DIDSBURY - Town council has approved the southwest parking lot of the Memorial Complex as the future site of the town’s new east reservoir and approved proceeding with the preliminary engineering design for Phase 1 of the project.
The approvals came by way of motion at the June 13 council meeting, held in person and on YouTube.
The new reservoir project comes after ISL Engineering conducted an earlier assessment of the town’s water system.
“The assessment conducted for the town’s Water Distribution Master Plan (WDMP) recommends a second reservoir be constructed in the southeastern area of the town with designated fire pumps added to both pump houses,” said the town's chief administrative officer, Ethan Gorner.
The WDMP divides the east reservoir into roughly three phases, council heard.
• Phase 1 is a new 2,250 cubic metre potable water storage facility with a pump house. The new reservoir is sized to address the town’s current needs and the 15-year population projection of 3.9 per cent growth.
• Phase 2 is a multi-year program to connect the reservoir to the existing network mains which connect to 15th Avenue, north through 16th Street, and then east to connect to the larger diameter main from the west side of town under the CPR rail.
• Phase 3 is a future phase which would see an additional 2,250 cubic metres of storage constructed. Phase 3 would be necessary as the town’s population and/or average daily demand once again approaches one of the Alberta Environment triggers for expanded capacity.
At a council meeting in May, council instructed administration to examine possible locations for the new reservoir.
At the June 13 council meeting, administration returned with a report stating the “southwest parking lot (at the Memorial Complex) is of suitable size to install the reservoirs and pump house. As with recreation facilities, public parking facilities could be permitted on top of the reservoir. It is important to note that weight restrictions could impact some users of the space.”
The report also stated, “The cost to construct the reservoir and pump house will be marginally impacted by the reservoir location. Issues such as material delivery and off-loading, along with room for a suitable staging area, will impact the duration and cost of construction.”
Given the southwest parking lot’s accessibility to north and south corridors and proximity to the supply line along Highway 582, the cost to construct the supply and distribution system would be lower than at another proposed site west of the existing town office, the report stated.
The Memorial Complex location satisfies the recommendation outlined in the Water Distribution Master Plan, council heard.
As part of the motion to proceed with the preliminary engineering deign for Phase 1, administration was instructed to bring back revised construction cost estimates for Phase 1 and 2 to council for further consideration.
Council heard the southwest parking lot at the Memorial Complex is currently gravel and used intermittently by complex guests, the film industry, and local commercial businesses for large vehicle staging. It also contains an RV sanitary dump facility.
