Montreal auditor to probe water meter contract

Montreal Mayor Grald Tremblay is asking the city's auditor general to review a controversial water meter contract.

The $356-million contract to install meters was awarded in 2007 to a consortium.Frank Zampino, former president of Montreal's executive committee, admitted this weekend he spent holidays on a boat with Tony Accurso, an entrepreneur who was part of the consortium.

Zampino said he has known Accurso for 25 years, and did not interfere to favour the consortium when the contract was up for bidding.

In a letter to the mayor's office, Zampino declared he paid all related costs incurred by himself and his wife during the holiday.

"I will ask [the auditor] to make the necessary verifications," Tremblay said. "He has all the powers to do that."

"It's our responsibility to do so, and we will do it as quickly as possible."

Montreal-based consortium GniEau won the contract in 2007 to expand the island's water meter system.

Torontopays lessfor more water meters

Montreal's water meter contract is also substantially more expensive than a meter contract in Toronto, according to published reports in the newspaper La Presse.

Toronto is having 72,000 meters installed for $219 million, while Montreal's contract covers the installation of 33,000 meters.

Toronto is installing meters over a period of four to six years, while Montreal's plan extends over 25 years.

It's unfair to compare the two contracts, said Gilles Robillard, Montreal's assistant director general responsible for infrastructure. Montreal's contract targets businesses that aren't connected to the current system, he told CBC News.

"In Montreal, we have a small amount [of businesses], about 7,000, that have meters. The rest don't have meters," Robillard said.

"We must meet with business owners to make them aware [of] the problems with installing the water meters," he said.

The Montreal contract also includes the cost of a new computer system, installing valves to locate leaks, and the cost of maintaining equipment.