The Region of Queens has reached a deal with its striking public works employees. (Rick Conrad)

UPDATED 2:55 p.m. Thursday

The Region of Queens and its striking 38 public works employees have reached a deal.

Local 1928 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers voted 32-5 around 6 p.m. Wednesday to accept the region’s latest offer.

Jim Sponagle, the local’s business manager, told QCCR Wednesday night that it was hard to turn down.

“They came back with a financial offer that certainly we couldn’t overlook, couldn’t turn away. I felt it was a significant move from where we were,” he said.

“I think overwhelmingly (union members) were pretty happy with the deal.”

The main issues in negotiations were better wages, overtime protections and keeping temporary employees in the bargaining unit. The last contract expired March 31. The new contract runs from April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2027.

The union said their members were some of the lowest paid municipal workers in Atlantic Canada.

They had been on strike since last Thursday, saying that the region’s latest offer wasn’t any better than the one members resoundingly rejected in mid-December.

Sponagle said the region improved its offer this week and it addressed much of the union’s concerns about wages. But he said the region said it needed the flexibility to call some employees in to work on weekends without paying overtime.

Sponagle said some members weren’t happy with that, but the majority supported the deal.

“At the end of the day, you can’t win every battle. … You can only do your best. I believe I left it all on the table and we couldn’t make any traction with that part of the agreement.”

About 20 supporters of the strikers showed up at Tuesday’s regional council meeting to urge councillors to tell the region’s negotiators to get back to the bargaining table and get a deal. That evening, the municipality gave the union a new offer.

Some family members of the workers told councillors they were ashamed of how the region’s negotiators had treated the employees.

“I think it had a significant impact,” Sponagle said. “The public put pressure on the mayor and council to do their job.”

It’s a three-year deal retroactive to March 31, with the first year giving raises to all members of $4 an hour or more, with 2.5 per cent increases in the second and third years of the deal.

Council ratified the deal in a closed-door session on Thursday morning. Mayor Scott Christian told QCCR that he was grateful the deal was reached.

“These folks have historically been underpaid and our council is pleased to be able to sign a deal with wages that reflect the value that these folks have for our organization and the importance of them to be able to receive a living wage and support their families and themselves.”

Christian read a statement at a short council meeting after the deal was ratified. He said that while he was happy with the deal, he was also upset by some of the comments people made about the region’s managers online.

“I’m unsettled by a number of public allegations and unsubstantiated claims and personal attacks towards some of the region’s employees,” he said.

“
Everyone in our community deserves to be respected, everyone in this organization deserves to be respected, and as your mayor, I need to ensure that all employees, including non-unionized staff and management of this organization, receive that respect, specifically, our (acting) CAO Pam Lovelace and our director of engineering and public works Adam Grant received an incredible amount of personal attacks throughout the later stages of this process as it became contentious.

“I won’t stand in silence as any employee of this organization, including my fellow councillors, are harassed, attacked or bullied.”

Christian said some comments were “pretty intense personal attacks”, with some people calling for Lovelace and Grant to be fired.

As talks broke down, tensions increased, with union members’ supporters pressuring councillors to step in and direct their negotiators to get a deal done.

Some supporters at Tuesday’s meeting were upset by comments made by Lovelace about the union refusing to return to the bargaining table. They were also upset that she tried to downplay the number of employees on strike.

“But there are going to be tough times, there are going to be unpopular decisions, there are going to be mistakes made,” Christian told QCCR, “and we all need to do better and the organization needs to do better to make sure that those appropriate channels are in place so that if there are frustrations and complaints and grievances within our community that there are good established channels to address those things.”

The region is still claiming that temporary employees are not members of the bargaining unit. The union’s unfair labour practices complaints about that are still outstanding. Dates have not been set yet for that hearing.

Christian said he believes most employees will be back on the job by Monday. And he said the region plans to hire experts to help address those tensions, calm things down and ensure that all employees return to a supportive workplace.

