, but a staff report says the funds will come from \u201csalary savings within the Dorchester portion of the Utility Budget,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a great deal of confidence in Veolia,\u201d Eppell told council. \u201cThe staff currently operating the [Dorchester] plant wishes to do something else within the utility group, and so we would accommodate that by implementing Veolia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eppell said the other reason for contracting out the service is the ability to comply with provincial rules, which require a level 1 and a level 2 operator. Currently, Dorchester is operating with one level 2 operator, and it\u2019s not easy to come by qualified personnel. \u201cIt is very difficult to get water treatment operators and it takes a great deal of training to get them there,\u201d said Eppell.<\/p>\n
Dorchester councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell had some concerns about outsourcing the care of the water treatment plant, and pointed out that Veolia\u2019s contract with the city of Moncton, arguable the company\u2019s anchor client in the region, was up next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if Moncton didn\u2019t go with them anymore?\u201d wondered Wiggins-Colwell. \u201cWhere would that put us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re correct in that their contract with Moncton does come up for revisiting next year,\u201d replied Eppell. \u201cPresumably Moncton will call for proposals or they may choose to do it in-house. We don\u2019t have inside information on that at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eppell pointed out that in order for Moncton to operate in-house, the city would face the same challenges of finding and retaining trained water treatment operators. Eppell also pointed out that since Sackville is already serviced by Veolia, Tantramar would face the hypothetical problem whether or not Dorchester is included in the contract.<\/p>\n
Eppell said it\u2019s possible that in future the size of Tantramar\u2019s treatment plants could reach a scale that would justify in-house operating staff. \u201cBut right now, we would barely have enough work at the two water treatment plants, I would recommend, for a one full time position,\u201d said Eppell. \u201cSo it becomes difficult to justify having more staff on to take care of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wiggins-Colwell also expressed concern that not having local water treatment staff could compromise safety, but Eppell said that Veolia would visit the plant twice per week and then monitor the system virtually.<\/p>\n
\u201cVeolia have someone on call 24\/7,\u201d said Eppell. \u201cThey have a SCADA system that they have full control of the plant virtually, from their phones and tablets, wherever they are. And they have the ability to alert us if they get alarms from the system,\u201d said Eppell. \u201cSo they are virtually there, even though they\u2019re physically not there.\u201d<\/p>\n