The newly accepted utility master plan for the Town of Canmore sets out various projects that would be needed to properly meet the needs of the growing community into the future and they come with a price tag of $51 million.
Manager of public works Andreas Comeau told council at the beginning of March that the $280,000 master plan, prepared by consultant CIMA+, is actually an update of the plan for the Town’s water and wastewater systems.
It included detailed on-site assessments of existing water and wastewater system capacities, identifying system problems and making recommendations for current and future system maintenance and improvement, creating a model for growth projections and developing a list of prioritized capital projects.
“It takes a look at our current water and wastewater systems and it tries to understand what the impact would be with continued growth,” Comeau said.
That continued growth, as set out in the utility plan, would be a community with a population of 34,000 and, to meet the drinking water and toilet flushing needs of those residents and visitors, the updated plan sets out $51 million in projects over the next 15 years, beginning in 2017.
The master plan did not include a comprehensive review of the wastewater treatment plan, however, said Comeau, as that facility was comprehensively evaluated for its capacity in 2012.
He said the consultant actually got out into the field and tested on-site most of the infrastructure that operates Canmore’s drinking water and wastewater system. The detailed work, he said, was beneficial to the overall understanding of the system’s capacity now, and what it will need in the future.
“Through a full review they would create a list of capital projects for us in a prioritized order and identify the costs as well,” Comeau said.
The 31 projects, totalling $51 million, are significant dollars, he acknowledged, but it is not all being proposed in the short term.
Utilities for water and sewer in Canmore are utility rate supported, meaning it is paid for by the fees ratepayers pay each month, not taxes. The capital projects, according to the staff report, would be paid for through a combination of reserves (which are funded through utility rates), debt, offsite levies and grants.
The majority of projects are related to the water system - $29 million worth. The biggest project on the drinking water side is addressing capacity needs at pumphouse two and the Rundle Forebay – the reservoir that serves as a source of drinking water for the community, along with pumphouse one, which is a well located adjacent to the CP Rail tracks and Spring Creek Mountain Village.
Wastewater system projects totalled $22 million and include a mix of lift station upgrades and underground pipe upsizing. There are locations that have flow rates under what is required for fire suppression, and those would be a priority for replacement, including Bow Valley Trail, Spring Creek Drive, Silvertip Trail and the South Bow loop.
“A number of projects were reaffirmed in here and are already in the five year capital plan and utility master plan,” Comeau added. “The main driver is the impact on growth on water and wastewater system and that plays into how the offsite levy is developed and prepared.
“Administration is currently working with the offsite levy model and will be meeting with affected stakeholders shortly. The projects identified in here are eligible and, if not already in the model, will be placed in the model.”
The offsite levy model is a complex calculation that operates with the philosophy that growth should pay for growth. In other words, new residential development should contribute toward the infrastructure needed by the municipality to be able to provide municipal services to those homes.
Canmore’s model is broken down geographically into zones, and new development or redevelopment is subject to a calculation that determines how much should be contributed in offsite levies.
New development anticipated in Three Sisters Mountain Village, for example, would have to contribute for every residential unit toward infrastructure needed for water and wastewater to service those new neighbourhoods. That includes a new reservoir for Smith Creek, for example.
