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Southview upgrades get green light

A planed $5 million upgrade to roads and sidewalks, as well as sewer and water services in a section of Southview, has been approved by Westlock town council. During discussions at council Oct.
The intersection of 102 Avenue and 97 Streets is just one location in the Southview area that will receive road, sidewalk and utility upgrades. The project will cost over $5
The intersection of 102 Avenue and 97 Streets is just one location in the Southview area that will receive road, sidewalk and utility upgrades. The project will cost over $5 million and work is expected to start in 2016.

A planed $5 million upgrade to roads and sidewalks, as well as sewer and water services in a section of Southview, has been approved by Westlock town council.

During discussions at council Oct. 26 meeting, a number of councillors expressed concern about the overall cost and bounced around options for limiting the scope of water line work

“I’m probably of the thinking I would like to think about removing the water from the project in the areas we can get away with it,” said Coun. Curtis Snell.

Ultimately councillors voted 7-0 in favour of the project as originally outlined, with some noting that skimping on work now may come back to bite the municipality.

“I think our biggest risk is that the water lines give out in the next 15 years before the next time the road needs to be ripped out,” said Coun. Murtaza Jamaly.

“We don’t want to be in the area that we made a bad decision about how we should have fixed the roads because we were short sighted about what was going to happen in the next 10 years.”

“That’s kind of where I am,” added mayor Ralph Leriger. “I’ll admit at first I was leaning towards leaving the water lines and accepting the risk for 15 years.

“But as far as the water line, to me, you can pay some now or perhaps pay a bunch later.”

The work involves improvements to the roads and sidewalks, as well as water and sewer lines, to homes along 101 and 102 avenues and parts of 97, 98 and 100 streets.

Residents will be given of the option of having upgrades to the utility pipes from their property boundary line to their building as part of the project, but they’ll have to pay for that out of pocket.

Once further information is available the municipality will hold public consultation sessions with affected residents.

Also included in the final bill will be surfacing work on streets in the downtown area that currently sit below the gutter lines.

Council will now look at the details of how to fund the project during its budgeting process with a $2.1 million loan needed to pay for the utility upgrades.

As the province requires municipalities to achieve cost recovery on utility services, including capital works, it’s likely that any loan will be paid off via an increase to utility fees.

Information given at council’s Sept. 28 meeting suggested that if the town takes a five or 10-year debenture, water rates would rise by eight and a half per cent.

The road and sidewalk component is fully funded through government grants including gas tax allocations and the Municipal Sustainability Initiative fund.

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