Duane Hicks
Check your
sump pump
The town continues to see too much groundwater and surface water infiltrating its sanitary sewer system, but residents can help out by making sure their sump pump is not discharging directly into that system.
Coun. Paul Ryan, who sits on the Operations and Facilities executive committee, told council at Monday night’s meeting that the town treated and discharged 864,665 cubic metres of wastewater over the past five months.
This is a reduction of 28.5 percent compared to the same period last year, but the town still is unnecessarily treating too much wastewater at the sewage treatment plant, he noted.
Comparing the treated water discharged from the sewage treatment plant to the water manufactured at the water treatment plant, there’s a difference of 200,795 cubic metres of groundwater and surface water (equal to 44.1 million Imperial gallons) making its way into the system.
This is known as “inflow and infiltration loading.”
What this means is over the past five months, the sewage treatment plant has been treating an average of 1,321 cubic metres of wastewater per day for no reason.
In order to reduce this inflow volume, Coun. Ryan asked residents to check the sump pumps used for their weeping tile systems in their basements and make sure it is not discharging directly into the sanitary sewer system.
“Your sump pump water should be discharged onto your property and then travel along the ground onto the roadway, and then eventually discharge into the storm sewer system and not into the sanitary sewer collection system,” he explained.
“This groundwater doesn’t have to be treated at the sewage treatment plant,” added Coun. Ryan.
“Please do your part by alleviating any groundwater or surface water discharging in the sanitary sewer system.”
Back in the fall of 2009, engineering firm KGS Group was retained to investigate where inflow and infiltration loading is coming from and develop a plan to alleviate it in the future.
A draft copy of the report will be given to council in the near future, and which will assist it in developing a priority replacement/repair schedule for sanitary sewer piping and other infrastructure.
In other news, after holding a successful spring free tipping day May 12 at the local landfill, which saw 148 vehicles drop off 2,489 tonnes of residential yard and garden waste, another free tipping day for organic waste is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 3.
Household Hazardous Waste Day, meanwhile, has been scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 8.
The town is tendering together with Kenora, Dryden, and Red Lake to get a hazardous waste service provider in order to get better pricing.
The town also is working with a local private company and Ontario Electronic Stewardship to establish a permanent site for district residents to drop off their old electronic devices for free.
An announcement should be made in the near future.
Dog park, airport
The town still is looking for another member of the public to sit on a committee to help select a location, as well as design features, for an off-leash dog park here in Fort Frances.
Contact town clerk Glenn Treftlin (274-5323) if you are interested.
The amount of air traffic is slightly down at the Fort Frances Airport compared to last year, with 28 less aircraft as of the end of May (1,075 versus 1,103).
But revenue is up slightly up due to an increase in aviation fuel sales.
The town’s aviation fuel prices are being advertised on three main websites where pilots plan their flight path, and hopefully word will get out that airplane fuel prices in Fort Frances are the cheapest in Northwestern Ontario.
This could result in addition fuel sales here.
Finally, the chairpersons or their designates for all four town divisions (Operations and Facilities, Community Services, Planning and Development, and Administration and Finance) gave activity reports at Monday night’s council meeting.
Some highlights of the various reports included:
•the town spent zero dollars to hire private trucks to haul snow this past winter, compared to $47,481.44 the year before (town staff are of the opinion the winter control season was the easiest it’s been in the past five years);
•former Community Services manager George Bell has retired after 18 years, having been replaced by Jason Kabel, while Keith Munro and Julie Crichton recently retired from the Operations and Facilities division;
•the Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre continues to be a popular place, drawing a monthly average of 9,400 visitors (as well, the library board is in the process of hiring a new CEO to replace Margaret Sedgwick, whose last day of work is June 30);
•there has been a dramatic increase in the number of visitors to the Fort Frances Museum, with 1,454 visitors between January and the end of May this year (this is up from 758 during the same period last year);
•the Sister Kennedy Centre is ready to initiate a new programs committee to augment activities offered there for local seniors; and
•residents are advised that due to the fact the MNR is in the process withdrawing from the “Bear Wise program,” and since the town no longer can respond to bear reports, they are to report bear sightings to the bear reporting hotline (1-866-514-2327).
