Duane Hicks
The town will try harder in future to avoid any residential sewage back-up in the east end.
Council last night approved a report stating the Operations and Facilities division will review and adjust its protocol during extreme rainfall events when the groundwater table is at its highest elevation (traditionally the springtime thaw) in order to try and enact its contingency plan in a timely fashion to avoid sewage back-up in the part of town known as the Church Street sewage pumping station catchment area.
The recommendation came forth from the Operations and Facilities executive committee after resident Kendall Richardson presented a petition to council at its Sept. 8 meeting.
It asked that the town focus on fixing sewage back-up problems in her neighbourhood, and posed several questions to the town as to why her neighbourhood experienced the problems it has and what will the town do about it.
In response to Richardson’s questions, Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown put together a report to address her questions.
In it, he explained that part of the Church Street pumping station network is greatly influenced by extreme rainfall events and infiltration loading in the springtime.
Since 2007, the town has had a contingency plan in place to shed wastewater from the sanitary sewer collection system in a systematic manner into the storm sewer system at selected locations.
During the extreme rainfall event of this past June, it was the first time the contingency plan was enacted, where sewage from outer extremities was shed into the storm sewer system along Minnie Avenue between Nelson Street and First Street East.
Sewage also was shed at the sewage treatment plant and Couchiching FN pumping station.
Brown clarified this section of the sanitary sewer system in the Church Street area was
inspected with closed-circuit TV (CCTV) in 2013 to determine the condition of the lines.
As a result, two spot repairs were completed that same year.
No other replacement work is being considered at this time as there are higher priority areas within the sanitary sewer collection system that need to be addressed.
Brown said the town currently has many critical pipes within the sanitary sewer collection system and has been planning ahead one year at a time.
The town has been dealing with larger trunk lines, like the Third Street East main, and ensuring all residential properties have positive gravity sewer flow (secondary branch lines).
Examples of the latter include one block of Phair Avenue (between Third and Fifth Street East) and one block on Nelson Street (between Butler and Shevlin).
Brown noted about $1.5 million of capital work presently is supported by the water and sanitary sewer rates.
The town also continually applies for every available provincial and federal infrastructure grant it can to ensure rehabilitation takes place annually.
He added there is a backlog of $32 million in capital work that has to be done in the future on the sanitary sewer collection system alone.
Brown reiterated there is no immediate rehabilitation work scheduled to be completed along Minnie Avenue, or within the Church Street sewage station catchment area.
He also noted neither residential property owners nor council set the rehabilitation work plan for the sanitary sewer collection system.
Proposed rehabilitation priorities are set by the Operations and Facilities division, which is responsible for operating and maintaining the system for the entire community.
Council approves the rehabilitation plan each year during the budget process.
