Water rate hike, fate of old Winnipeg police HQ up for debate at city hall

A rise in sewer and water rates - well above the cost of inflation — will be a topic of debate at Winnipeg city hall Wednesday, but there will be other issues that will rise to the surface as well. 

The rate proposal calls for increases of 9.2, 8.9 and 7.4 per cent in each of the next three years. For a residential customer with a family of four, that will mean a $23 increase on their quarterly bill next year.

Winnipeg is in the midst of massive upgrades to its treatment system (work on major projects at the city's four sewage plants is now pegged at $990.28 million) but not all the cash from fees is earmarked for the improvements. The city would take about $32 million of the revenue in the coming year and put it into a general reserve fund.

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Winnipeg's city council will also debate a proposal for an organic waste pick up program. Earlier this month the city's executive policy committee endorsed a motion to develop a public consultation plan for organic waste programs.

Some councillors have signaled opposition to the plan, targeting the fees that might come with the service.

Councillors Ross Eadie and Russ Wyatt authored a motion earlier this month to "immediately suspend the implementation plan for curbside [kitchen waste] collection" and cancel plans for public consultations on the plan.

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The fate of the Public Safety Building is also on today's city council agenda. On April 21, the property and development committee voted to tear down the 51-year-old building.

The soon-to-be-empty structure on Princess Street was made surplus by the move of the Winnipeg Police Service to its new headquarters on Graham Avenue. A report commissioned by the city said preserving or renovating the building would be expensive and the land could instead be used to create a small public space.

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Wyatt called the scenario " a bad dream" and said the city purchased a "fiasco of a building" to replace the police headquarters.

"Now, you're knocking down a perfectly good building? You couldn't write a book [about this] and sell it. Nobody would buy it. It's such a bad story," he said.

Mayor Brian Bowman is on the record as wanting the building bulldozed  

Among the numerous other items today in front of city council is a sponsorship deal with Jim Gauthier Chevrolet Ltd.

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In return for $500,000 plus GST over 25 years, the car dealer would get the naming rights of two indoor hockey rinks at the Garden City Community Centre's Seven Oaks Sportsplex.