That was put to the Waitaki District Council's committee of the whole yesterday by members of the Kakanui water supply liaison group Karl Ruddenklau and Allan Robins.
The committee was considering recommending the council proceed with building two pipelines using as direct a route as possible to plug Kakanui into Oamaru's water and sewerage schemes.
That was the preferred option from an investigation by the council to bring the Kakanui water supply up to drinking water standards and treat its waste water once the resource consent for the Kakanui sewerage plant expires at the end of the year. The plant would need major upgrading to extend its life.
But before making any recommendation, the council will hold a public meeting in Kakanui to discuss the options.
A survey sent to 375 Kakanui ratepayers had 143 replies, 90% of them in support of linking both schemes to Oamaru.
"There is a general feeling it is being rammed down their necks flat out to get Oamaru help to pay for Oamaru systems," Mr Ruddenklau said about phone calls he had received on the proposal.
Mr Robins said feedback he had received was the proposal was being "shunted through" without all of the facts and figures being taken into account.
Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton and some councillors felt that, because there were issues over the proposal, a public meeting should be held in Kakanui to discuss all the options before any recommendation was made to the council.
Committee chairman Cr Jim Hopkins hoped council staff and the Kakanui liaison group could get together to identify the issues, the information needed for the public meeting and, if possible, reach an agreement on an option.
He also pointed out, while there might be some dissatisfaction from Kakanui residents, there could also be a backlash from Oamaru ratepayers, who were being asked to help pay for the pipelines from Kakanui.
Connecting Kakanui to Oamaru's water supply could cost $359,000 and a total of $469,000 in operating costs over the lifetime of the connection. The wastewater connection could cost $228,888 and $446,000 to operate over its lifetime.