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Striking public works employees with the Region of Queens were back on the picket line Tuesday in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad photo)

Supporters of striking Region of Queens workers blasted elected councillors on Tuesday, demanding that they show some leadership in the dispute.

They want the mayor and councillors to tell the region’s negotiators to return to the bargaining table and settle the strike.

Thirty-eight members of Local 1928 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have been on the picket line since Thursday. The union says they are some of the lowest-paid municipal workers in Atlantic Canada.

The region does not dispute that, but says it’s been trying to address those inequities in contract negotiations that have been going on for about a year.

RELATED: Region of Queens workers strike for better wages, overtime protection

Some positions pay less than $18 an hour, with some people on Tuesday saying that they can’t afford to support their families.

Family and friends of the striking public works employees told councillors at their regular meeting on Tuesday that they were ashamed of how the region has treated the workers. Elected officials do not get involved directly with labour negotiations, but can set the tone for the region’s negotiators.

Wages, overtime protections and even who’s in or out of the bargaining unit are the main sticking points in the dispute.

Meghan MacAdams was one of the people who spoke to council during the public presentation portion of the meeting. As striking workers picketed outside, she read out the names of the 36 employees.

Her partner has worked with the region for six years. In a recent CBC story, the region’s acting CAO Pam Lovelace claimed that only 20 employees were affected.

“Here is the individual handpicked by you all, acting as a representative of your side of the line, sharing inaccurate information,” MacAdams told councillors.

“
Was this an attempt to create a calmer narrative in which this issue was smaller than it really is, or is this simply a demonstration of how uninterested and uninvested the region has become in its workforce? What that one tiny detail told me, intentionally stated or not, is that those who run our county either can’t be trusted to provide us with truthful and accurate information, or they have become so disconnected with their employees they aren’t even aware of how many livelihoods they are toying with.

“Neither of these options sit well with me. 
Unfortunately, I see this as a clear indication of just how undervalued these men have become, which is one of the key issues in my opinion that has brought us to the divide we are at today. But I remain hopeful the region, the powers that be, will step up and make a fair and honest attempt at resolution. Our men deserve better.”

Debbie Wamboldt, a longtime community advocate and volunteer who spearheaded the successful fundraising drive for the popular inclusive play park in Liverpool, also expressed her frustration with the stalled talks. 

“Most of you know me from the play park project,” she said.

“That took six years of my life to bring to this county because I was proud of where I come from. … But I have to say that I’m standing here before you as somebody who is no longer proud of where I come from. 
I’m not proud of where we’re standing.

“My husband has worked for the region for 20 years. We give our time to this community, and our community is standing behind us. And it’s your job now  to stand behind us. 
We need to get back to the table, and our workers, my family, my friends, my husband’s colleagues, deserve better.

“This is shameful. This is really shameful.”

Before the strike, the region and the union had been negotiating to adjust job classifications and wage grids to bring Queens workers’ salaries more in line with other municipalities.

The region had commissioned a compensation review of unionized and non-unionized positions more than a year ago. That review has never been made public. 

But in response, the previous council had agreed to boost salaries for some non-unionized positions.

Mayor Scott Christian says the wage parity study was the foundation for the region’s offer in the latest contract talks.

The region says adjusting salaries for some jobs would result in raises from 2.5 to 26 per cent. But talks stalled in mid-December after the region’s so-called final offer. About 97 per cent of employees voted for strike action.

Both sides met again last Tuesday with a provincially appointed conciliator. But union representative Jim Sponagle said the region’s offer hadn’t improved much from the one members had rejected. He said their wage offer amounted to about two per cent a year on top of adjusting for wage inequities.

Christian released a video on Facebook on Sunday, saying that he understands how challenging negotiations have been for employees and their families. He appealed for patience.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Christian and the rest of council were due to get an update on negotiations in a closed-door session. Before that, he said in an interview that councillors want a fair deal for workers, but one that doesn’t burden taxpayers.

