The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Background The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Region) is responsible for treating wastewater from homes and businesses throughout Waterloo Region, and operates 13 wastewater treatment plants and 6 Regionally-owned wastewater pumping stations. The Region's Wastewater Treatment Master Plan recommends the long-term wastewater treatment strategy for these facilities. The Master Plan was last updated in 2007, and encompassed planning to the year 2041. In light of recent growth trends, changes to the regulatory environment, climate change, and river water quality changes, the Region is updating this Master Plan. This update will assess the current status of its wastewater treatment facilities and update the preferred wastewater treatment strategy, to the year 2051. This strategy will be consistent with the Region's Strategic Plan. It will also be environmentally sustainable and economically viable. Class EA Master Plan Study Now Underway The Region has initiated this study to update the 2007 Master Plan. This study will identify and evaluate wastewater treatment projects, technologies and servicing strategies that will meet the long-term needs of the Region's residents and businesses. The Master Plan Update Study will follow Phases 1 and 2 of the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) process (June 2000, amended in 2007, 2011, and 2015). Your Opinion Matters Public consultation is a key component of the Class EA study process. The first of two rounds of Public Consultation Centres (PCC) has been scheduled to receive input and comments on the project from interested members of the public, as follows: Tuesday, March 7, 2017 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm RIM Park, Room 209, 2001 University Ave East, Waterloo, ON Wednesday, March 8, 2017 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm Waterloo Region Museum, 10 Huron Road, Kitchener, ON Thursday, March 9, 2017 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm First Floor, Room 170, 150 Main Street, Cambridge, ON The information presented at all three PCC locations is identical. Comments received through the course of the study will be considered in finalizing the preferred solutions. For Further Information Visit: http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/aboutTheEnvironment/ MasterPlansandProjects.asp All comments and information received from individuals, stakeholder groups and agencies regarding this study are being collected to assist the Region of Waterloo in making a decision. Under the Municipal Act, personal information such as name, address, telephone number and property location may be included if a submission becomes part of the public record. Questions regarding the collection of this information should be referred to Nicole Sapeta. This notice was first issued on February 21, 2017. Nicole Sapeta, B.A.Sc., P.Eng. Project Engineer, Water Services Region of Waterloo 150 Frederick Street, 7th Floor Kitchener, Ontario, N2G 4J3 Phone: 519-575-4757 ext. 3682 Fax: 519-575-4452 E-mail: nsapeta@regionofwaterloo.ca Erin Longworth, M.Eng., P.Eng., PMP Manager, Wastewater Planning CIMA+ 5935 Airport Road, Suite 500 Mississauga, Ontario, L4V 1W5 Phone: 905-695-1005 ext. 6722 Fax: 905-695-0525 E-mail: erin.longworth@cima.ca Notice of Public Consultation Centre No. 1 Wastewater Treatment Master Plan Update Thursday, March 2, 2017 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • 11 Continued from page 1 "I got a call from him apologizing, and he said he looked into my case," said Berwick. "He said, 'You're right, you have never missed a payment, you're an excellent customer and you should not have been treated that way.'" Singh also offered that apology in person and dropped off some gifts to help soothe the frayed relationship. He said the problem came when the hydro distributor used an old email address for Berwick to remind him of his late payment. When they didn't receive a response back, a formal notice was mailed out. "Once we send a bill to the custom- er and don't hear from the customer by the due date, and a week or two goes by, we send out gentle reminder notices," said Singh, explaining the notices become more formal as time goes on. "It's almost a month later before we even take any action at all to seriously disconnect anyone. "In this case, this gentlemen was away on vacation and an email we had on that account to send out reminder notices was an old one he no longer uses. That's why we didn't hear from him at all at that's the point someone sent out a disconnect notice." Singh said the disconnect notice generally results in payment, and of the more than 56,000 customers the hydro company serves in the City of Waterloo and surrounding townships there have only been two who have been disconnected this winter. "People usually pay attention to those," said Singh. "That's when they usually contact us and we work with people to come to some payment arrangements." Singh said the province has moved legislation to ban winter hydro discon- nections to April 30 partly as a safety issue, but he said the local utility gen- erally doesn't have that problem as evidenced by Waterloo North Hydro's low disconnection rates. "I know the government has put a ban now on it, but utilities always work with customers," said Singh. "We don't willy-nilly go there and discon- nect people because they can't afford a bill or whatever. "That's the last thing we want to do, especially in the winter, is put some- body in the dark." While Berwick said he grudgingly accepts that it was a systems error on the part of Waterloo North Hydro that he received a disconnection notice. But he said it's a threat that shouldn't come so quickly, especially in the win- ter. He also doesn't have much faith in the province's bill to outlaw the prac- tice. "Disconnections in the winter are a no-no," said Berwick. "They say they are fully in their right to do it. I said 'I know you are but it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.'" Waterloo North Hydro tries to work with customers in arrears "Disconnections in the winter are a no-no. They say they are fully in their right to do it. I said 'I know you are but it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.'" Gary Berwick Local resident who got a surprise hydro disconnection notice in February