BARRHEAD - A reduction of cellular service in the areas surrounding the County of Barrhead wastewater treatment lagoon facilities is becoming an issue for the municipality and those using the facilities.
That is what infrastructure director Ken Hove told councillors during their Aug. 20 meeting.
He said that septic haulers could not access the facilities due to the spotty service, as the gates were controlled by calling a specific telephone number.
"Or worse, they were trapped behind the gate after dumping their loads and unable to get out," Hove said.
He added that if haulers could contact the public works office, they could open the gates using their phones. However, if their cellular coverage was insufficient to trigger the gate, they would unlikely be able to phone the municipality.
"Maybe we need to ask Telus to install payphones at each of the gates," joked Reeve Doug Drozd. "Perhaps we can pull them out of the [Barrhead Centennial Museum] and put them out there."
Deputy reeve Marvin Schatz asked if the issue was at the municipality's recently expanded Neerlandia lagoon.
"Not really. It has been more of a problem at [the Manola lagoon]," Hove replied, adding that it was surprising because the cellular coverage in Manola had never been an issue before. "Sometimes, Thunder Lake can have some cellular coverage issues, but usually, at the lagoon, it hasn't been bad."
To rectify the issue, Hove said public works purchased additional gate remotes and given to local wastewater haulers.
"This will enable the haulers to enter and exit the facilities even with the ongoing service disruptions," he said, adding the remotes still allow them to monitor activity at the lagoons.
Hove also noted that following the county's emergency release at Thunder Lake, approved by Alberta Environment and Protected Areas (AEP), the organization has initiated a site re-registration program.
The release was necessary to reopen the facility after public works closed the facility in early April after it reached capacity.
"Our new monitoring program will support it," he said.
In June 2023, the municipality installed four groundwater wells, one on each side of the lagoon, to monitor the lagoon's and surrounding groundwater's condition.
Hove added the information garnered from the testing done at the wells still needs to be added to the municipality's Thunder Lake database.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