He also said not all councillors have seen the wage review study, which he wants to be made public. 

“I think it should be. It was something that I was very frustrated with before I ended up in this position as a resident that that wasn’t made publicly available. And so, I’m going to be asking our our staff here. and directing our staff here as to what elements or if that can be released, in in its entirety. We’ve seen we’ve seen portions of it. … There’s going to be more of that information provided to council today.

“To be honest, I’m not that comfortable with some of the tactics that have been employed by both sides of the negotiation. I feel like it has escalated and has become more contentious than it ought to have. … We’re going to be looking for direction from council as to (how) to de-escalate this, to get back to meaningful, productive conversations.

“We need both sides to come back to the table and with some humility, I think, and a willingness to concede and find a productive way forward. I agree the tone, the nature, the spirit of the thing has become really contentious and I’m not comfortable with it. I am going to meet with council and we’re going to … determine what we think is the appropriate next step with respect to directing the negotiating team moving forward.”

The striking workers are responsible for maintaining the region’s streets, sidewalks, parks and other properties. They also work in waste and recycling facilities as well as water and sewage treatment plants.

Their last contract expired March 31. 

The region has said that services won’t be interrupted by the strike, with managers, supervisors and third-party contractors doing the work.

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Kim Thorbourne-Whalen is the vice-chair of the Liverpool Championship Host Society. (Rick Conrad)

As fans rallied behind their favourite curlers in Liverpool last week, local businesses were also cheering for the post-holiday bump in sales.

Restaurants, bars and other food-based businesses in downtown Liverpool stayed open to try to capitalize on the influx of fans and curlers in town for the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials at Queens Place Emera Centre.

Some businesses traditionally close during the week between Christmas and New Year’s to give owners and staff a break after a busy holiday season.

FULL COVERAGE: More from the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials

At Main and Mersey Dining Room and Coffee Bar, co-owner Shani Beadle said the event helped perk up a slower time of year.

“I think when Christmas is winding down, it really helped bring more people into town and and lengthen the Christmas season, which is always helpful,” she said. “We had a lot of people from the curling here to lunch, for coffee, staying in our accommodation. So, everything’s helpful.”

Melanie Perron, co-owner of Hell Bay Brewing Company, said they saw more customers as soon as the curling event began on Monday.

“The week’s been great,” she said.

“We’ve definitely seen some new faces that we haven’t seen before come through the brewery and it’s just nice to see us in the bar as well at the Emera Centre, because it’s been a while since we’ve had our product for sale there directly through us. So the region has been definitely pushing local this time, which is great.

“It’s wonderful, especially this time of year because so many people are going into ‘Dry January’, so any beer sales that I can get any way is definitely a bonus for us.”

At Five Girls Baking, co-owner Leanne Arnott said they had planned to close from Dec. 25 until Jan. 2, but decided to reopen on Dec. 30. 

“We were going to be closed and and get a few more days of rest and when we found out about the curling event, we thought, oh no, we better open. And we’re really glad we did.”

They baked special cookies decorated like the red and blue curling rings to celebrate. And Canadian curling legend Colleen Jones even dropped in to sample them. She had also visited the bakery in 2019 when Liverpool hosted the World Junior Curling Championships.

“I was hoping she would show up. She showed up (Friday) and I was tickled pink.” 

Other businesses also stayed open or extended their hours, like Memories Cafe and Eatery and Route 3 Cellar Taproom and Grill.

Kim Thorbourne-Whalen of the local organizing committee said she believes the curling event helped inject $1.5 to $2 million in spinoff business for hotels, restaurants and bars in the Liverpool area. It’s also been a boon for the local Kiwanis Club, which provided canteen services at Queens Place for the whole week.

“The restaurants have been full, like the Cellar, Memories, they’ve had curling teams in there and curling families in there all week,” Thorbourne-Whalen said. “So it’s been felt throughout the community, not just with the hotels, it’s been all over.” 

