BOWDEN ñ Town council has agreed to spend up to $35,000 to examine and clean the sewer underneath Highway 2A and the CP Rail line from 21st Avenue to the old south lift station.
That decision was made during a recent council meeting. That's just the top priority area. In total, the town has set aside $282,008 in its 2017 capital budget to cover sewer rehabilitation costs.
Council has been worried for a long time about how much the town's wastewater (sewer) bill has been rising.
A few years ago, the town became part of the South Red Deer Regional Wastewater Commission (SRDRWC).
Recently the town was billed $2.25 per cubic metre, up from $1.95. During an interview Mayor Robb Stuart said that's way above the 60 cents a cubic metre cost the town incurred when it had its own sewer system.
During the town's strategic planning session last fall, concern was expressed that groundwater may be seeping into the sewer system, thus leading to jacked-up costs.
So council decided to hire a company to send a camera down into the sewer system to inspect and flush it.
In a report to council, chief administrative officer James Mason said the estimated cost for the project is $7,500 per day and it's estimated the work will take three to five days to complete.
That could result in a cost ranging anywhere from $22,500 to $37,500, but council accepted Mason's recommendation to cap the figure at $35,000.
Funds for the work will be taken out of the sewer rehabilitation portion of the town's 2017 capital budget.
Mason told council it's difficult to say how long it will take and thus, how much the project will really cost, until workers get started.
In the council agenda package, he included an estimate from New Line Trenchless Technologies president Andrew Moreau who said on average, workers can complete 300 to 800 metres of pipe a day, but that depends on what's down there.
"We have had days where 100 metres was difficult to complete due to the sediment and condition of the pipe," Moreau wrote in an email to Mason.
"I noticed here, sometimes 100 metres is a typical day," Stuart said during debate on the matter. "I think that's what we'll be looking at," he added with a laugh.
"I think we've got to start and 35 is the tip of the iceberg," he said as debate wrapped up.
"I think we've got to start and 35 is the tip of the iceberg." ROBB STUART BOWDEN MAYOR
