Town prepares for water main break expense

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Town of Strathmore council has approved the transfer of $200,000 from the financial stabilization reserve to fund operating costs incurred related to the June 2024 Calgary water main break.

The approved transfer is on the understanding that town administration will be exploring the possibility of cost recovery of eligible expenses through the Province of Alberta’s disaster recovery program, or other forms of claim reimbursement. 

Town council discussed the matter during the June 19 regular meeting in council chambers, with the motion to approve made by Coun. Brent Wiley being unanimously approved.

It was explained to council the money, upon approval of the transfer, is not immediately utilized, but is approved to be available if, or when, it may be required to respond to a given need in relation to the water main break. 

The approval of the budget transfer was explained to council during the meeting that clear direction is ensured from council to administration on the permissiveness of the expenditures and their funding source.

Prior to the reserve transfer approval, the town maintained a balance of $1.84 million available, as of June 18. Should the $200,000 be spent, the residual reserve balance will be $984,000. Any funds recovered following the expense, or not spent at all will fall back into the reserve by a future council motion. 

The town has also planned for the unlikely contingency of requiring water to be trucked in from outside the local region. This plan would consist of 30 triaxle trucks doing four water dumps per day in order to satisfy the water needs of Strathmore’s population. Cost estimates of this contingency suggest potential expenditures of $120,000 per day. 

This estimate also covers overtime costs for staff who would be involved in this type of emergency response, although exact numbers of such an expense, should it be required are unknown. 

Deploying town staff such as lifeguards who are affected by the water closure to complete tasks such as painting and weeding is estimated to cost the town approximately $9,600 per week.

“I am very comfortable with this; I think it does give us a backup plan in case we do need water trucks; it sets that in stage so that things can be done in a timely manner so that people can be reassured that we are looking after them,” said Mayor Pat Fule. “I also really like the idea of our lifeguards who are currently out of work because of the pool closure, that they can take care of the projects that are supposed to be done, or were scheduled to be done in September, so there will be no further loss of time.”