BOWDEN ñ Efforts to solve problems with the alley behind Reddi Mart in Bowden appear to have come full circle, cost-wise.
CAO James Mason told council that according to his calculations, the town could end up spending $82,665 to solve those problems, just slightly higher than what was quoted in July, when the estimated cost was $82,155.
During an interview with the Albertan, Mason said the new estimate includes items previously not included in the original one.
He said the work, if approved by the existing or incoming town council, could be done this year, but due to the risk of the ground freezing, now there's a good chance it won't be done until spring.
Local residents Jack and Sandra Regan complained that they had to spend thousands of dollars to prevent flooding in their property, which was traced to the alley. In a letter to council, they said they've been talking to the town about the problem for years.
Also, concerns were expressed that bumps in the alley were making it difficult for trucks to come in and out to load and unload supplies for the store.
Several months ago, an engineer estimated the cost estimate to fix the problems in the $80,000 range. Councillors said that was too expensive.
Coun. Wayne Milaney, who works in the construction industry, said he could probably find firms that could do the work for around half that figure.
In mid-September, council voted to spend up to $50,000 to solve the problem.
However, in late September, after doing research on the project, town CAO James Mason told council that under Alberta wastewater and storm drainage regulations, the proposed storm water lift station must be engineered by a professional engineer and approved by Alberta Environment.
Mason approached Tagish Engineering, the firm the town normally relies on for engineering consultancy. Tagish sent him an updated recommendation.
As a result, his updated estimate of the cost of the work is $82,665.48, almost identical to the original estimate, submitted months ago.
So during a recent meeting, council voted to have Tagish Engineering supply the town with the estimated cost of engineering fees for the project.
In a letter to council, received in September, the Regans said as a result of the way the alley is shaped, their back yard and garage have been flooded frequently. They say they've complained to town officials about the problem for a decade or so, with little result.
They said they've spent thousands of dollars this year to flood-proof their property.
Their letter said that work includes "two months of personal labour, raising the back yard with fill clay, installing wash rock to try to stop the flooding, all hand shoveled by the two of us and we can prove a total of 11 tons of material. Not an easy task for us as we are not 20 years old, both born in 1959."
After all that ñ and more -- the Regans heard that the town planned to fix the problem by altering the alley.
They feared if the height of the alley is raised, that might undo all their work, resulting in more flooding. So Sandra Regan attended a council meeting to outline the issue and express that concern in person.
Council assured Sandra that won't be the case.
Mayor Robb Stuart said currently, the water drains on both sides of the alley. In addition, the way the alley is currently configured, it contains bumps which also cause problems for vehicles like delivery trucks for Reddi Mart.
He and Coun. Wayne Milaney said the new plan will solve the problem by contouring the alley, creating proper drainage, and installing a pump to pump water away from there.
"This new project will not cut the crown in the road any more, but it will drain in to where it was supposed to go," Stuart said.
"And then there will be no more freezing of that drainage pipe that used to occur all the time. It will be alleviated so that it will work the way it was originally intended to."
Milaney said a civil engineer and two contractors have discussed the plan and they all agree that's the way to go.
"I wish you would have come and addressed council 10 years ago because we could have saved you a lot of money," he said to Sandra.
Sandra reiterated that she and her husband did that.
"I think it might have come to administration, but I don't think it ever came to this table," Milaney said.
"It will drain in to where it was supposed to go."ROBB STUART MAYOR TOWN OF BOWDEN
