Homeowners who live on the east side of the Town ‘n’ Country Mall and have low water pressure or water quality issues could soon have relief from those problems.
The engineering department plans to spend $300,000 to install a water main line north of the mall to create a service loop at Oak Street and eliminate a dead-end water line from the system, according to a council report. The pipe would be 150 metres long and would replace a hydrant in that location. It would also ensure there is increased redundancy and remove the problems that homeowners face.
During its July 13 regular meeting, city council unanimously approved a motion to transfer $300,000 from the WW1 water distribution system account to the WW9 east feeder main water replacement account for this project.
There is $400,000 in the WW1 account, so transferring out $300,000 would leave the engineering department with $100,000 to replace valves and hydrants.
The department required additional money for the east feeder main project since tenders came in above estimated costs, while it had to use most of the contingency funds as well, the report said. City crews will have to bore a line under Main Street to replace the cast iron under that road. This should eliminate any future water main breaks and help the department prepare for the replacement of the cast iron lines under Laurier Street.
The current phase of the project includes the installation of 1,166 metres of pipe connecting the high service pump house into the feeder main at the northwest corner of the mall.
The department has already started work on this phase. It expects to finish by Dec. 31.
Council discussion
City administration wanted to move forward with this project since the tender had closed and it wanted to schedule the work, explained city manager Jim Puffalt. This is a sensitive issue since the construction affects the golf courses; city hall wanted to consult with them and give their comments to the contractor beforehand.
City hall had to shelve the WW1 project during the pandemic, but since it needed to address the dead ends, it thought using the funds would be appropriate, said Bevan Harlton, director of engineering services. It can use the rest of the funds to install new valves and hydrants.
Part of the pandemic measures city hall took was to have a second construction crew work on roads and drainage, Puffalt pointed out. Since more residents were at home during the pandemic, city administration did not want to shut off the water across several blocks to replace valves.
Replacing valves and hydrants has been a significant issue for council, yet there’s only $100,000 left in the WW1 account to handle them, said Coun. Brian Swanson. Meanwhile, city administration recently wanted to spend $247,000 to upgrade the Pla-Mor Palace. He wondered where that funding for those projects stood in comparison to this water project.
“To me, it’s a more important thing to put core infrastructure ahead of hockey rinks,” he added.
Council hasn’t approved those projects yet, while city administration plans to bring forward a report for council to discuss, replied Puffalt.
This project will be negative on the golf courses, observed Coun. Scott McMann, so he wondered if city hall had considered going further south to install the pipes and not disrupt the clubs.
City administration reviewed the map and saw that there would be adverse effects on the golf courses, said Puffalt. They looked at different options, but the topography on the south end prevented them from drilling there, while boring lines under the Lynbrook Golf Course would also be a problem.
The engineering department priced out three options and found the current choice is the most affordable on the capital side and offers the least amount of risk on the operational side, said Harlton. There are also fewer changes in topography, while the department can align the new pipe adjacent to the existing pipe.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, July 27.
