At the urging of a resident, West Nipissing council brought the issue of the recreational vehicle water and dumping station behind the Verner Arena back for discussion. The resident noted that it would be wise to keep it where it was. The infrastructure is already there, and it will be far from Sturgeon Falls residents.

The new proposed site is in Sturgeon Falls on Bridge Street. Council concurred that this is the best place for the facility this past April. The water at the Verner station remains turned off.

See: Will West Nipissing give its water to the caravan crowd?

“The Verner water system has been problematic for the last several years,” said Jay Barbeau, West Nipissing’s Chief Administrative Officer.

Indeed, it was Verner residents who suggested council shut down the tap at the arena. Their concern was the service put additional strain on the system.

“This is a small and fragile system,” Barbeau noted in a memo to council. “Over the past years we have had boil water advisories due to the pressure being lost in the system. During extremely dry periods, it is very difficult to treat the water from the river in a timely fashion.”

See: West Nipissing council turns off Verner’s public tap

Having an operational water and wastewater system at the arena strains Verner’s system. “Until the issue of a stable supply of drinking water in Verner is resolved, the new site for trailers should be kept on the Sturgeon / Cache Bay water system to ensure stability.”

The new dumping and filling station is scheduled to be built in 2024, with an estimated cost of $20,000.

David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

David Briggs, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, BayToday.ca