WESTLOCK – All three Westlock-area municipal councils have signed off on a $200,000 Alberta Community Partnership (ACP) grant application they hope will fund a comprehensive asset management strategy plan to take “a big picture approach” to manage the assets of the Westlock Regional Water Service Commission (WRWSC).
Town of Westlock and Village of Clyde councillors signed off on the grant application at their Dec. 12 meetings, while Westlock County councillors did the same Dec. 13 in advance of the Dec. 16 deadline — the village is the managing partner as the commission couldn’t apply for the grant.
The request for decision to town councillors notes the purpose of the proposed asset management strategy will help guide the commission to “understanding the lifespan of their assets and better plan for upgrades, maintenance and/or replacement which inevitably reflects back to the members through water rates.” The commission, which formed in 2008 and includes reps from all three municipalities, notes it doesn’t “have a complete representation of infrastructure condition assessment data which is critical to provide the partners a big picture approach for the planning and collaborative delivery of regional water services well into the future.”
“As asset management is one of the Town of Westlock’s goals in our strategic plan, I would strongly suggest that this is very important to the water commission and is certainly something the town would be in support of also,” said CAO Simone Wiley, noting the municipalities aren’t required to chip in any money.
“I think this is a pretty strong application and we have been successful under this grant stream before.”
Town Coun. Randy Wold, who sits on the commission, notes they’ve got some “aging infrastructure and we need to get a better handle on the predicted life of it.” The RFD to county council notes that between 2008 and 2021, the commission spent all its efforts on building a regional water system and with it now finished it’s “time to start building an asset management plan.”
“And in what order should we start replacing things and fixing things and keeping it up to standard so we have a good, clean water supply for our residents,” Wold added.
The town RFD notes the project will review and evaluate all assets of the commission and cover condition, remaining life and cost-estimates; an asset summary analysis using key performance indicators; inventory report and mapping; a first-time set up and regional water data integration to a GIS dashboard and a regional water 10-year capital plan.
“I think we’ve done a really good job, but the thoroughness of being able to get this grant and do a top-to-bottom assessment and then chip away at the things we need to do,” added town Coun. Jon Kramer, who also sits on the commission.
The county RFD notes that in 2021 they applied for an ACP grant for a Water Service Supply Assessment Project which was to undertake a focused assessment and evaluation of the condition of the most expensive asset, the water treatment plant, and to identify the urgency of upgrades/replacements of various aspects of the plant and identify the more urgent needs.
The package from the commission notes the “funding is critical, and especially now with additional challenges we are facing with responding to uncertain fiscal pressures like ever increasing operational costs and supply chain issues.”
“The focus on regional cooperation that is supported through this grant will strengthen the partnership and put us in a stronger position to face these circumstances together. The partnership is making a significant commitment to this high priority project and support for this project would be a clear indication that the Government of Alberta is truly committed to supporting economic growth and sustainability in rural areas,” reads the commission’s application in part.
