West St. Paul approaches potable water goal

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/05/2017 (3308 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 

The days of on-and-off boil water advisories in West St. Paul will soon be over.

 

With the municipal government’s efforts and support received from the province, West St. Paul is building a new water reservoir and pump station, located east of the Public Works maintenance building — most importantly, with no additional cost to existing taxpayers.

The RM’s residents have been tormented with water boil advisories for a long time. Two years ago, with the construction of the Sunova Centre, West St. Paul was under a boil water advisory for four months. At the same time, two days before Christmas, 15 homes were told not to use the water. “This wasn’t even a boil water advisory, this was advised ‘Do not use the water at all,’” mayor Bruce Henley said.

“Clean water is critical to our community’s future. Clean water will allow West St. Paul to grow and provide opportunities for current and future generations.”

Henley added that less than a month ago, Grassmere Creek Drain had the worst water quality of all the water bodies, according to the East Interlake Conservation District. Seventy-four per cent of the wells tested in the area had failed according to the East Interlake Conservation District. 

The construction of the water reservoir and pump station is the third phase of the Clean Water and Wastewater Project, with a total cost of $6.5 million. Phase 1 included the construction of the Rosser Reservoir, a water treatment plant in Headingley, Man. and Phase 2 involved construction of a west-east pipeline that brings treated water from the Rosser Reservoir to West St. Paul.

The RM has received funding from a public-private partnership. On April 20, MLA for St. Paul Ron Schuler announced a provincial funding of $1.5 million.

“We’ve just seen the latest stats come out and West St. Paul has definitely had some fantastic growth and with growth comes challenges,” Schuler said. “There’s a community that has the challenges of a declining population, and there’s a community that has the challenge of a growing population. We always want to take the challenge of a growing population.”

West St. Paul has become an appealing place for businesses and homeowners since the water project was announced, according to Henley. In addition to the province’s funding, the RM created a fee on new lots to cover costs of the water system. It started at $2,000 per lot on September 8, 2016, and has escalated to $3,000 starting May 1. It will rise to $3,500 on January 1, 2018. A total of 3,500 residential units were sold and generated a fee of $2,000 each. West St. Paul received an initial deposit of $808,000 in new fees and has placed the money into water reserves.

“This is a tremendous boost to the economy. Look at the people working; then you start to look at buildings going up, residential homes,” Henley said. “When you don’t have people working it creates an underground economy. Projects like these are very positive. It keeps people going.”

With the growing number of homeowners coming to West St. Paul, the water quality is a crucial aspect they look into when buying a property. Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation does not approve mortgages to areas that are often under boil water advisories.

“Economic development is occurring in our community. That means that we are going to see new residential opportunities and commercial development. These people weren’t coming to our community before until such time we had brought sewer and water to our community,” Henley added.

This project will allow West St. Paul’s reserves to grow and help pay for old infrastructure and equipment, including the 70-year-old pipes in Rivercrest that will be replaced. Last year, the pipe failed to meet the disinfection requirements, and it is currently non-compliant with the Drinking Water Safety Act and the plant’s Provincial licence.

The project is scheduled for completion in November. To learn more about the project, go to http://www.weststpaul.com/main.asp?fxoid=FXMenu,3&cat_ID=2&sub_ID=36