Grand Forks City Council met for its regular meeting on Monday, Feb. 15.
Bylaw passes third reading
Council gave third reading to Zoning Amendment Bylaw 1606-A4, 2016, which amends the current zoning bylaw by rezoning property located at 6401 Highway 3 from the current Tourist Commerical zone to the Highway Commercial zone.
The property is 1.67 hectares (4.12 acres) in size and the rear lot line abuts the Kettle River. The adjacent property on the east side is zoned Highway Commercial; the property on the west side is Tourist Commercial.
Water main project gets early budget approval
Council unanimously agreed to give early budget approval for the Fifth Street water main replacement project, estimated to cost $575,000 to be funded from the Community Works Gas Tax Fund.
In the summer of 2011 the city became aware that one of the water mains crossing the river at Fifth Street had failed. Before the failure, the south side of the community was serviced by two water mains at the Fifth Street location, along with a third main under the Kettle River at Riverside Drive. “After the failure of the main, the city discerned that the second water main at the Fifth Street location was also at risk, in this it was exposed and lying on the bed of the Kettle River,” reads the background information.
Council considered two options: installing a replacement main under the river bed, or having it cross the river on the Darrell J. Priede Bridge. Council chose the second option.
Sewer main repair gets early budget approval
Council also gave early budget approval for the Third Street sewer main repair project with an estiamted cost of $150,000 to be funded from capital reserves.
“The Third Street sewer main between Market Avenue and Central Avenue has presented numerous challenges over the past several years, necessitating constant maintenance and monitoring,” the backgrounder states. “The importance of early budget approval revolves around seasonal water table levels. With the location of this repair and the congestion of utilities in the area, the budget amount could have a large variance depending on issues that may be uncovered.”
Pump and motor project gets nod
Also receiving early budget approval was the Well #3 pump and motor with VFD (variable frequency drive) and building modifications project with an estimated cost of $100,000 to be funded from Capital Reserves. Well #3 is one of the city’s largest capacity wells with some of the oldest equipment which is approximately 30+ years old.
The importance of early budget approval is in the manufacturing timeline of eight weeks for the motor, the increase in seasonal water demand in May and the need to meet fire flow requirements.
Resolution received
Council simply received the information from the City of Port Coquitlam resolving “that the federal government’s Build Canada grant program, National Infrastructure component, be amended to fund a minimum of 50 per cent of the project cost”; and further, “that the provincial funding contribution for significant projects be a minimum of 40 per cent of the project cost.”
Councillor Neil Krog said that although the resolution sounds good on the surface, the current one third formula between federal, provincial and civic governments actually amounts to more money available.