By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

The town of Bedford will enter 2025 with several major projects on its to-do list, notably upgrading its water infrastructure, building a long-awaited new fire station and moving the town hall offices into the building currently occupied by the local Desjardins branch, Mayor Claude Dubois told the BCN in a year-end interview.

Along with Farnham and Waterloo, Bedford was recently singled out by the Fondation Rivières as one of the municipalities in the region most vulnerable to sewage overflow. In September, an exceptionally vigorous algae bloom turned the area of Missisquoi Bay from which Bedford draws its water “green as your grass” for several days; earlier this summer, a tanker truck was brought in at the town’s expense to provide drinking water. “Drinking water is our big bête noire – we need it. We have had huge cyanobacteria problems and we want to make an investment so as not to repeat the disaster of this summer.”

Dubois said the town has received necessary authorizations to build a new feeder pipe further out in the bay, at a cost of $2.17 million. He said the town plans to have the pipe installed in September or October of next year. “We used to be able to do work [on the bay] in winter, but it’s not safe; the ice isn’t thick enough anymore,” he added.

The largest single planned investment of 2025, $6.5 million (of which about half is covered by a provincial government subsidy), will go toward separating the water and sewage networks on the south side of the town. The town also plans to spend $108,000 on upgrading water filtration equipment and $60,000 on a sewage runoff reduction plan.

Firefighters will move into the long-awaited new central fire station by March 2025, Dubois estimated. Town employees will also move out of the current town hall into a building on Rue des Rivières partially vacated by Desjardins, which will continue to pay rent on its remaining office space. Dubois said the move to the new town hall, which has a parking lot and wheelchair access unlike its predecessor, would be much more accessible. According to the town’s three-year infrastructure plan, buying and renovating the building will cost the town about $1.37 million.

Most tax rates reduced

The town’s 2025 budget was released last week along with its infrastructure plan. Most tax rates were reduced in light of rising property values. The single-family home tax rate was reduced from 80 cents to 65 cents per $100 of assessed value, the multi-unit residential rate from $1.02 to 80 cents and the non-residential rate from $1.65 to $1.32. The rate for an industrial building will drop from $2.17 to $1.615 and for agricultural land from 85 cents to 60 cents. Utility rates largely stayed the same, although the recycling fee rose from $32 to $37. The average homeowner can expect to pay $71 – or 2.76 per cent – more in property taxes than last year.

“Some citizens will even see their tax rates go down,” Dubois said. “It’s always a challenge to provide the most services we can at the least cost to citizens.”

Dubois served as mayor between 2003 and 2013, when he was defeated by Yves Lévesque. He ran again in 2021 and got his old job back. Now 71, he told the BCN he was undecided about running for an additional term, but leaning towards running. “There’s a good chance I’ll be there again if the population wants me to be,” he said.