A $425,000 project is now underway after Montrose council approved the first phase of engineering Tuesday night.
The Water Reservoir Rehabilitation Project has been on the books since 2014, but was never completed due to variety of factors, most recently a structural engineering firm backed out last minute due to scheduling conflicts.
The project scope involves reinforcement of the steel roofs on the water tanks as well as a new epoxy coating. That leg of work will soon go to tender and will likely cause some service interruptions once the job begins this fall.
Mayor Joe Danchuk says water consumption is very high this month, so now is not the opportune time to begin repair work on the tanks.
“It will restrict our water consumption in the village when we are working on those tanks,” he explained. “So we kind of have to wait until we get into September.”
Water pressure will noticeably drop during repairs, and certain neighbourhoods will have their water service temporarily altered.
“We have a number of homes that are up high on Twelfth Street (Christie Road),” Danchuk said. “When the upper tanks are being worked on, we’ll have to pump to a little tank. It will be a temporary set-up so they won’t have their normal water flow,” he added.
“But they’ll have enough for household use … I doubt if there will be enough for sprinkling, but if there is, it will be limited use.”
Council will keep homeowners informed before any work commences, assured Chief Administrative Officer Larry Plotnikoff.
“We are moving forward expeditiously with this project because it was delayed a bit over the past few years,” he said.
“Once council has firmed up the dates when it goes out to tender, we will look to be advising residents when there will be a meeting for those directly affected as well as an information campaign so residents are advised as to what is going on.”
Design and engineering costs near $39,000 plus GST.
The project entails the retention of an accredited engineering company with a specialization in designing municipal projects and water treatment systems, Plotnikoff clarified.
That criteria allowed council to award a single source contract because it was in the best interests of the village (did not go out to tender), which is permitted under a specific purchasing policy.
Plotnikoff says the project is expected to be completed by late fall.
The village has applied for a Strategic Priorities Fund to cover 100 per cent of the costs, but is waiting to hear back on the status of its grant application.