Dear Editor,
RE: Ongoing sewer issue with Village of Morrin (all correspondence was cc’d to Mayor Hall, Deputy Mayor MacArthur and councillor Edwards)
Just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Feb. 22 I discovered the sewer had backed into our boiler room.
Subsequently I emailed CAO Plachner notifying her of the backup and requested directions. She returned my email to say Public Works will attend to. Later, she emailed that after contacting seven plumbers, no one would be available until tomorrow morning.
I suggested to her, in a return email, that in the short term the Village could use my sewer snake to try and clear the line to help us out.
I did not receive a response to this suggestion.
• The next contact was Thursday morning about 8:45 a.m. in a phone call from Dave Benci, Public Works foreman, stating that a plumber was on the way.
• The plumber ‘came and went’ without a word. We were left waiting to hear the results of the plumber’s work.
Finally I emailed CAO Plachner just after 3 p.m. requesting information as to the results of the plumber’s work and ‘if and when’ we would have use of our sewer again.
She returned that the line was clear.
I questioned if a blockage or standing water was encountered but did not receive a reply. As the Wecker plumber had not requested I flow water as a check after he was done, to confirm flow, I ran through a bath tub of water and observed through the curb access standpipe that there was good flow from our side of the sewer. I emailed this observation to CAO Plachner.
NOTE:
• I see in the minutes of the Jan. 18, 2023 Village meeting the CAO reported that capital expenditures in 2023 will be for water cistern cleaning and repairs, fire hydrant and water main valve repairs and installation.
There is no mention of repairs to the Village sewer lateral from our property.
This would be the third budget that did not include this repair.
Mayor Hall has seen fit to ignore the Village sewer lateral but approve these other expenditures. As well he has volunteered to paint the Village sign, tend the water plant, go on an expense paid trip to a development fair, fabricate flower pots, advocate for power supply to food vendors for his pet project (SHOW and SHINE) and perhaps, etc. etc.. Too bad he couldn’t have seen his way clear to run a plumber’s snake to clear the Village sewer lateral line.
I recall Mayor Hall’s declaration that he wishes to ‘MOVE THE VILLAGE FORWARD’.
Also, as reported in the newspaper at the February council meeting regarding the Village website, Mayor Hall stated “we’re a progressive Village and the website should be current as possible so people interested in moving to Morrin can see what the Village has to offer”.
Perhaps ensuring that emergency services and infrastructure repairs be provided Village residents would be something that would go a long way toward ‘MOVING THE VILLAGE FORWARD’ and making the Village a place people would be interested in moving to.
Having residents wait years for Village infrastructure (in place since 1950’s) sewer repairs and then when a backup occurs residents go without sewer service for over 24 hours is not the most effective way to project confidence in a Village from an administrative and governing prospective.
Respectfully,
Howard Helton
Morrin, Alta.
