City council was given an update from administration on Monday night about the $66.41-million project to construct the Crescent View Headworks station (currently known as the Crescent View Lift Station).
According to Director of Operations Bevan Harlton, the Crescent View Lift Station does not have the capacity to manage surcharging events like storms, which can lead to flooding. It also has limited space for the system to expand to accommodate extra water, yet it is a very important piece of infrastructure in the city.
"The Crescent View Lift Station, in its truest form, serves the entire community. Every sanitary main or force main terminates and is served by the Crescent View Lift Station," Harlton said.
He said there is a septage receiving station about 100 metres upstream of the lift station, where septage mixes with wastewater before being pumped to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Harlton said this station does not have the capacity needed for the city and has a history of overflow, no way to detect prohibited loads, no treatment, and a lack of flow equalization.
Harlton added that the only grit removal system is downstream of the Crescent View Lift Station, and the current layout provides no grit removal protection before Crescent View. This means there is increased pump repair and grit deposits in downstream facilities. He noted that several of the city's grit building components are coming to the end of their life and will need to be replaced.
Constructing a headworks station to replace the Crescent View Lift Station and increase its capacity includes a collection system that can service a population of 45,000 people, provide screening and grit removal for a one-in-25-year storm event for a population of 45,000, and provide an upgraded pumping system and upgraded septage receiving and potable water truck fill systems.
The design of the lift station, septic receiving station, and grit separation is 90 per cent complete, so the next step is to tender the project in 2025, with construction expected to begin in 2026.
"Crescent View has been on our plate for many years, and we are now moving toward a point in time where we need to construct this facility for the sake of our operators, as well as for the sake of the current taxpayer and the growth of the community," Harlton said.
Despite the price tag, Coun. Chris Warren said this is a project that needs to be completed.
"This project, although in the millions, is also something that is going to help us with future growth, serving our population up to 45,000 people. I'm assuming with our growth rate, it’s going to take us quite a few years in the future, so this is setting the city up in a positive way for the long term," Warren said.
Financing the project has been a struggle for the city. It applied unsuccessfully for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure grant in November 2022 and the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund in June 2023.
Harlton told council that once shovels are in the ground, the grant funding options become more scarce. Coun. Dawn Luhning voiced her displeasure with the provincial and federal governments for not helping with the funding.
"There is always an opportunity that maybe they come out with some kind of other grant or some other source of funding. The other thing to remember in this is from the report that Mr. Harlton and Mr. (Brian) Acker (director of financial services) provided for us is that if we don't get any additional funding, we are going to have to borrow $30 million down the road," Luhning said.
While no decision was made on Monday night, approval to tender the project in 2025 and approve the project's budget for 2025, 2026, and 2027 will be up for consideration when council finalizes its budget in the coming weeks.