Getting connected to the regional water line has taken far longer than estimated, but an end may be in sight.
Bashaw town council heard at it’s regular meeting Nov. 23 no specific date has been set, but it’s expected the community will come online with the system early in the new year. The Highway 12/21 Regional Water Services Commission hoped to get the town hooked up several months ago, but delays have plagued its completion.
One of those is the installation of a balancing chamber — which is designed to help maintain pressure in the system. The equipment was ordered sometime ago, but has not yet been received.
Bashaw’s town foreman Murray Holroyd explained that while work has been finished on the line to town and on changes to the town’s water treatment plant, it might be as late as March or April until the town is connected.
“The 1,000 cubic metre tank will need to be placed in a building and there are no foundations yet for that, plus there are a lot of other jobs to do yet so we are not sure when it will happen for sure,” said Holroyd.
CAO Theresa Fuller also presented council with the commission’s 2018 budget for approval, which was granted unanimously.
The budget is estimated to generate a $50,450 surplus by maintaining the current cost of water at $2.88 per cubic metre. The surplus will be placed in a reserve to fund future replacement of computerized distribution control systems and other equipment that is nearing the end of its lifecycle.
Fuller went onto explain that, unlike in the past, Bashaw will not be making additional payments to the commission in order to repay its portion of the commission’s debt. She noted the town will now just pay for the water it purchases and those other payments will be embedded within that money.
In the commission’s budget, it’s estimated that water consumption will increase by 42,000 cubic metres — a jump of about 33 per percent over 2017 — due to the addition of Bashaw, a truck fill in Camrose County and a rise in consumption in Alix.
Expenses for administration and operations have increased by just over 16 per cent overall. The bulk of that is a 10 per cent rise in contract and other services provided by the commission’s administrator Lacombe County with other increases seen in insurance (nine per cent), long-term debt (seven per cent) and contract pipeline operation (seven per cent).
Budget requests
Council heard a pair of annual requests from the Bashaw Youth Foundation (BYF) and the Bashaw and District Support Services (BDSS) for portions of the Family and Community Support Services funds — provincially mandated per capita funding from municipalities — that the town distributes.
BYF executive director Angela Richardson and board member Kyle McIntosh made their presentation for $23,695 that will support increased costs in both wages and program services for the youth centre and the Boys and Girls Club.
Meanwhile, BDSS executive director Christine Buelow spoke on their request for $55,998, an increase of nearly $1,000 from last year’s request. The rise in the minimum wage combined with an increase in community development work and other projects plus a loss in corporate sponsorship are behind the substantive jump.
Other business
Town employees will see a hike in the new year, as council passed merit pay and a 1.7 per cent cost of living increase. Councillors will also see their remuneration go up $50, as was approved at the organizational meeting Oct. 23, with the mayor set to now receive $475 per month and councillors $350 per month.
The procedures bylaw saw some minor amendments approved by council to bring it into line with the recently passed new Municipal Government Act. This includes the requirement for a code of conduct for council and a change to allowing verbal instead of written reports about committees members of council sit on. There are other changes that may be coming as the new MGA won’t be fully in force until April.