Zurich Water Line

The Zurich water line capital charge is $11,860.11 for current users.

Residents must notify the Municipality of their repayment choice by June 18, 2024.

The payment options include:

• Full prepayment of $11,860.11
• Partial cash prepayment (payable in ¼, ½, ¾ increments)
• Added to taxes where the full charge will be collected over 20 years (debenture)

If you choose to make a partial prepayment, the amount would be:

• $2,965.03 for a partial prepayment of ¼.
• $5,930.06 for a partial prepayment of ½.
• $8,895.08 for a partial prepayment of ¾.

If making a full or partial prepayment, payments can be made:

• In-Person: Payments by cash, cheque, certified bank draft, or debit are accepted at the municipal office located at 14 Mill Ave., Zurich. Business hours are Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Drop Box: If you are unable to make your payment at the municipal office during business hours, you can use the after-hours deposit slot in the front door. Attach your payment option page to your cheque made payable to the Municipality of Bluewater, put everything together in an envelope, and drop it in the slot in the front door.
  •  We discourage using the drop box to make cash payments.
• Mail: Mail your payment and the payment option page to:

  The Municipality of Bluewater
  14 Mill Ave
  Zurich, ON N0M 2T0

  Cheques are payable to the Municipality of Bluewater and MUST be in Canadian funds. Please ensure to allow sufficient time for your payment to arrive at the municipal office prior to June 18, 2024.

Unfortunately, the municipality does not accept credit card or e-transfers as a form of payment.

Post-dated cheques will be accepted. Post-dated cheques must be dated June 18, 2024, or earlier. Any payments dated after June 18, 2024, will not be accepted and will be returned.

If you choose to add your payment to taxes instead of making a prepayment, the amount will be automatically added by the Municipality of Bluewater to your tax bill.

If no option notice is sent back to the Municipality, the capital charge will be added to the property tax account and will be collected over 20 years plus the cost of interest.

If you choose to add your amount owing to taxes, the amount will be paid back over 20 years with interest.

Using an estimated interest rate of 5.3%, the annual amount to be added to taxes over 20 years is estimated to be $963.00. The actual amount will not be known until the debenture is finalized by the Municipality, which cannot take place until all option notices are returned to the Municipality.

The interest rate has not been confirmed. The Municipality cannot finalize the debenture amount until all option notices are returned. It is estimated that the interest rate will be somewhere between the 5.10 to 5.40% range. This is solely an estimate and is subject to change.

If you chose to add your amount owing to taxes, one-half of the annual amount will be added to your final 2024 property tax billing. The full annual amount will be begin in 2025.

No early payouts of the debenture will be accepted over the 20 years. The debenture will remain on the property regardless of sales or ownership changes during the 20-year time frame. 

If you have property that is not currently connected to the Zurich water line but may connect in the future, you will be responsible for paying a a connection charge. You are not responsible for paying the capital charge.

Vacant lots will pay their share of the Zurich water line when their lot is developed through the collection of Development Charges.

In May 2019, B.M. Ross and associates hosted an information session on behalf of the Municipality where three alternatives to supply the Village of Zurich with water were discussed. In October 2019, the Municipality conducted a public survey to determine the preferred option. Council gave direction to move forward with engineering in December 2020, with the goal of completing the work and potentially tendering alongside Huron County's reconstruction of Zurich Main Street in 2022, to save on costs. 

Staff held a virtual public meeting on February 8, 2022, where more feedback was collected and information about project costs and timelines was shared. The meeting was also livestreamed to the Municipality’s YouTube page. On March 21, 2022, Council awarded the joint tender between the Municipality of Bluewater and the County of Huron to Birnam Excavating Ltd. for the Zurich Water Line Project. Construction began in 2022 with the project being substantially completed in 2023. Project costs were still received up to and paid into 2024.

Throughout the project, updates were shared through council reports, a subscriber newsletter, and the municipal website and social media accounts.