Changes to sewer and water bylaws of British Columbia’s City of Fernie are set to affect Fernie RV Resort.
The campground within city limits had been paying city bills under a temporary rate charge arrangement, according to a local report.
Moreover, staff report shows that Fernie RV Resort has not been billed under Fernie’s bylaws since it opened in 2016.
Fernie RV Resort Owner Reto Barrington said he had secured written agreements for his park to pay a monthly fee of $11.50 per site to cover water and sewer until updates to the bylaws were made.
The business paid the fee up until 2019. When the invoices from the city stopped coming in, however, water and sewer bills stayed as accrued expenses.
City’s Director of Finance Bryn Burditt during the meeting on Monday said that the billing was not the campground’s fault.
“This particular instance is purely the fault of those inadequate city processes,” he said. “It’s not the fault of the campground owner that they were not regularly billed for water and sewer.”
He also said the city has confirmed Fernie RV Resort had been diligent in paying the city and the new fees will be effective moving forward.
With changes in place, campgrounds will be charged $8.83 per site monthly for water hookup, and $11.17 per site for sewer.
This story originally appeared on The Free Press.