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COMMUNITY NEWS

William Street at West River Street: A stop sign will be installed at William Street – for eastbound direction as it intersects with West River Street.

Upon routine review of this four-legged intersection, staff found that only one (1) stop sign was installed for westbound motorists on William Street, while the eastbound motorists on William Street and the northbound and southbound motorists on West River Street are uncontrolled by a stop indication. Three (3) of the four (4) legs have no stop control and the potential of possible conflicting vehicular movements involving eastbound movements is increased as a result. To enhance safety of this intersection, staff has installed a stop sign for eastbound motorists to eliminate the conflicting movements and will require approval by Council and by-law to be enforced. Funds are not required as the stop sign has already been erected.

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Fees and Charges for 2025

A proposed 2025 fees and charges for the County of Brant was presented to the committee for approval and will go on to be presented to Council for approval; If approved the fees and charges will be implemented January 1, 2025, unless otherwise noted in the by-law. The fees covered a wide variety of services from cemetery charges to advertising, facilities and parks and even programs. For a complete view of existing charges and proposed increases, view the entire document here

Water Billing Services

The committee approved a staff recommendation to extend the contract with GrandBridge Energy and the County of Brant through December 2027 with an optional one year extension to December 2028.

GrandBridge Energy Inc., formerly Energy+ and Brant County Power Inc., has provided the County with services for water meter reading, water and wastewater billing, collections, and customer service to the County’s approximately 9,700 water and wastewater customers since 2002. The day-to-day operation associated with the GrandBridge Energy Inc Water and Wastewater Billing contract includes water meter reading, identification of water meter issues (including reading and consumption errors), initiating new accounts, finalizing and closing existing accounts, addressing customer billing concerns, collection of delinquent accounts, and addressing general customer inquiries. During 2024, staff completed a municipal review of water and wastewater billing services. Staff found that many municipalities have begun to bring water and wastewater billing services in-house as a more cost-effective way to manage this part of the business. Although this is an option for the County, the body of work associated with meter reading, water and wastewater billing, collections, and customer service is substantial for the County and is only required for less than 25 percent of the population. With this in mind, staff recommend that the County continue to outsource water and wastewater billing services.

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