Major changes could be coming down the pipe because of over 1.9 million dollars in debt on a water system in Kincardine.
The municipality built the shoreline pipeline in 2004 and it was optional for residents to hook up, and so far 573 – or just 38 per cent – have.
The pipeline runs north from the town of Kincardine to Inverhuron.
The Public Works Committee is recommending council adopt six different measures to deal with the debt.
They include requiring all properties that are not connected to do so by 2015, charging all properties fronting the pipeline a flat fee, and requiring vacant land to pay a “future benefiting property” charge.
Councillor Randy Roppel is not pleased with the ideas and says residents need to be kept better informed about the situation.
He calls the recommendations “strong-armed tactics” and thinks it’s cruel to force people to be part of something that was originally optional.
Roppel says because of a capital shortfall, property owners are being put in a position where they have no say, and he does not think that’s fair.
Council plans to hold a special meeting sometime early in 2010 to discuss the recommendations and how best to work with property owners.