An engineer's report on the Town of Westlock's future water plans recommends the multi-million dollar removal of the water tower, but a lack of funds may force council to figure out a way to keep it in service.
An engineer's report on the Town of Westlock's future water plans recommends the multi-million dollar removal of the water tower, but a lack of funds may force council to figure out a way to keep it in service.
The draft plan, which council heard at its Nov. 21 committee of the whole meeting and has yet to be voted on, recommends the removal of the Eastglen Water Tower, which came into service in 1971, with a modern underground reservoir.
Current estimates peg razing the tower at $1.5 to $2.3 million, while installation of the new reservoir and related work is estimated at nearly $9 million, which includes the tower's removal.
The high price tag has lead the town to seek a grant from the federal government's Canada Clean Water and Wastewater Fund, which would cover 50 per cent of the cost.
Mayor Ralph Leriger said that the town would not make a decision on whether to decommission or refurbish the tower until it knows how much of the cost it will have to cover.
'There's more projects than there is money," said Leriger.
'This is a project that's faced the town for a long time. We've applied for several grants. It's a big decision; this is a big dollar project. You have to use the best evidence before you, and while a pretty good picture was painted for decommissioning the tower, you have to balance it with things like where's the money coming from, can we make the existing one last and for how long?
'What other projects do we have on our list? Our list of projects exceeds our available dollars, so we've got to prioritize. Governing is choosing."
If the town has to cover 50 per cent of the costs, it could be on hook for over $4 million.
'Four million dollars is a lot of dollars," commented Leriger. 'One per cent of our taxes is about $65,000. There's a lot of $65,000 in $4 million."
Westlock currently has a water storage capacity of 5,757 cubic metres. The tower holds 2,273 m3 of the supply and if its decommissioned the shortfall would need to be addressed.
Currently, to meet residential, commercial and industrial demands - as well as to keep enough water on-hand for fire emergencies - the town is required to have 4,902.8 m3 of water in storage. The municipality's water requirements are expected to grow to 5,499 m3 by 2025 and 6,263.6 m3 by 2040.
Four options were laid out in the report to decommission the tower and install underground cells.
The advantage of having the reservoir underground is that it does not require excessive fuel to heat, making it cheaper to maintain. It also would avoid a number of other problems associated with the water tower.
The water tower has been marred with problems in recent years - several leaks have been discovered, a number of valves have been blocked over the years, leading to flooding and a net had to be placed around the structure to catch falling stucco. To top it off, there is scarce information on the makeup and history of the tower.
'That netting we put on the tower, it can stay there for another two years before we have to replace it," explained Town of Westlock chief administration officer Dean Krause.
'As for the flooding, the tower is no different than the water mains in the ground. Valves fail and leaks happen. Our crew checks the facility on a daily basis and monitors it. We take the measurements, inspect it and mitigate them as much as possible."
Council is now forced to play the waiting game until the federal government makes a decision about whether it will chip in for the project.
In the meantime, Leriger said the town would continue to make sure it has as much information as it can get.
'You need good information to make good decisions," said Leriger.
'So let's crunch the numbers."
