During its latest meeting, Bowden town council was given a tough choice: spend more than $1 million to more than $2 million to install a new sewer line under Highway 2A, which would last for decades and not have to replace the north sewage lift station, estimated to cost $736,000; or take the cheaper route (at least in the short term) and simply replace that lift station.
Council chose the second route – to replace the lift station at an estimated cost of $650,000 ($736,000 when estimated maintenance costs over 50 years are added in). Council has been told that lift station is near the end of its life.
In contrast, the cost of the new larger-capacity 350-milimetre (mm) sewer main is estimated to cost $1.6 million; $2.02 million when other costs, like decommissioning the current lift station plus manhole relining after 50 years are added in.
However, in a letter to council received earlier, Tagish Engineering project manager Chad Carmichael said the new main would provide greater capacity, allowing for more commercial development north of Highway 587.
He also said the current 250-mm sewer main under Highway 2A (20th Street) is already running at 80 to 90 per cent of capacity “using the standard rates for infiltration.”
“It is likely that this old main is experiencing much higher rates of infiltration than the typical design standards for new main(s) and may be at risk of surcharging,” Carmichael wrote.
Carmichael stated that case during a 21-minute presentation to town council. Councillors then debated the idea for more than nine minutes, before deciding in the end to go ahead with an earlier decision to replace the lift station.
“Council basically really hasn't changed the direction they had established when they decided to put the lift station in,” town chief administrative officer James Mason told the Albertan.
It wasn't an easy decision.
Mason noted the suggestion to build the new sewer main and forget about replacing the lift station did make sense.
“Everything's an estimate and the estimate that he did suggested that over, say, a 100-year period, it may actually cost less to do a new main; the difference being is we have to pay for it now, instead of being spread over 50 to 100 years,” Mason said.
The problem with that is the town would likely have to borrow money and/or increase taxes to pay for that project.
At the same time, the current lift station is nearing the end of its projected life. So something has to be done.
“The presentation was made and council decided not to act on anything in the presentation. So essentially that means we're still going down that same direction (to replace the existing sewage lift station),” Mason said.
He said because it's now fall, and thus getting too close to winter, which is not an ideal time for construction, the plan is to have a tender package for the sewage lift station replacement project prepared with a view to choosing a contractor to do the work next year.
"The presentation was made and council decided not to act on anything in the presentation. So essentially that means we're still going down that same direction (to replace the existing sewage lift station)."JAMES MASONCAO TOWN OF BOWDEN
