City hall cone of silence grows

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This article was published 24/12/2015 (3888 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The water and waste department is at the centre of another incident in which senior civic officials withheld information from politicians about serious infrastructure problems at a city facility.

Documents from a recent court case show significant structural problems emerged at the West End Water Pollution Control Centre, a sewage treatment plant, that require it to be shut down and key equipment taken apart and reassembled.

In July 2012, officials in the water and waste department learned there were serious problems with the West End facility pertaining to a $47-million upgrade several years earlier. Problems were so severe that the facility needed to be closed and equipment reassembled.

In 2013, the city filed a lawsuit against the engineering design firm, AECOM; the general contractor, Bird Construction; and several sub-contractors.

The lawsuit was dismissed in late November.

“Fermenter No. 1 is severely compromised by the deterioration of concrete and corrosion that has appeared on its metal components,” Justice Lori Spivak said in a Nov. 26 judgment.

“The protective coatings on the beams that support the fermenter mechanism bridge and roof panel have largely failed, that the concrete walls and floor of the tank have deteriorated to varying degrees and that there is corrosion of numerous non-stainless steel fasteners.”

Spivak was summarizing the facility problems as had been described by the city in its application to the court and in city officials’ affidavits.

The problems at the West End facility were never included in reports to council members; either to the responsible committees that oversee the water and waste department — the public works and finance committees — the executive policy committee or city council.

The design and structural problems at the West End facility are similar to those found at the Deacon water-treatment plant, which only became part of the public record because of Free Press stories printed in the past two weeks.

The problems at the Deacon plant also emerged after the city launched a lawsuit, filed Dec. 7, against several prominent firms, including AECOM and Bird Construction.

‘It seems to be a very bad pattern forming here’ — Coun. Jeff Browaty

Documents from both court cases reveal the water and waste department became aware of problems at both plants around the same time: July and August 2012.

Coun. Russ Wyatt, the former finance chairman under former mayor Sam Katz, and Coun. Jeff Browaty, who has been a member of the executive policy committee since 2010, said it’s troubling to learn senior administrators didn’t ensure all members of council were aware of serious problems with a second civic facility.

“It seems to be a very bad pattern forming here,” Browaty (North Kildonan) said.

“When there are problems with major infrastructure like this, we should know.

“What about the budget to fix these problems, where are these coming from?”

Several councillors are puzzled by the silence of the water and waste department over the problems at both facilities.

They said other departments report concerns about projects to the appropriate committees.

Those include delays and cost overruns associated with the Plessis underpass, Transit’s smart card system and bus scheduling problems caused by the troublesome emission-control systems on new buses.

Civic officials would not say what steps have been taken to address the problems at the West End facility, the cost involved, when the work was carried out and what work must still be done.

Browaty said he’s been assured members of Mayor Brian Bowman’s executive policy committee will be briefed about the Deacon plant problems early next month, likely at one of the regular closed-door meetings of the committee, and possibly at a public forum.

Wyatt (Transcona) said all councillors need to be briefed on the problems at both facilities.

The city’s chief administrative officer, Doug McNeil, needs to explain what’s going on at an emergency meeting with council members, he added.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca