Alix village council heard an infrastructure update that scratched many itches for a municipality which coped with a lot of such issues over the past year. The Public Works infrastructure update was made at the regular Aug. 7 meeting.
Public Works Foreman Mike Carr appeared before council to update them on a number of major infrastructure projects in the village. He started off with one of the village’s largest capital projects, the lagoon upgrade. Carr noted he was happy to report the lagoon is up and running on its own and new fencing was admirably completed by a local contractor.
Carr stated lagoon cells one and two have been de-sludged although he pointed out it may be a while before those two cells begin migrating back to other areas of the lagoon.
Village Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Michelle White stated those two cells were only de-sludged and not re-lined; however, the work has bought some time for the village to plan further upgrades at the lagoon.
Carr noted there was room in the abandoned side of cell five to place the sludge material, which saved the village time and money.
The CAO added that one job still outstanding at the lagoon is monitoring well installation; they keep watch on the groundwater around the lagoon. Engineers were apparently requested to re-examine price quotes for monitoring well work in order to find lower prices. During discussion staff and councillors agreed there are probably local contractors that can do those wells for a lower price.
Carr moved on to the subdivision lift station; he noted this key part of the village’s wastewater system is also up and running on its own. Not only that, he noted village Public Works were able to remove some old equipment from the lift station and saved the municipality about $13,000 by doing it themselves.
As well, Carr is looking around to see if the salvaged equipment is of interest to a buyer.
The Public Works foreman gave an update on phase 1 of Alix Lake’s dredging; it’s been completed in the boat launch and swimming area.
He noted there were no problems although there is the dredging material to get rid of. Carr stated he may have someone who’s interested in the material, but if that doesn’t work out it can also be placed in lagoon cell 5.
The CAO pointed out the project has come in under budget. “A full financial breakdown of the capital projects is not available at the time of this meeting,” she stated in her report to council. “Final billing has not yet been received.
“The exception is phase 1 of the lake improvement project. Twenty twenty-four dredging costs were $90,719 of the $100,000 budgeted. There is also an additional $99,500 in a lake reserve fund for future projects.”
Another job completed this summer was street line painting, including changes to the way Alix motorists park on Railway Ave. The CAO noted parking stalls were realigned to angle style instead of the previous parallel.
During discussion councillors felt something needed to be done about the parking situation along Railway Ave. to address safety issues; they noted motorists were backing across multiple lanes or driving in other odd ways. Carr and White both agreed motorists already seem to be adapting to the change.
It was noted crosswalks are also planned to be painted this summer, likely in August. It was noted during discussion speed limits coming into the village may be calmed this summer by Alberta Transportation and may be changed at the same time crosswalks are painted.
Councillors stated they were very happy with how well infrastructure projects have worked out. They accepted Carr’s report as information.
Stu Salkeld
Local Journalism Initiative reporter
ECA Review