Pumphouse project given second chance

The urgency to replace the Village of Elnora’s pump house has become increasingly more pressing in recent months.

Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Sharon Wesgate shared with council at the latest regular meeting on Tues. Oct. 12 that if the pumphouse fails, which is a possibility as the building and infrastructure was built in 1960, that the village would be without any potable drinking water.

It is, however, up to code with Alberta Environment for the time being.

“Being that old it takes a lot to maintain it and if it goes down we are hooped as we have no other option,” said Wesgate.

The initial grant application by the Village for funding of the above noted project was originally rejected but after a passionate discussion between Mayor Leah Nelson and MLA Devin Dreeshen, Dreeshen was able to have the project looked at again by Alberta Transportation under the 2021 project intake.

Tagish Engineering has been contacted to review the project costing and has now provided an update including costs and making it have a capacity for up to 2,000 people if the village were to grow.

Administration and council alike are ecstatic at the progress the project is now having thanks to this turn of events.

CAO Wesgate added that this grant covers 75 per cent of the project ($2,743,659 total) meaning the Alberta government will take on $2,057,744.25 while the village comes up with $715,914.75.

The majority of this funding from the village is already in place with years of preparation by saving for this as well as other grants collected over time including Municipal Sustainability Initiative and the Federal Gas Tax Fund.

Notification will be received whether the project moves forward or not based on Alberta Transportation’s decision.

Passing the baton

Mayor Nelson opened the meeting with a statement regarding the recent nominees that have come forward to take over as councillors for the village of Elnora.

This includes a whole new council made up of Jul R. Bissell, Ronald Duft and Lisa M. Ferguson.

All three new members will be sworn in later this month at the organizational meeting, relieving Nelson, Kerrilyn Mose and Robert Aellen.

Garbage collection bylaw enacted

Following second and third reading completed by council, villagers will now be allowed four garbage bags per week.

Any more above this number will be required to get a tag for $5 per additional bag.

A grass and branch bin is also located in Elnora for those types of debris.

Council reminded visitors that the reason this is put in place was to help alleviate wear and tear on the old garbage truck as it is no longer in good shape and that the bylaw is modelled after neighbouring municipalities.

Administration is looking into garbage collection from an outside service which will be visited another time when more information is collected.

Civic Solutions joint contract

Civic Solutions Inc. proposed a two-year joining contract between Delburne, Elnora and Trochu to support administration and finances.

No changes were made to the contract other than bringing in Elnora on the deal.

Lavinia Henderson and Kwabena Oduro-Kontoh have been assigned to all three municipalities at a cost of 97.50 per hour and $82.50 per hour respectively.

General meetings occur approximately every two months with the rest being done remotely.

Council passed a motion agreeing with the terms of the contract, allowing the village to enter into this agreement for two years alongside Delburne and Trochu.

 

Terri Huxley

ECA Review

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ECA Review

The East Central Alberta Review (ECA Review), formerly known as the Coronation Review, is a newspaper that services 28,000+ homes each week.