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Mono council adjusts wastewater rates, awaits study results

January 15, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By James Matthews

Mono decided in favour of a wastewater service rate increase to Fieldstone subdivision residents.

The issue was broached during a December 2025 discussion about a wastewater rate increase and accompanying rate study.

The last full wastewater rate study was completed in January 2015. An interim wastewater bylaw was passed November 2024 that authorized a 2.7 per cent rate increase effective January 2025.

At the time it was anticipated that a new wastewater rate study would be completed last year. That study started in October 2025 and is anticipated to be completed in March by Watson and Associates.

That was the reason for the proposed interim rate adjustment.

The flat rate charge last year was $110 per month. Town staff asked council to green light a 4.5 per cent increase to $115 monthly.

Mayor John Creelman in December 2025 voted against the proposed wastewater rate for this year. He did so out of deference to Fieldstone subdivision residents who have voiced their frustration at living with sewage smells from the nearby treatment facility.

“It’s adding insult to injury to the residents of Fieldstone who are putting up with odours,” he said. “They’re looking to us for solutions.”

And the municipality has looked to the subdivision’s developer to solve the issue.

“I think to increase the rate would undermine our credibility with that community,” Creelman said.

He suggested council wait to receive the report from Watson and Associates. He said it would be best to adopt a two-rate setup in which a lower wastewater rate results from less water used by the household.

Mono residents in the Fieldstone subdivision have been lobbying town council to rectify the foul smells from the wastewater treatment facility. They say the sewage odor from the French Drive wastewater plant is worsening.

They last brought their concerns to council in November 2025. A petition was also forwarded to the municipality. It had as many as 243 signatures from the 337-home area of town.

Residents say the odour engulfs the neighbourhood, regardless of the wind’s direction or the time of the year. As a result, residents can’t open their windows or enjoy their outdoor spaces, especially in the evenings and first thing in the morning.

The treatment plant was provided as part of a subdivision agreement but failed to meet the specifications developers said it would. A pair of rotating bacterial chambers at the facility failed.

The water that exits those chambers goes into an eight acre septic bed. Dunmore said the effluent that was leaving the site was not within Ministry of Environment parameters. Further equipment failures followed and problems with sourcing parts exacerbated the situation.

Councillor Melinda Davie asked if there will be bills the municipality won’t be able to cover if the wastewater rate isn’t increased.

Les Halucha, the town’s treasurer, said the sewage treatment plant isn’t owned by the town. It’s operated by the developer and bills are submitted to the municipality. And the town pays based on what the town collects from residents.

Bills have been submitted over the last three years that have been more than the town’s collected to cover them.

“We’re not paying it,” Halucha said.

Rather, the municipality has submitted to the plant’s owner only what has been collected. Right now, he said, the developer pays the treatment plant costs.

“But you said that they were submitting invoices that are not being paid,” Davie said.

“Support means cutting a cheque to them,” Halucha said and added that is limited to what the town collects as opposed to the billed quarterly operating costs forwarded to the town.

“It is capped at what the town collects,” Halucha said.

Coun. Ralph Manktelow said he’s hesitant to support a rate increase that would affect Fieldstone residents.

“It’s sort of a double-slap,” he said.

Creelman asked Halucha if the bills submitted by the developer reflect the costs to operate the treatment plant if it had properly worked. Or do the invoices reflect the costs of an improperly working plant?

Halucha said Public Works staff are sifting through bills to determine what the costs were had the plant been properly working. He said what would come before council would be a “hybrid rate” of a flat cost portion and a portion based on water consumption of a properly operating facility.

Halucha said the town will ensure Fieldstone residents served by the treatment plant will be billed as if it was properly working. Right now, those residents served by the French Drive facility pay only operating costs.

Manktelow asked if a wastewater rate increase would be a benefit to the developer that isn’t providing proper service.

Matt Doner, the town’s public works director, said the facility is processing waste, despite odours that need to be addressed. Staff assesses bills to ensure residents are paying only to operate the plant.

When the rate study is completed, the wastewater charges will increase, he said.

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