The ongoing quest to come up with a perfect water metering system means it will be more than a year before the community abandons its present flat rate billing.
Over the past several years, municipal staff and council have revisited the issue of billing time and again.
Many models have been considered and there have been plenty of open houses to show the public how these billing options would affect them.
The effort to develop the best possible billing model is commendable, but it is also time-consuming.
We can understand that a metering system will be complicated in Summerland. Some residential properties are on huge lots and require plenty of irrigation in summer. Others require little or no additional water.
Water use is a complex issue and a simple billing structure will not be fair to all users.
Finding a workable model has been a more difficult task than any have imagined.
There have been numerous open houses and opportunities for public input.
Plenty of effort has been made in order to arrive at the billing model which is now under consideration.
Despite the best efforts and most thorough plans, it is not possible to satisfy everyone about the billing system.
The transition to a metered system instead of a flat rate for water is significant, but it is also necessary.
Once Summerlanders adjust to a metered system, it will be a small matter to make slight adjustments to the calculations.
We can understand the reluctance about introducing the metered bills during the late spring or summer, when consumption is high.
However, postponing the metering system until the beginning of 2015 seems like a lengthy delay.
