Federal cash for sewer upgrades in Neepawa

Details

Published on Friday, November 21, 2014

By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Banner

A massive wastewater infrastructure project in Neepawa has received new federal support. The Town has been notified that it’s one of five communities in western Manitoba receiving funding under the New Building Canada Plan’s Small Communities Fund.

The fund is part of the $10-billion provincial-territorial initiative for municipalities with fewer than 100,000 residents with priority public infrastructure projects.

Neepawa is receiving $400,000 from Ottawa for the installation of a new trunk sewer to address high volumes of effluent currently experienced by the town. The provincial government and the Town are each matching the contribution for a total of $1.2 million 

Denis Saquet, the manager of operations for Neepawa, said while the original estimated cost for the work was around $3 million, the town’s administration is confident a revised plan will still work.

“Three million dollars was a speculative number. We looked at two options. One, a force main which would entail having a lift station and pressurizing it and pumping it all the way,” said Saquet. “The other means was going [with] a full gravity sewer. There is substantial grade drop, so we could have done that. But, until we spent the money, which would have been anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 on doing a true design of the project, it was difficult to assess the true cost of the project. Water Services Board did provide us with funding for an initial design and that’s currently being worked on right now.”

Mayor Adrian de Groot noted that this project is part of a larger plan for Neepawa to provide a reliable waste solution for the community’s growing west end.

“This first round approval will mean that we can begin a phased approach to the development of a high priority infrastructure project which will provide alternate solid waste flow from the west side of our community directly to our treatment facilities,” said de Groot. “As our community continues to grow, demands will increase and this project will address health and safety concerns experienced by businesses and residents affected in the area.”

De Groot also took time to thank the previous councils and administration for the Town of Neepawa, who had been working on this project for a little over two years.

The other communities receiving aid include the former R.M of Westbourne, Swan River, Hamiota and Minitonas. In a press release, Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette Member of Parliament Robert Sopuck said he was glad to see each of these communities within his riding receive this federal support.

“Our government is proud to announce funding through the New Building Canada Fund for these five priority infrastructure projects in Manitoba’s Parkland region,” noted Sopuck. “We look forward to a continued partnership with the Province of Manitoba to support the health and well-being of the region’s residents, while contributing to job creation and our economic future.”

Saquet added that the expectation is to have work begin on the system as quickly as possible in 2015.

“If it’s just going to be a simple project, we’ll just be doing some directional drilling. That’s pretty straightforward. Probably, 30 to 40 working days may even be possible in a project like this. A lift station is a little more detailed,” said Saquet. “It’s just a matter of getting the drawings done, engineering done and putting it out to tender, so that we can get all the different contractors bidding on it.”