Moving towards water approval

Sharon McLeay
Times Contributor

 

Wheatland Regional Water Corporation got an interim vote from Wheatland Council, to have consultants start on plans for the water reservoir on Sept. 8.
“Engineers need to know something by the end of September, in order to get the reservoir up and full by next year,” said Reeve Glenn Koester. “If we wait, there could be a potential delay in startup of another year.”
Koester said normally the motion would be made in principle at the meeting of the whole (council organizational meeting) that takes place in October and then finalized in council later.
There was $150,000 previously committed to the project and Councilor Rex Harwood asked if the engineers could be included under that commitment, so work could begin. Councilor Brenda Knight said she felt the move would be premature, as they would not know what cost the engineers would charge and no guidelines had been given to the engineers as to what was expected to date.
Koester said council could approve utilizing money out of the $150,000, which would be repaid through grant money if the grant were approved.
“Sometimes we have made decisions on issues that put the chicken before the egg, and this is just the other way around,” said Armstrong.
Council decided to amend resolution 15-05-07, to include interim funding for preliminary consultation for the engineers, which will aid in the grant process as well.
Koester said final decisions would be made once the grant approval is known.
“If it is not approved, the project may be dead anyway,” said Koester.