The owner of an equestrian facility in Windsor says he 'almost had a heart attack' after seeing a massive increase in his sewer and stormwater bill.
Joe Gagnon owns the Lazee G Ranch at 9309 Baseline Road, where he's lived for 40 years, which has a septic system and is not connected to the city's sewer or stormwater system.
Gagnon told AM800's Mornings with Mike and Meg he only pays a water bill but his sewer and stormwater bill has gone from zero to $906.85 a month under the city's new surcharge.
"I'm on pension myself. We are running a ranch, but it's at a break-even expense feeding all the animals and the care for everything. It's just something we love to do, but in the meantime, getting hit with this is astronomical. It's definitely undue hardship; it's really hurting," he says.
On Jan. 1, 2025, the city launched a new system that's added onto a resident's ENWIN bill that's based on the amount of impervious area on a property.
An impervious area is defined as an area that can't absorb water, such as parking lots or other paved areas, which the city says contributes to more water runoff into the sewer and stormwater system.
Under the previous system, non-residential users and large commercial property owners with paved areas like parking lots were paying a smaller contribution to the overall sewer surcharge revenue compared to residential properties, and the change was meant to make it cheaper for residents.
Gagnon says it's because he has barns and housing for his animals.
"It's the roofs and the driveway and the parking lot that they're billing them for. It's not so much the acreage; it's because of the square footage of the buildings," he says. "This is all done by satellite; they're saying there's no mistake because it's all done by satellite. They could take my riding ring and say that's impervious, and we'll charge you."
Gagnon says they did contact ENWIN to let them know they have four ponds on the farm.
"When we did contact them to tell them we have four ponds on the farm that contain water for what we do here-irrigation, dust control, and stuff like that. They said you've got to get an engineering stamp, and you have to do it on your own dime," he says.
Gagnon says they have been in contact with legal representation, but in the meantime, they still have to keep paying the bill on time.
On Wednesday, Mayor Drew Dilkens issued a directive under the Strong Mayor Powers that the administration report back to the city council regarding the stormwater financing program with a detailed analysis of the impact on pre-existing residential ENWIN customers as a result of the separation of the wastewater and stormwater billings.
If the analysis demonstrates an outcome that is different from the plan that was approved, then options should be provided for consideration.
The mayor's directive also calls for an analysis that includes the number of homeowners currently on septic systems for which no wastewater charge was previously charged and the total monthly stormwater revenue now being collected from these homeowners.