ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: January 26, 1999

Author/Local:J.Sheel/7924

RTS No. 500

CC File No. 1755

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT:	Adjustment of Contaminated Site Ground Water and Ship Wastewater Disposal Fees

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT Council increase the contaminated site ground water and the ship wastewater disposal fees in the Sewer Use Regulation By-law No. 5320 from 20 cents per cubic metre to 50 cents per cubic metre.

B. THAT Council instruct the Director of Legal Services to make the necessary changes to the Sewer Use Regulation By-law No. 5320.

COUNCIL POLICY

Council, on January 17, 1991, resolved:

THAT every Department/Board review services for which fees are now charged to ensure that fees are recovering the full cost of the services to the City, or are equivalent to competitive charges where the fee is of a market nature, rather than for cost recovery.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to recommend approval of revisions to the contaminated site ground water and cruise ship wastewater disposal fees in the Sewer Use Regulation By-law.

BACKGROUND

In 1996, Council approved the establishment of fees to recover the City's cost for the disposal and treatment of discharges which are not normally discharged into the City's system. The majority of these flows are contaminated ground water from former gas station and industrial sites which are under going site remediation required under the Provincial Waste Management Act. The initial fee for these discharges was set at 20 cents per cubic metre. Annual cost recovery has been in the order of $20,000 per year.

On October 22, 1998, Council reviewed 1999 Operating Budget projections and a number of revenue and expenditure adjustment proposals. One of the budget initiatives approved was that a review of these discharge fees be undertaken and adjustments made to ensure that full cost recovery is achieved. It was anticipated that annual fees of $45,000 could be expected with full cost recovery.

DISCUSSION

A calculation based on dividing the total annual sewer cost paid by Vancouver, including GVS&DD costs, by the average adjusted flow to the treatment plant indicates that a fee of 48 cents per cubic metre is justified. In addition, a brief survey of other municipalities indicates that discharge fees for sanitary sewage from commercial properties are typically in the order of 50 cents or more per cubic metre. A fee of this magnitude would therefore be consistent with what other municipalities might charge. As a result, it is recommended that the fee for these discharges be increased to 50 cents per cubic metre. This revised fee will enable us to meet the revenue targets approved by Council for the 1999 Operating Budget.

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver