Notice of Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of the Co-op will be held in the Balzac Community Hall commencing at 7 PM on Tuesday, April 24, 2012. An official notice of the AGM will be sent with the water bills for the first quarter and this issue of the Running Report.
Please be assured that this date was selected and the hall booked more than three month’s in advance and long before the date of April 23 was declared for the next provincial election. Consideration was given and thankfully rejected to what is now the election date
The practice of alternating the AGM venue between the Balzac Community Hall and the Bearspaw Lions Hall has worked well and will be continued.
Notice of Bylaw Amendments
A complete review of the Co-op’s By-laws has been carried out by two members of the Board of Directors in recent weeks with a view to clarifying and updating the various provisions. Several changes have been recommended, reviewed by our legal counsel and approved by the Board for consideration by the Membership at the Annual General Meeting.
Accordingly, official notice of the amendments being recommended will also be sent to Members as part of the AGM Notice with the water billings for the first quarter and this issue of the Running Report.
The Co-op’s Bylaws have been amended on only two previous occasions: April 16, 1996 and April 22, 2008. This reflects favourably on the Co-op’s Charter Members, who had a clear view of what might be required for the long term.
Treatment Plant Expansion & Upgrade
In addition to more than doubling our treatment capacity with the installation of two new units and the upgrading of the two original units, our plant expansion project has also included the installation of an ultra-violet component to our process. This is a major step forward.
Ultra-violet (UV) treatment is the disinfection process of passing water by a special light source that emits UV waves, which inactivate some harmful microorganisms. Used in combination with the filtering and chlorination functions, UV makes a valuable non-chemical contribution to the treatment process.
So here we are in 2012, two years after starting this important journey in the Co-op’s life. Work on the inside of our expanded facility is rapidly winding up and warm weather will soon permit completion of the building’s exterior. The latter includes stucco on the office extension, installation of the security shutters, surfacing of the access road and parking areas and some low maintenance landscaping improvements.
Treated Water Rates
Higher operating and maintenance costs over the past two years have made it necessary to increase treated water rates. The following consumption rates are now in effect:
$1.02 / M3 for volumes up to 300 M3 Quarterly
$2.04 / M3 for volumes over 300 M3 Quarterly
The Co-op’s rates remain significantly lower than those of comparable and larger water utilities
