The Municipality of Chester will not build a central water system after a community wide poll did not find enough support.
The Village of Chester has had various water woes over the years including dry wells in the summer and raised levels of bacteria.
The entirety of Chester and surrounding communities rely on wells for their water supply.
The municipality proposed a 48 million dollar project, with anticipation 73 per cent would be covered by the provincial and federal government.
But 57 per cent of those who voted were opposed, with 43 per cent in favour.
Warden Allen Webber believes cost was likely a factor in the opposing votes.
He says council recognizes the problem won’t go away on its own.
“There are people in the village who are in need of a solution of one sort or another so we’ve asked staff to prepare for us a detailed list of potential options that council can explore.”
He says their lending programs continue.
“We will allow people to borrow that money from us to either dig or drill new wells or put filtration systems on to deal with quality issues.”
Webber says they’ll also look at expanding the program to businesses as well as options for providing water to residents who need it.
Story by Brittany Wentzell
Twitter: @BrittWentzell
Email: wentzell.brittany@radioabl.ca
