The commissioning of the St. Paul to Elk Point water line is now done, but water has yet to flow through the taps of Elk Point residents.
A letter was received by the County of St. Paul from the Minister of Transportation, and the reeve, mayors from St. Paul and Elk Point, and administrators met to discuss the next step on the regional water line project, which is an agreement on debenture for the unfunded portion of the St. Paul water treatment plant upgrade.
As per the agreement, the commission, which is made up of the Town of Elk Point and the County of St. Paul, will take out the debenture, but the Town of St. Paul would provide payment for the debenture, charging the same in water rates to recoup the costs.
“The Town of St. Paul is reviewing the proposed agreement with their lawyers and have not made a decision yet if they are willing to sign this agreement,” said CAO Sheila Kitz, as she read her monthly report to council, Nov. 19.
Kitz also reported that the commissioning of the St. Paul to Elk Point line is done, and a water leak was detected earlier this month. The leak was on one of the fuses along the line, and the contractor of the line is looking into the issue, as the line is under warranty.
“The engineers are reviewing the fusing reports to see who was responsible for the faulty job on the fusing to determine if they should be looking at where other connections are,” said Kitz.
During her report Kitz told council that while at a recent conference, she was approached by the manager of the Highway 28/63 Water Commission and he indicated the commission could sell water to the County of St. Paul for significantly less than what had previously been stated.
If the county decided to go with this option, a line from Spedden to Ashmont would have to be built, at the county’s cost. Kitz asked council if they wanted Urbana Systems, the county’s engineer, to look at this option again, based on the new numbers.
Coun. Frank Sloan said he was leery about the new numbers, and questioned how long those prices would be good for, adding, the commission could change the price of water after a year.
“That’s scary,” agreed Coun. Maxine Fodness, adding, “That’s really a good point.”
Coun. Glen Ockerman told council he had heard discussions are taking place to bring water to Glendon from Cold Lake, and recommended the county look into this option also.
“We don’t want to rush and make foolish decisions,” said Ockerman.
The county is also exploring the option of bringing water from St. Paul to Ashmont, and at last month’s regular meeting agreed to submit a scope change application to the province for the Ashmont/Lottie Lake water project, which initially would have seen an upgrade done to the Ashmont water treatment plant.