Region of Queens Mayor Scott Christian said he’d like to see more big events like the curling trials come to Liverpool.

“I think everybody’s blown away by how many people have been out for it. Main Street’s been busy. … I think that it should generate some good momentum to try to attract events like this in the future. 

“I know this council has got big plans for Queens Place, doing some revitalization work and to make sure that we make best use of these facilities here. We’re looking at how can we make sure that we make use of this beautiful facility because you can see we can host top-notch events here.”

Main and Mersey’s Shani Beadle and other business owners say that bringing more events to town in the slower winter months would be a boost for businesses.

“I think that would be brilliant, because the summer is already quite busy, so having events like the Lobster Crawl, like curling, hockey, et cetera, is always really helpful.”

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Cody Joudry and Mayor Scott Christian at a recent Region of Queens council meeting. (Region of Queens YouTube channel)

Region of Queens councillors have fired Chief Administrative Officer Cody Joudry, saying that he wasn’t “the right fit” with the new council.

Mayor Scott Christian told QCCR on Monday that no specific incident led to the dismissal of the municipality’s top staffer.

“I think it just came down to a fit. It’s not uncommon when you get a new slate of publicly elected officials and they have their own vision and priorities for the community and direction they want to take the organization, and I think at the end of the day, the fit just wasn’t there. 

“We’re intent on achieving some big things. We have a lot of work to do. And at the end of the day, today’s decision reflected the fact that it was our judgment that in order to best potition ourselves to achieve that work and in the best interest of the community, we’re looking at finding a different person to function in the role of the CAO.”

Councillors called a special meeting late Friday afternoon for Monday morning to discuss a personnel matter in a closed-door session. Christian said the decision to let Joudry go was unanimous.

“I wish Cody all the best in his future endeacours. I think personally we connected and professionally we were able to work well together but at the end of the day, it’s just a matter of the priorities that council has, the vision we have for the future. We weren’t getting traction in advancing some of these priorities.”

Christian said he didn’t want to comment on specifically why Joudry wasn’t the right fit for the new council.

Joudry was hired as the region’s top staffer in September 2023. The region had been without a full-time CAO since that May, when Chris McNeill resigned.

Joudry’s family has roots in Caledonia and he is a member of the L’sitkuk First Nation in Bear River.

Senior staff members filled in as CAO after McNeill left and until the region hired an interim CAO before ultimately recruiting Joudry.

Recently hired municipal clerk Pam Lovelace will take over as acting CAO until council finds an interim replacement for Joudry, while they conduct a longer search for a permanent CAO. Lovelace is a former Halifax councillor and deputy mayor. 

Christian said he expects council to hire an interim CAO sometime in January.

“And then we’re really going to take our time and we’re going to be very deliberate about who we think is the appropriate candidate. Everybody knows this organization has a lot of challenges right now,” Christian said.

“There’s a lot of discontent amongst the public in terms of the services that are delivered by the municiapility. There’s a lot of work to do and we need to make sure that we find the best suited person to function in that role and to support the will of council to implement our decision making in a way that is going to advance things in a constructive way.

“There’s a new group of people who are representing the will of the residents of Queens and we are committed to working together, pursuing a new direction and we made the determination that we are going to best be served by undergoing our own process to find our right-fit CAO to work with us because we have a lot of work to do.”

He said councillors ultimately came to their decision during their closed-door session on Monday.

Christian said council decided to appoint Lovelace as acting CAO because they didn’t want to add more work to their senior managers. He said they already have some good candidates to fill the interim CAO position, until they can find a permanent replacement.

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Region of Queens councillors want to try to find a way to resurrect the Coastal Protection Act. (File photo by Talla Corkum)

Region of Queens councillors want to work with other neighbouring municipalities to pressure the province to resurrect the Coastal Protection Act and possibly to come up with their own version.

The Nova Scotia government under Tim Houston killed the long-dormant Coastal Protection Act in February. Supporters of that legislation said it would beef up safeguards for coastal areas around Nova Scotia.

