Amaranth Township has received $596,566 of $894,849 applied for under Ontario Small Town and Rural development assistance (OSTAR), for its Waldemar water system, for which the total capital cost was $983,641, including interest on interim financing.

Information given to a recent public meeting of the council showed that when a $27,632 reserve was added, this left a shortfall of $359,433 to be borne by the 116 homeowners, or $3,099 each, in the two subdivisions comprising the settlement.

OSTAR is a funding program that arose from the Walkerton tragedy, in which seven persons died from E-coli that had contaminated the town's drinking water, and thousands of others became seriously ill.

The tragedy led to stringent regulations on communal water supplies following a judicial inquiry by Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor, and criminal charges against the managers of the town's water system.

The regulations led to homeowner costs for water that have sometimes exceeded property taxes, as in the case of the hamlet of Marsville in East Garafraxa, and made it economically impossible for some campgrounds in the province to continue operating.

In Waldemar, the perhousehold operating costs of the water system were $816 annually in 2005, largely because of testing requirements. For 2006, the costs are estimated at $626.

Under bylaws adopted by township council for Waldemar water, homeowners will be billed for the operating costs plus their choice of paying their $3,099 share of the shortfall in cash or over a period of either 10 or 20 years. The 10-year amortized payment, at 6 per cent interest, would be $420.

The 20-year payment, at 7.5 per cent, would be $304 annually. So their minimum costs for capital and operating would be at least $930 a year - still less than half of what Marsville homeowners pay - but an amount that residents of the larger of the two subdivisions don't find palatable for potable water.

In Waldemar, Acchione subdivision on the west of the main street has 23 houses. To the east, Waldemar Heights (or Grand River Estates) has 93. Prior to Walkerton, there had been two water systems, one for each of the subdivisions. Because of the mandated improvements, the two systems were connected and made into one.

And therein lies a problem.

In the planning stages a few years ago, the council was faced with whether to finance required capital improvements in a "userpay" system or to pay for them through general taxation. It opted for userpay.

Now there's disagreement among residents over the equal sharing of system costs within the community, when one subdivision says it never needed the new system to begin with.

In the meantime, township records indicate two wells in the Acchione subdivision have been capped, and there's a water-taking permit for another that's in progress of being drilled.

There are plans afoot, but no approvals, for new residential developments in the community. Township officials say these "would likely hook into the [existing] system, but would pay for upgrades," and would "possibly" have to pay back part of the capital cost to existing users.

"The Township of Amaranth is proposing to have Waldemar Heights pay the upgrade costs for the Acchione Water System, which the Township had assumed when they took control of the subdivision," says resident Bob Cusiter.

Mr. Cusiter says the cost to upgrade the system serving the 93 homes in Waldemar Heights was estimated in 2002 at $95,000, whereas the system serving 23 homes in Acchione Subdivision was estimated at $397,000 in the same year.

"We are not, and should not, be paying" for the upgrades to the Acchione system. "We will pay our share along with ALL residents of Amaranth Township," says an unsigned memo urging residents to attend the public meeting of council.

In the meantime, township records indicate two wells in the Acchione subdivision have been capped, and there's a water-taking permit for another that's in progress of being drilled.

There are plans afoot, but no approvals, for new residential developments in the community. Township officials say these "would likely hook into the (existing) system, but would pay for upgrades," and would "possibly" have to pay back part of the capital cost to existing users.