Ditch repairs needed to stop flooding

Shannon LeClair

Times Reporter

 

The Eagle Lake Ditch is where the town disposes of most of its storm water, and it’s in need of improvement, said Jesse Parker, director of engineering and operations for the town, at the Sept. 7 regular council meeting. 

The ditch is owned and operated by the Western Irrigation District, WID, and the town has an agreement with them to release storm water through the ditch. There has been a problem with the ditch in the winter months when ice dams up causing water to spill onto private property. 

“What we’re planning to do I guess from a town perspective is, we’re going to be working to seal the discharge control structure at pond six so that we can manage the flow,” said Parker. 

“The scope of the work will be to go into the area, and excavate the gabions out.”

The current gabions are not functioning the way they should be and Parker said they would like to remove them. They would like to have a better velocity through there and build the banks up. Gabions are a sort of retaining wall that help direct the flow of water.  

The request from administration was for council to approve the release of $50,000 from the WID and Town’s joint Storm Water Capital Fund for the improvements. 

“I think it’s $50,000 well spent to improve what we have been fighting here for years,” said Councillor John Rempel. 

The money will be used to remove the gabions upstream, deepen the canal and build the banks up. Parker said he anticipates if they deepen the canal it should keep momentum through the area where they have had the problem and allow it discharge beyond that point.

“It’s not going to be money wasted because we’ll definitely build up the banks which will help from flooding the owners…that could very easily save us a lawsuit for a lot more than $50,000,” said Rempel.  

Every developer when building a lot puts $500 into a trust account that the WID holds for situations like this, which is where the $50,000 will be coming from. Council approved the motion.  

 

Awarded for excellence 

Chief Administrative Officer Dwight Stanford was nominated by administration for the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, AUMA,  and the Society of Local Government Managers, SLGM, award that recognizes long-term excellence, dedication to municipal government and chief administrative management. Stanford was told at the Sept. 7 regular council meeting he has been chosen to receive the 2011 SLGM Dedicated Chief Administrative Officer award.  

 

Saving the town money 

Earlier this year administration began looking at consolidating their contracts for HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning system) services. There had been two contracts, one for everything but the aquatic centre, and the other for the aquatic centre. There was a large discrepancy between the highest and lowest tender, which surprised staff. The highest bidder rolled in at $45,960 per year, and the lowest was $9,420 per year. The lowest tender belonged to the incumbent Carmichael Engineering. Since they already know the system, and the scope of work, the tender was awarded to them. By consolidating all of the HVAC services, the town could potentially see a savings of $20,000.