CANMORE – A key guiding document for the Town of Canmore infrastructure received an overdue update.
Town council received an update in May on the Utility Master Plan, which is completed roughly every five years but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The plan, which outlines the utility needs for the Town for the next 25 years as well as looks at both short- and long-term growth of the community, was completed by staff and provided as information for council.
Canmore Mayor Sean Krausert said since the plan is updated in a certain time frame and approved in the budget, having it return as information was enough to not have to vote on it as council.
“The accountability is there that it’s reported to us, but we’re not going to have the technical expertise to assess the Utility Master Plan,” he said. “To have us approve it would be tokenism because it’s a very highly technical document.
“What’s important for us as a council is to hear that it’s done, the process that was used to achieve it and the various stakeholders were consulted as part of the process so we can then have confidence it was done well. I think that was achieved by it being presented to committee of the whole.”
He added if there were concerns, any member of council is able to return with a motion or bring forward concerns.
“The fact it’s done and part of our regular process and provided to council checks the boxes for oversight and accountability in that regard.”
The last Utility Master Plan was approved by council in 2017. This master plan was implemented by staff without needing council approval, with the May committee of the whole meeting being the lone public presentation. The utility master plan was often mentioned during the last budget discussions.
CIMA+ was retained for the project in March 2022, with the draft report completed in January and final report finished May 2.
The Utility Master Plan was budgeted at $330,000 in the 2021 capital budget, which was earmarked from the water and wastewater reserve.
The goal of the plan is to “ensure there is adequate capacity within the water and wastewater systems to accommodate growth and corresponding demand,” according to the report.
The plan outlines future and potential projects that may be needed in coming years. It also aids in any possible updates to the off-site levy bylaw and the 17 off-site levy areas in the Town for development fees.
Jamie Purdy, a certified engineer technician on the project with CIMA+, said roughly half the projects are lifecycle related and the remaining half are for growth.
But while there was a delay in completing the document due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a staff report, it allowed for the wastewater treatment plan to be included in the utility master plan update.
New provincial environmental regulations will require the Town to update its wastewater treatment plant by 2032, which is estimated to cost between $75 to $125 million.
The approval to operate renewal with the province takes place every 10 years, with more conditions for phosphorous removal being regulated before 2031. With the wastewater treatment plant being 26 years old, the report noted it’ll be unable to reach phosphorous removal from 1.00mg/L to 0.50mg/L “without a significant upgrade and potentially a change in secondary treatment technology.”
With the Palliser area structure plan set to come for council approval in the coming months – and it expected to feature more density – Purdy said it’s unlikely to impact existing systems and was analyzed in the master plan.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s pretty minor,” he said. “That’s a well-supported area, large diameter pipes that are coming to it and on boundaries of reservoirs that as far as water distribution, isn’t a big deal.”
With the Smith Creek and Three Sisters Village ASPs still awaiting a Court of Appeal decision, multiple projects are on the books but many are left on the hook of the developer.
The Town has two main water sources, which comes from pumphouse No. 1 treatment plant near the Rundle Forebay and supplies to pumphouse No. 2 treatment plant. From there, the water is stored and sent to five storage reservoirs and five pump stations and distributed to the three supply areas in Canmore.
Pumphouse No. 2 is also scheduled to have upcoming construction to be replaced at an estimated $20 million. The 2016 Utility Master Plan estimated it at $12 million, but escalated costs led to a “significant contingency” leading to the $20 million.
Town staff declined to publicly tell council during budget deliberations the extent of the contingency for the project.
The project will expand treatment from 94 litres-per-second up to 170 l/s.
The average water consumption between 2018-21 are 1.84 million cubic metres, with the distribution in the same time being 2.67 million cubic metres.
The CIMA+ report also recommends the Town create an active pipe flushing program to deal with potential turbidity risks following the water advisory in 2021.
The master plan found 16 water system projects for replacement or needed to help with growth, including in the Smith Creek and Three Sisters Village area structure plans. The CIMA+ report estimated facilities to have a 50-year lifespan. The bulk of the Town’s water pipes – about 64 per cent – are 30 years or less.
The 25-year growth projections anticipate 938 more industrial and commercial units, 3,545 extra hotel units, 770 low-density residential units and 3,937 medium to high-density residential units. In the same time period, the master plan estimates an extra 202.7 hectares of land being developed.
The Utility Master Plan identifies $66 million in water treatment infrastructure, with the Town being on the hook for a potential $40.5 million, developers contributing a projected $23 million and Dead Man’s Flats $2.5 million.
For sewer-related projects, a total of $28.1 million in 11 projects up to 2041 are estimated to have the Town pick up $22.8 million of the costs, developers $4 million and Dead Man’s Flats $1.28 million.
However, in both the water- and sewer-related projects, there are several millions in contingency costs.
POTENTIAL CAPITAL PROJECTS
- Smith Creek reservoir and boosting station in 2027 for $12.78 million – Costs entirely picked up by developers
- Adding a third clarifier to the wastewater treatment plant in 2025 for $10.2 million
- Downtown Canmore waterline replacement in 2038 for $8.8 million – Costs entirely picked up by the Town
- Grassi storage reservoir capacity upgrade in 2039 for $7.59 million – 75 per cent of costs by developers and 25 per cent from Dead Man’s Flats
- 7th Avenue waterline replacement in 2039 for $7.34 million – Costs entirely picked up by the Town
- Railway Avenue/ Bow Valley Trail sewer line replacement in 2041 for $6.29 million – Costs entirely picked up by the Town
- Rundle waterline replacement in 2041 for $6 million – Costs entirely picked up by the Town
- South Canmore waterline replacement in 2037 for $6 million – Costs entirely picked up by the Town
- Downtown Canmore sewer line replacement in 2038 for $5.3 million – Costs entirely picked up by the Town
