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By Charlene MacKenzie

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PENOBSQUIS -

There may be a silver lining to the new regional water supply that requires Penobsquis residents to pay annual usage fees.

The new system comes with fire hydrants, a first for the rural community, which could mean future savings on home insurance rates.

Jeff Russell, an engineer with the Department of Local Government's community technical and professional support department, has been involved with the Penobsquis water system project for years.

"Right now we have 78 hydrants positioned along the entire line from Springdale to the [PotashCorp] mine," he said.

Water pressure along the line varies but is generally between 75 and 85 psi (pounds per square inch).

The source of the water supply is a well site in the Springdale area about six kilometres away. In addition to a well house and an above-ground water reservoir, the project includes about 12 km of pipe to distribute water to residents.

Insurance broker Bob Kimball, president of Pearson Insurance in Sussex, explained that when it comes to determining rates for home insurance, there are about a dozen different classifications for fire ratings. It can depend on several factors, including access to a plentiful supply of water at sufficient pressure for firefighting and proximity and capacity of the firefighting services.

"If an area were to get hydrants, that would give them a savings."

Not enough to offset the new system's usage fees, but enough to provide some welcome benefit, he said.

A change in an area's F-rating requires an inspection by the Insurers' Advisory Organization after the new system is in place. Normally a municipality would contact the IAO once a new system is put in place. As Penobsquis is an unincorporated rural community, either the provincial government or the Cardwell local service district could notify the organization.

Once the new hydrant system has been classified, homeowners can begin to look into how it can help their insurance rates. "You'd have to let your insurance provider know," Kimball advised.

Jamie Daley, deputy chief of the Penobsquis Fire Department, has two reasons to be eager about the final arrival of the new water system. As a 20-year veteran of the volunteer department, he's glad to hear fire hydrants will be part of the new system.

"For the fire department, that is a blessing," he said. "It makes our job a lot easier."

The 14-member department has a tanker, a large pumper and a rescue van. Fortunately, there haven't been any structure fires within Penobsquis for years, he said, but the department is often called to assist in neighbouring communities.

As a Penobsquis resident, Daley is also looking forward to finally getting off bottled and delivered water. He's been unable to use his well for four years and has been pleased with the rapid progress on the water line since work began this summer.

"I would imagine by December we should have water," he said.

At the Aug. 19 sod-turning ceremony for the $9.3 million Penobsquis Regional Water Supply project, Premier Shawn Graham said he was confident the project would be completed by the end of the year.

The premier's arrival was greeted by residents protesting the fact they will be paying annual usage fees for the new water service. Usage fees of $350 to $400 will be charged to each participating household to cover the new system's $90,000 annual operating costs.

The federal government contributed $7,795,000 to the water project and the provincial government kicked in $205,000 under the Canada-New Brunswick agreement on the transfer of federal gas tax revenues and a provincial gas tax transfer top-up fund. PotashCorp (the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan) contributed the remaining $1.3 million.

Many Penobsquis residents have been relying on household water trucked in by the Department of Environment and bottled drinking water deliveries paid for by the PotashCorp potash mine after their wells began failing in 2004. As many as 50 households have been affected.

With good weather since the funding was finalized in August, work on the water line has been moving along at a good pace, Russell said. Pipe installment was divided into two contracts. One contract follows Route 114 west to the PotashCorp mine area. The other began at the Penobsquis Loop Road and is working east along Route 114 toward Springdale.

"It's already past Crockets Corner, where the 114 veers off to Fundy National Park," said Russell.