Instead, the province said it would pass that responsibility onto municipalities to come up with their own bylaws to protect the coast from development, climate change and other threats. It offered to create sample bylaws that municipalities could adapt.

But many municipalities say they don’t have the resources to enforce such wide-ranging rules.

District 3 Coun. Courtney Wentzell said he heard from a lot of residents during the municipal election campaign who were concerned about coastal protection. And he said it was clear from the recent provincial election that the province has no interest in taking it on.

He said he wants the Region of Queens to discuss banding together with other regions like the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg to come up with a common set of rules.

“Some of you might have witnessed the leadership debates where the government is not backing down on coastal protection, they’re leaving it to municipalities,” Wentzell said.

“The answers that I heard was that there is going to be assistance in the form of money or manpower to help municipalities create their own (bylaws). I think that’s the reality we’re dealing with. And I do think coastal protection is a big, big item with us. We all heard it on the campaign trail.”

The issue came up at a recent meeting of the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities.

NSFM President Pam Mood, who is also the mayor of Yarmouth, called on the re-elected Houston government to institute provincewide rules and enforcement.

Mayor Scott Christian said working with the federation to pressure the province is a good first step.

“The NSFM is an augmented voice, so it’s a lot stronger. If we join forces with the NSFM and say we need resources and support to enact an effective approach to the Coastal Protection Act. It’s an avenue we can explore to be supported throughout it. It’s not the entirety of the picture, but it’s an important first step.”

Queens councillors decided to write a letter of support to the federation, and to meet with other municipal politicians to come up with ways to enhance coastal protections.

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The Region of Queens will remove the fee from the indoor track at Queens Place Emera Centre from January to April. (Queens Place Emera Centre)

It might be a little easier to keep those New Year’s resolutions in 2025.

People won’t have to pay to use the indoor track at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool in the new year.

Region of Queens councillors voted this week to remove the $2 per use fee from January to April 2025 on the Eleanor Seeley multipurpose indoor track.

The 220-metre track is open year-round to runners and walkers on the upper level of the arena at Queens Place.

Councillors voted to remove the fee, ask staff to promote that it’s free and to collect data from historic use as well as use during the pilot project.

They also want staff to get user feedback and report on the operational and financial effects of the four-month pilot.

Queens Place has offered the track free of charge before, usually in the summer months.

Mayor Scott Christian said the idea came up during a recent event that he and District 7 Coun. Wanda Carver attended with the Queens Community Health Board. 

The health board was looking for ways to remove barriers to healthy active lifestyles.

“It’s removing the barriers, understanding the way that it impacts access and use of that service of that facility to our community members throughout the winter months here,” Christian said. “Doing a little bit of a pilot project and studying it so we can make a decision on how we want to handle the walking track moving forward.”

In the last fiscal year, the region collected $10,000 in user fees from the indoor track.

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Road work in Liverpool in June 2020. File photo by Ed Halverson

Contract talks between the Region of Queens and its unionized public works employees are at a stalemate as either side could declare a work stoppage at midnight.

Local 1928 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers represents about 40 full-time and temporary employees in the region’s engineering and public works department.

They are responsible for maintaining the region’s streets, sidewalks, parks and other properties. They also work in waste and recycling facilities as well as water and sewage treatment plants.

The two sides met with a conciliator on Monday, with the union submitting a new proposal. The region responded about five hours later, with very little movement from their last position, according to a union representative.

Union members resoundingly rejected the region’s settlement offer last Monday, with a 97 per cent vote in favour of strike action if needed.

“It equated to very little to nothing,” James Sponagle, business manager for Local 1928, said of the municipality’s revised offer.

“We’re at an impasse right now and unless they change their position, the union’s not going to concede. We’ve already voted on what they presented. They haven’t come back with anything substantive, so our position hasn’t changed.”

As of midnight Tuesday, either side could declare a strike or lockout with 48 hours’ notice.

