Blind River council has voted in favour of repairing one of the town’s drinking water pumps at a cost of almost $6,200.
Council received a report from Chief Administrative Officer Clerk Kathryn Scott regarding the Youngfox pumphouse where the pump needed repair. The pump failure coincided with a pump failure at Well no. 5. The pumps are required to bring water from ground sources to the water treatment plant.
“PUC advises that this pump (no. 5) must be repaired or replaced,” Scott said in a report to council at its meeting Tuesday evening. “I have requested a quote for the work and will have to revisit the PUC budget to find room to complete the work. The issue I see is there is little room to cut projects from their budget to make room for the repairs and may have to utilize capital budget funds from the reserve account for this work.”
“Council has liability if the ability to produce water is hindered by not completing the work on the pump,” Scott noted in her report. “There is also concern that continuing to push water infrastructure projects further into the future is also putting off the inevitable.”
She suggested council consider increasing water and sewer rates in order to build more reserves for the PUC account. She also recommended the PUC conduct a review of how to address the aging infrastructure for both water and waste water and present council with an “informative report” detailing work needed over the next five years.
Council approved funding for the pump repairs.