County to proceed with Phase 1 of Winnifred water project

Posted on September 28, 2021 by 40 Mile Commentator

By Justin Seward

Commentator/Courier

The County of Forty Mile and Winnifred residents met a couple of weeks ago about the progression of getting raw water to residences.

Forty Mile council discussed the subject on Sept. 22.

“We had a very good meeting in Winnifred,” said Steve Wikkerink, county reeve.

The county told the residents they had everything in place now to get the raw water line installed, which the hope is to be put in this fall, and get the pumps in place for raw water for next spring.

This part of the project is Phase 1 and will be paid for by the county, while Phase 2 would involve distribution throughout the community, but the county would be asking for financial assistance from the community to commence with that section.

“The community members that were there seemed quite positive and willing to help with that,” he said.

“We said we’ll also work with you as residents in the sense that whatever the dollar figure is going to be, it’s not like you’re going to have to pay for that all at once. We’ll work with you if we need to spread that out over a number of years to make this all work.”

The county was given the go ahead to explore dollar figures for Phase 2.

Residents initially had to haul potable water from Bow Island to take care of their yards.

The county is hoping to have another meeting with that hamlet’s residents for an update before next spring.