Westlock County council is hoping to make it slightly easier for rural residents to hook into the new water line heading south to Busby.
Councillors discussed the issue at their May 8 council meeting, and passed a motion requesting tie-ins to the water line every mile, as opposed to every two miles as initially proposed by the Westlock Regional Water Services Commission.
“We’re looking to be able to tie into the line at the road allowance, at the county’s cost,” reeve Charles Navratil said.
Coun. Mike Cook said he doesn’t think tying in every two miles is what was ultimately decided at the commission level.
“I didn’t think that was the consensus around the table. I thought we were also going to try to get it so we could tie in wherever along that line,” he said.
The debate about this topic ultimately lasted nearly one hour, with councillors discussing issues ranging from long-term development plans within the county to loss of farmland in other counties.
Several concerns were raised about the water line itself, as well. With tie-ins only available every two miles, it could mean that somebody adjacent to the line might have to pay for as much as a full mile of their own access pipe, whereas with a short distance between tie-in points it could potentially reduce the cost for county residents looking to tie in.
Discussion also covered the possibility that a developer might want to build a large subdivision somewhere along the line, which could have repercussions for the water pressure in the hamlets to the south.
Coun. Con Sehn said he was opposed to that, and said the priority with this line – backed by millions in government grants — is to get potable water into the hamlets.
“I don’t want you guys here from Westlock and Pickardville to punch so many god-damn holes in there that by the time it gets to Busby there’s no water,” he said.
Councillors agreed that any large-scale development should take place within the hamlets; that’s part of the reason the water commission was established to begin with.
“The mandate of putting this line in is to supply fresh water to the hamlets,” Coun. Don Savage said.
The wording of the motion councillors finally settled on is to request the commission allow access to the water line every mile, and at the county’s and commission’s discretion anywhere else on the line.
The request will likely be discussed at the next commission meeting, scheduled for May 24.
CAO Edward LeBlanc said once the commission has discussed the request, the county will schedule an open house so residents can get information about if and how they can tie in.
“Several county residents have made inquiries about getting access to that transmission line,” LeBlanc said. “The first step to tying into that line is to talk to myself, not the water commission.”
