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Community Trust Releases Results of Water And Wastewater Survey

North Hastings Community Trust has been working on a water and wastewater survey since the New Year. It was released to the public Tuesday.

“We were asked for more information and we were asked for a larger description about how this is affecting people’s quality of life,” Director Jane Kali tells My Bancroft about what has been said to them by council when they spoke about the high rates over the past two years.

“A lot of people are being affected health-wise,” Community Organizer Jo-Anne Reynolds says. Of the 63 people surveyed, 55.56-percent said they cut-back on food because of high water/wastewater bills. 63.49-percent said they would be able to afford healthier food if their bills were lower.

Kali points out that the Town has a $20,000 emergency fund with Hastings County that is set-up to help residents with their water/wastewater bill. 49.27-percent of respondents say they didn’t know about it. It gives successful applicants $500 a year to help with their water/wastewater bills. “We want to make that funding more accessible to the community and have it managed within the community as well,” she says.

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Kali says they hope that since they know how data to bring to council that they can work together to pressure the provincial government to help fix this situation. “It’s the province we ultimately want to hold accountable,” Kali says. They were the ones who talked town into building oversized treatment plan “knowing we can’t afford it” she adds. Kali says she would also like to see an open meeting held for the public to voice their concern to Town council. “This is just the beginning of hearing from our community,” she says.

The report is available on North Hastings Community Trust’s website.

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