Council rejects call to cover $14K bills handed out to Breslau residents

Some Breslau residents are facing big bills for sewer and water work done a decade ago, and council says they still have to pay. CTV's Spencer Turcotte reports.

Dozens of property owners in a Breslau neighbourhood who were hit with an unexpected $13,950 bill for sewer and water work completed nearly a decade ago will still have to pay the fee after Woolwich council voted Tuesday not to cover the cost.

Residents filled the council chambers to express their frustration after receiving notices last week that they owed the township money for a $348,754.75 project in the Woolwich Street South community.

“I know these have caused a lot of worry and frustration,” said Mayor of Woolwich Sandy Shantz. “Nobody likes to get unexpected financial news.”

In 2014, 77 per cent of property owners voted in favour of extending sanitary and water services to their homes. The work was completed in 2016, but a legal dispute delayed the project’s final accounting until 2024—nine years after the last formal communication with residents.

“No excuse. Should have been communicating through that process,” said Jared Puppe, director of infrastructure services during Tuesday’s meeting. “And that was a failure on the township for sure.”

Many said they felt blindsided—including new homeowners who said they were unaware of the levy, and long-time residents who said the lack of updates left them uninformed the payment was still coming.

“Result? New property owners with no awareness of the forthcoming levy, and for those of us that have been in the area for a long time, it was completely out of mind,” said community representative Mark Schmidt.

On Tuesday night, Schmidt shared concerns with council on behalf of the affected community, such as the tight deadline of mid-December to make the decision of a payment method—to either pay in full or choose a 20-year payment plan with a 6.7 per cent interest rate.

“It’s a completely unreasonable timeframe for the request to individuals to close on a decision for this large sum of money,” Schmidt said.

Ward 1 Coun. Evan Burgess and Ward 3. Coun. Bonnie Bryant sided with residents, acknowledging the communication lapse.

“This is one of the only jobs where there are almost no consequences,” Burgess said. We just say ‘Oops, sorry. I’ll do better next time, but you still have to pay for it.’”

Burgess and Bryant proposed a motion to have the township absorb the full $348,754.75 project cost. That part of the motion was denied by the rest of council.

“We can’t waive 100 per cent of it because...this township doesn’t have a spare $300,000 to spend,” said Ward 2 Coun. Eric Schwindt.

“It doesn’t just go away,” added Ward 1. Coun. Nathan Cadeau. “I mean, somebody has to pay for it. So it’s everybody else that has to chip in for that.”

Council did approve drafting a special service levy policy requiring annual communication with residents as well as several other concessions.

Residents now have until May 1, 2026, to decide between paying the full amount up front or choosing a 20-year repayment plan. The previous 6.7 per cent interest rate will be waived for residents who choose the 20-year repayment method. The first installment does not have to be paid now until Sept. 1, 2026.