Bill break for water leak

Some Sunnydale residents will get a break on their February utility bills after a tricky leak left them without water for four days.

Town council voted unanimously last Feb. 26 to waive the February utility bills for the 25 homes affected by a water main break on Feb. 22.

Town residents reported a broken water main at the intersection of Sunnydale and 88 Street on Feb. 22 at about 1:30 p.m., chief administrative officer Debbie Oyarzun told council.

Crews arrived to find large amounts of water bubbling out of a yard on the west side of the intersection and flowing down the street, public works director Claude Valcourt said in an interview. They dug up the yard and found a pipe, but no leak – the water was coming from somewhere else.

Instead of digging holes everywhere the crews called in Epcor, Valcourt said. Epcor arrived Sunday and, using a sonic device called a leak noise correlator, determined within minutes that the leak was actually in the middle of the road.

Frost meant that water from the leak moved sideways to the yard instead of coming up through the road, Valcourt explained. The pipe in question was made of concrete and likely broke due to freeze-thaw cycles.

Crews dug up the road and replaced the pipe on Sunday, with water service restored by 1:30 p.m. Monday. Crews delivered bottled water to affected residents during the outage and periodically turned the water back on so they could fill toilets and tubs, Valcourt told council.

They also put in a new valve so they could more easily isolate leaks in the future, he said.

“Instead of having 25 residents out of service, we’ll have five,” he said.

Road repairs were underway as of Feb. 26, Oyarzun said, but final landscaping would have to wait until spring.

About 2.4 million litres of water (almost enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool) worth about $4,000 was lost to the break, Valcourt said.

Cardiff roadwork ahead

Cardiff Road will be partially or completely shut down for part of this summer as part of a $550,000 plan to resurface it, says the town’s public works director.

Public works director Claude Valcourt told council last Feb. 26 that his staff planned to spend about $550,000 this year to rehabilitate Township Road 554 (Cardiff Road) from 94 Street to East Boundary Road and to seal some large cracks in the Old Towne District (which is south of Tache Avenue and west of 100 Street).

The work was part of the town’s five-year road rehabilitation program, the details of which were presented to council by Valcourt. Council approved the work as part of last fall’s budget.

The plan is to do a foamed asphalt reconstruction of Cardiff Road, Valcourt said. Crews will melt the asphalt, mix it up, and add new material. The work should happen between May and August, and will involve closing half or all of the road for a time. Crews expect this work to come in under budget, allowing them to do crack sealing in Old Towne.

Public works planned to do about $575,000 to $650,000 of roadwork each year from now until 2020, a report to council suggests.

Flood relief available

Morinville residents affected by flooding last July can now apply for support from the provincial Disaster Recovery Program.

About 52.5 millimetres of rain fell on the Capital region on that date, reads a report to council, causing floods throughout the area. Although the town did have to shunt water to its sewage lagoons due to problems at the local lift station, the flood did not actually harm any town infrastructure, so town staff didn’t think the town qualified for the recovery program, said chief administrative officer Debbie Oyarzun.

The town and the Alberta Emergency Management Agency have since reconsidered, Oyarzun said, and opened the fund up to residents.

Residents who were flood-damaged because of severe rains between July 14 and 18, 2012, can now apply for assistance. Applicants must have a letter from their insurance company showing that their losses were not covered, and a copy of their latest property tax assessment.

The deadline for applications is May 24. Applications are available at the town office or at www.aema.alberta.ca.

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