ATHABASCA – Residents in the Summer Village of Island Lake are one step closer to having a truck fill station in their community, after the Island Lake Waterline Extension Feasibility Study committee chose to go forward with one of the options put forward by a feasibility study.
During the Oct. 10 Athabasca County Council meeting, Coun. Rob Minns provided an update on the study — Minns was the county representative on the $71,200 study.
The committee will be moving forward with “Option #1” — a waterline will run under the Town of Athabasca, down to Range Road 232, where it will be bolstered by a pressure pump, before continuing to Baptiste Lake where a reservoir for commercial trucks will be placed. Lastly, a truck-fill for personal use will be available in Island Lake, similar to ones in Grassland and Colinton.
“Another option had been for a water treatment plant at Island Lake, but that would have cost around $33,000,000,” said Minns during the council meeting. “The waterline from the treatment plant to Island Lake was forecast at $15.3m with a 30 per cent contingency built in.”
Island Lake, alongside the Aspen Regional Water Commission, are planning on applying for a Water for Life grant that would cover 90 per cent of the cost — if everything goes according to plan, the local cost would be about $1.53 million.
“The hard questions start now,” said Minns. “Questions around governance and asset management arise. I think the water commission would look after it; they know water and there’s no use in other municipalities coming in and saying, ‘Hey we’ll take it over.’”
The committee is set to meet in early November, when it will decide who is responsible —and more importantly, who is paying for — the line extension.
More to come…
