County of Forty Mile council hears municipal reports

By Justin Seward
Commentator/Courier

The County of Forty Mile council heard all its municipal reports at the Dec. 21 regular meeting prior to breaking for Christmas holidays.

Enforcement

The county’s bylaw enforcement officer Stewart Payne reported there were six active files in November including a few complaints regarding dogs and cats in Etzikom and Manyberries.
According to the report, the county does not have pet licensing or pound services ad the complaints were educated and the individuals believed to be the caretakers were called, educated and requested to control the animals.

Utilities Report

Payne’s November utilities report began with the Foremost Regional Water Supply and Treatment plant project now being a month behind schedule because the draft agreement with the village for the purchase of water from the new regional water treatment plant has been revised and the schedules are under construction.
The Construction of section 1A of the regional pipeline will be be dependent on the supply of pipe and the weather, while a tender for section 1B and 1C will be released in January approximately two weeks apart for best competition. A meeting with Alberta Environment and Parks concluded a tighter construction windows on both sections 1B and 1C where construction will not be completed until November 2018.
The Etzikom Transfer and Distribution station pumphouse and Manyberries pumphouse have the ground works done and building ups and expected to be completed in the spring.
The Hamlet water metering project will continue in 2018.
Burdett’s treated water storage and distribution pumping upgrades project is in the design phase and released in Spring 2018.

Emergency management

The county’s protective services co-ordinator Dustin McGarry said in his report that his department received 12 calls in November.
The calls had one fire, four medical first response calls, six motor vehicle accidents and one false alarm.
The Burdett fire hall repairs included a new ridge cap being installed with the insulation and drywall being repaired and repainted. The hall also received a new 30-foot radiant-heater.

Utilities

County of Forty Mile utilities supervisor Dave Harrison outlined in his November report that Sanatec Environment had to come to the Burdett Lift Station after a large accumulation of grease on the station.
The accumulation caused a number of nuisance calls to clean up with their vac truck and pressure washer.
The Burdett Lagoon winterization was completed in November, according to the report.
Harrison also noted the curb stop at the old dissolved air flotation system (DAF) plant had to be dug up and repaired because it failed. However, since the DAF plant isn’t heavily used, freezing has been a concern only when the furnace went out.
The service to the old plant comes off a main leaving the pumphouse and would require shutting down the entire town due to repairs. This section is considered to be high risk to Burdett’s drinking water safety plan and a county priority.

Get More Bow Island Commentator →