By Sarah Payne The Tri-City News

Jul 27 2007

Midwest Property Management’s plans to install meters on its 200 townhouses in Woodland Park has raised the ire of Port Moody council.

Tuesday, council asked staff to research the possibility of a bylaw to control or prohibit private metering for the purpose of reselling water on private property.

About two weeks ago, Midwest informed Woodland Park residents it would install the meters and charge them about $60 monthly for their water, three times what Port Moody charges Midwest.

The city’s director of engineering and operations, Eugene Wat, said if Midwest meters the units, it may make it a “water purveyor” like the city, a position that is highly regulated by Fraser Health.

The company has put its plans on hold until it gets a written decision from the Residential Tenancy Branch.