Regional councillors got an update on negotiations on Tuesday in a closed-door session that lasted almost 90 minutes.

Mayor Scott Christian told QCCR afterward that the region doesn’t want to lock out its employees. 

“At this time, we have no intent to lock out the workers,” Christian said.

“We remain hopeful and we recognize that it’s really challenging for people particularly with the holidays approaching to have this uncertainty. Also recognizing it’s really challenging also for the folks on the other side of the bargaining table, our managers, who are attempting to negotiate on behalf of Region of Queens Municipality. 

“We hold out hope that there will be a resolution before too long. Our council remains committed to a good and fair deal for everybody.”

Sponagle said the region has handcuffed the union’s ability to back up its proposals with strike action. He says they’ve threatened to fire the 14 temporary employees if they don’t cross a picket line.

The union has filed two unfair labour practice complaints over that threat. Sponagle says hearing dates should be set next week and he hopes for a hearing early in the new year.

He said CAO Cody Joudry assured employees in a meeting last Friday they would not be fired. But Sponagle says he hasn’t yet put that in writing.

Sponagle said it would be “reckless” for him to call a strike as long as those temporary employees could be fired.

Public works employees with the Region of Queens are some of the lowest-paid municipal workers in Nova Scotia, at a time when the municipality has complained that it can’t fill job vacancies.

Some unionized jobs at the region pay less than $18 an hour. And Sponagle said that some Red Seal-certified technicians with the region make no more than $27 an hour. 

Non-unionized technicians elsewhere with the same certification make as much as $40 an hour, while their unionized peers at Nova Scotia Power get paid about $50 an hour.

“There’s not much incentive to work as a Red Seal technician at the Region of Queens,” Sponagle said.

Christian and Sponagle said both sides are trying to agree to wage grid adjustments to account for those discrepancies. But Sponagle said the region has offered increases of only 1.5 per cent a year after that.

No new talks are scheduled. But Sponagle says the union is always willing to return to the bargaining table as long as the region improves their last offer.

“If they want to reach out to the union if they have an epiphany or if they have a change in their position, my phone’s always on.”

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The library in Liverpool will be reopening in the new year in the Liverpool Business Development Centre off White Point Road. (Rick Conrad photo)

As the Liverpool library gets ready to move to its new location by the end of the year, the Region of Queens is beginning work to restart a library committee.

It will be chaired by Mayor Scott Christian and include District 3 Coun. Courtney Wentzell.

Establishing council’s various committees will be overseen by the region’s new municipal clerk. Pam Lovelace was hired a week ago to do that job.

Christian said she will be coming up with terms of reference for various committees, including the library committee.

“I think the initial work of that will be determining what the current need and purpose and mandate of a public committee associated with the library would look like and then constructing a terms of reference and populating a committee from there.”

Once that happens, the region would likely ask for members of the public to sit on the committee.

Regional councillors voted in February to move the Thomas H. Raddall Library to the Liverpool Business Development Centre off the White Point Road. Commonly known as the call centre building, it wasn’t the first choice for a new library site.

The previous council voted twice against the library steering committee’s recommendation to build a new library near Queens Place Emera Centre.

Many residents told councillors at a meeting last December that they did not want the library at the call centre site, which is outside of town in an area with no sidewalks and very little lighting.

The library’s lease at its current location downtown is up at the end of this year. So with time running out, councillors decided to move the library to the call centre building.

It’s supposed to be a short-term home while the newly elected council works on a longer-term solution. 

The region is spending up to $1.26 million on renovations for the new library space. They had set aside $3 million in 2022 for a new library.

Library staff will close the current location on Dec. 15, and begin packing up their collections for the move.

No date has been set yet for the library’s reopening. But it’s on track to be early in the new year.

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Unionized employees at the Region of Queens have voted to strike, if necessary. (Rick Conrad)

Engineering and public works employees with the Region of Queens have voted 97 per cent in favour of strike action.

