A broken water main on the eve of a long weekend may soon bring about change in town policy.
Around 8 p.m. on May 18, a resident reported water seeping from the ground along 59 Street between 56 and 57 Avenue. Public works staff responded and blocked the portion of the street.
Brian Beagley, who made the initial call, was pleased to see how quick the town got there, but then was displeased that the town’s first option was to call in contractors for what should have been a quick repair.
“The water ran for 46 hours straight before a crew arrived. I question why such a simple repair would have to be contracted out. Doesn’t the town have the resources available to provide the services taxpayers expect for what we pay?” stated Beagley.
“I made a few videos and commented on social media about how this was handled because I want to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again. The biggest point I was trying to make is that a 46 hour wait for equipment to arrive after being notified is ultimately unacceptable.”
According to Ponoka’s manager of operations, Chris McKenna, the situation was assessed and the flow of water was turned down to the minimum rate acceptable by Alberta Environment to maintain both safety and water supply to residents.
“Past practice and policy dictated that contractors take care of these types of jobs, so calls were made starting the next morning,” he said.
As it was a long weekend, five contractors were called with each given time to see if they could get a crew together to do the job. The response from each took about one to two hours and ultimately none of the contractors were able to find a crew.
Beagley, in a Facebook post made during the morning of May 19, estimated that water was being lost through the leak at about 0.3 cubic metres per minute. He noted at that rate, approximately 270 cubic metres of clean drinking water — at a cost of $715 based on the residential rate — had run down the gutter since the leak began 15 hours earlier.
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The entire Saturday was lost, with the water still flowing, at which point McKenna determined it was time for the town to see what it could do on its own.
“We needed five people to get this done and it took some time to find them. Thankfully, we were able to get a crew and they were mobilized and on scene at around 5 p.m. Sunday (May 20),” explained McKenna, who was also on hand during the work.
However, four hours later, the crew had not quite reached the water main and given the fact that shoring and lights would have been needed to continue, it was decided to wait to complete the work in the morning.
“We got started again at 8:30 a.m. and were finished the repairs about five hours later. In addition, once the main was fixed, there was a small leak found in a service line to a home and that was repaired as well,” he noted.
Town council responds
The issue also came up during the May 22 Ponoka town council meeting.
Coun. Carla Prediger was present by telephone and she asked administration about the process when it comes to dealing with such emergent issues and the lack of staff available.
CAO Albert Flootman stated he wasn’t aware there was an issue until late in the evening Saturday, 24 hours after the initial call, when it’s believed Coun. Sandra Lyon contacted him.
Prediger then pointed to council’s direction regarding long weekend and summer month coverage by capable staff any day of the week. She was concerned that there was no one in the office able to make a decision, which added to the concern of the safety of residents.
And as result of the situation, McKenna has put into motion a review of the policy and what has been done in the past.
“In looking at all of what went on and the job overall, depending on the specific type of job, it certainly looks like the town crews could do some of this kind of work themselves,” McKenna stated.
“I’m proud of the crew that came in, how they performed and the excellent job done. It definitely looks like our crews could get to some of these jobs quicker.”
There was no timeline given for when any change to this policy would be made.