Nestlé Waters Canada representatives brought a $33,037 cheque to a special session of Erin council on April 24 to mark the first year under an annual voluntary levy.
The levy, or community benefit fund, was established in April 2017 at $0.50 per 1,000 litres, with a minimum payment of $25,000 per year.
Nestlé Waters Canada’s natural resource manager Dr. Andreanne Simard said contributing to the community was important to the corporation.
“Nestlé has proudly operated in Erin for over 17 years and giving back to the communities we operate in is very, very important to us,” she said.
Simard also addressed a letter to council to outline Nestlé’s offer to help the town in its search for water.
In April, council approved spending another $600,000 to search for two wells. The search for a new viable water supply, which are to be redundancy wells, has not been successful.
In the letter, Simard offered Nestlé’s assistance in that search, proposing to:
– offer the use of its existing and historical data to help with the town’s exploratory work;
– offer Nestlé’s property as a potential site “assuming the use does not interfere or conflict with our existing operation;” and
– offer any technical advice or review of plans.
“You’ve made a wonderful offer there and you’re firm with helping out,” said councillor Matt Sammut.
“How can you see helping out the process? Because we’re spending a lot of money to try and find water, a heck of a lot more than I thought we’d ever spend.”
CAO Nathan Hyde said the town will be exploring options with Nestlé.
CLARIFICATION
A May 4 article about Nestle Waters Canada’s community benefit donation of $33,000 stated it was to mark the first year of Nestle’s voluntary levy commitment. The contribution was to mark the first full year of the levy, however Nestle Waters also retroactively paid $41,135 when the 2016 annual reports were presented in April 2017.
