Cowie Hill

Cowie Hill is a community of town-house style condominums that lies between Spryfield and Kline Heights. Issues in the area focus on utilities - Cowie Hill was designed with underground wiring that Nova Scotia Power was reluctant to replace, and more recently there has been an issue with how the Halifax Regional Water Commission bills residents of the condo corps because of the way the condos are hooked up to the water supply.

Cowie Hill is organized into four condominium corporations (Halifax County Condo Corporations 2, 5, 9 and 10). Most homeowner queries are best directed, in the first instance, to the condo corporation of which the homeowner is a member.

The Water Issue

The water issue is more recent, so I will deal with it first.

Cowie Hill is structured in a way that is almost unique in Nova Scotia. The blocks of homes were constructed without individual water turn-offs. Normally if someone does not pay their water bill, the Water Commission will turn off the supply. But on Cowie Hill, turning off the water for one homeowner means turning off the water for everyone else in the same group. That has made it difficult for the Water Commission to collect a handful of very delinquent accounts.

Five or six years ago, the Water Commission applied for a rule change that would permit it to bill the condo corporations directly. The Cowie Hill condo corporations opposed the change. The Utility & Review Board, which regulates the Water Commission, sided with the homeowners.

Earlier this year, (2007) the Water Commission applied for the same rule change, and this time they got it. No-one connected with the Cowie Hill condo corporations was aware of the application, and it came a s a shock when the Water Commission notified them that the billing method was about to change. The lack of adequate notice was the subject of a letter I wrote to the Utility & Review Board on August 7, 2007 (to see a copy, click on the item in the right-hand column).

The executive of Condo Corp #10 invited me to attend their Annual General Meeting on May 30, 2007. Representatives of the Water Commission also attended. A number of homeowners expressed their grave dissatisfaction with the Water Commission. In the end, it was agreed that the condo corps and the Water Commission should negotiate a protocol for bill collection to ensure that water bills are paid, but also to ensure that the condo corps are not unfairly burdened with administration and collection of water bills.

On August 30, I received a letter from the Utility and Review Board indicating that they would more closely monitor how notice is given to customers affected by hearings. Click here to read it. Also included in the letter is a notice of an application by the Water Commission for "Approval of a Schedule of Charges and Schedule of Rules and Regulations for Provision of Wastewater and Stormwater Services" effecting condominium corporations.

The Power Issue

For several years, from about 2003-2006, the four Condominium Corporations on Cowie Hill have been engaged in a struggle with Nova Scotia Power over the replacement of the 30+-year-old underground wiring system.

Talking with residents in Cowie Hill

Nova Scotia Power at first said it would pay the full cost of replacement, but ONLY if the wires were above-ground. The Condominium Corporations wanted the underground system to stay underground, and wanted Nova Scotia Power to pay for the replacement.

A hearing before the Utility & Review Board was scheduled for the first week of May 2006. Not long before the hearing, Nova Scotia Power came forward with a substantially revised proposal. The proposal provided for relatively minor re-configurations of the Cowie Hill power system, so as to allow for replacement of the old system but at a substantially reduced cost. In return, Cowie Hill homeowners would pay a small extra charge on their power bill.

The proposal required the approval of all four of the Cowie Hill condominium corporations. Therefore, in May and June, information was circulated to homeowners, and the vast majority of homeowners agreed to the plan.

The panorama from Cowie Hill

The plan later received the formal approval of the Utility & Review Board. Personally, I think it's an excellent plan, and it will put to rest, once and for all, the issues surrounding Cowie Hill's power system. The executives of the four condo corporations should be congratulated for working together to achieve a good outcome for all.

On May 3, 2005, I had to an opportunity to speak about this issue in the Legislature, and on May 11, 2005, I asked the Minister of Energy about it during Question Period. Later, there was an exchange of correspondence between me and the Department of Energy on this topic. On the right, you can click on links to these documents.