The workers are responsible for maintaining the region’s streets, sidewalks, parks and other properties. They also work in waste and recycling facilities as well as water and sewage treatment plants.

The 36 members of Local 1928 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers voted on the region’s settlement offer on Monday. Thirty-five of 36 members rejected it, voting in favour of strike action if needed.

James Sponagle, the business manager of Local 1928, said the two sides are set to return to the bargaining table with a government-appointed conciliator next Monday.

In the meantime, the union has filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the Nova Scotia Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration. 

That concerns the region’s definition of temporary employees. Sponagle says the employer has told those employees they must cross a picket line in the event of a work stoppage.

The union says they are union members and cannot be forced to work during a strike or lockout.

“They’re going to take our union members and they’ll force them to do bargaining unit work,” Sponagle said.

“If they don’t, they’ll fire them, is what they’ve been told.”

Sponagle said the union offered not to file its strike notice if the region also held off on its lockout notice until the unfair labour practice complaint is resolved.

He said the region rejected that proposal.

Sponagle said the region’s last offer didn’t satisfy union members’ main concerns. 

The IBEW members are some of the lowest-paid municipal workers in Nova Scotia. They’re seeking closer wage parity with other municipal employees in places like Shelburne and Bridgewater. And they want to protect overtime provisions for weekend work.

Mayor Scott Christian said this week that he’s hopeful a deal can be reached. The mayor and councillors get updates on negotiations, but they are not directly involved.

“We certainly value the union members, the public works employees, they’re really valuable members of the organization. We want to make sure there is a fair and good deal in place for these folks.”

The union’s last collective agreement expired in March. In that deal, which was signed in 2020, employees received raises of two per cent a year. The next year, the region gave its non-unionized staff a four per cent raise.

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Queens regional councillors are looking for ways to help prevent more water crises in the region. (Henryk Niestroj via Pixabay)

While residents and businesses in the Liverpool area are being asked to cut back on water, Region of Queens councillors want to find ways to improve communication and deal with any future water shortages.

Last week, councillors asked for a comprehensive staff report on the region’s water and wastewater systems. They also want staff to develop a communication system to inform customers quickly when problems arise.

Municipal water users in Liverpool and parts of Brooklyn have been asked since Nov. 1 to restrict their water usage. 

Water levels in the Town Lake Reservoir are too low to support the town’s usual consumption. 

The region has warned people that without significant amounts of rain, more drastic measures may have to be taken.

Mayor Scott Christian said it’s important to investigate longer-term solutions.

“It has appropriately alarmed a lot of our residents and a number of members of council as well,” Christian said.

“So I think it’s appropriate that we ask those questions in terms of how are we going to avoid situations like this in the future. What’s our Plan B? How can we make sure that we do all we can to protect against known or foreseeable risks to the stability or the dependence of our water supply?” 

Other councillors said they were also worried how the water supply could be affected if the Liverpool Fire Department needs to respond to a fire.

Liverpool fire chief Trevor Munroe could not be reached for comment Monday.

District 3 Coun. Courtney Wentzell said the region needs to address problems with its existing infrastructure.

“I think we’ve got an infrastructure problem on the west side of Liverpool from the town well to Union Street. This is very, very serious. We need to know what Plan B is, we need to look ahead and we need to look after people that already hooked up before we start hooking up new.”

The region has been criticized in the past for its efforts at spreading the word about water problems.

In summer 2023, the region imposed a boil-water order on municipal users. 

But some businesses and residents complained that they didn’t know about it until days after the order was issued. 

People were also upset at what they saw as a lack of transparency about the reasons for the order.

Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton said residents and businesses need to be informed more quickly and more directly.

“I’m also running into a lot of residents who are unaware that they’re supposed to decrease their water usage right now, so I think that this is critical that this happen so that residents can be alerted when needed in a very quick manner.”

CAO Cody Joudry could not give councillors a timeline for when staff will complete their report.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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