The iconic water tower now has a new green hue thanks to netting that was installed around the structure to keep debris from falling on a neighbouring home.
Earlier this year the Town of Westlock was alerted to the fact that the tower was shedding concrete debris on a neighbouring home.
While the tower is slated for demolition in the next three years, or once a new water treatment facility can be constructed, the netting idea was developed as an interim solution.
On Aug. 27 cranes lifted the netting into place, sealing off the structure to contain any debris.
CAO Dean Krause said the town’s engineer came back to administration with the idea — specifications were drawn up and the project was tendered, with a final cost of $12,299.
Other options were presented to the town, however the netting idea was the most logical, Krause said.
“It contains it and didn’t require any work on the structure itself,” he explained.
Resident Sherry Laun whose 106 Avenue house is directly adjacent to the tower said she is hopeful the net will prevent debris from falling on her house and property.
“We don’t use our back yard, maybe now we will,” Laun said. “I don’t know if it’s safe or not.”
Despite the netting in place Laun said it still doesn’t fix the issue of the tower flooding her basement in the winter.
“It will still flood this winter, it will still flood my basement,” he said. “They haven’t fixed that problem.”
Krause said the demolition of the tower is still about two to three years away.
“We applied for the Build Canada Grant but we weren’t successful so that’s going to delay the project,” he said. “Now we’re going to pursue the (Alberta Municipal Water/Wastewater Partnership grant) that will probably take close to a year before we have a final answer on that.”
