April 6th Water Line Break

On the afternoon of Thursday, April 6, our Fire Department was testing various fire hydrants in the village.  While being tested, the valve on one of the hydrants at the corner of Main Street and Fourth Avenue began leaking quite considerably. 

The village water supply was shut off, the valve was excavated and replaced.  The water lines were flushed during the night as water pressure was resumed.  Provincial regulations dictated that we issue a boil water notice for a specified length of time after the water was opened to replace the valve. 

The water was tested and the boil water notice was lifted Sunday afternoon.

There is no good time for a major water main break, but for me these last few days was really bad timing:  I was doing my part as a volunteer at the Calgary Stampede Aggie Days! 

Fortunately, we have an extremely competent Public Works staff and Gail at the office who took charge and dealt with the issue at hand!  They got it done and answered questions!  My thanks to those hard working folks.  I also want to thank everyone in the Village for your patience and understanding during this past weekend.

Fifth Avenue Fire Hydrant

Hats off to Public Works Foreman Dave and his crew for tracking down the leak in that fire hydrant on Fifth Avenue.  He and our water system expert Chris worked on Good Friday to complete the job!

The leak apparently was in the valve connecting the hydrant to the main.  It was decided to remove that hydrant and replace the valve which will be turned off.  That hydrant is redundant because there's another one about a half a block down the street.

That hydrant had been leaking for months, but now it's fixed!  Good going Dave and Chris!  Your dedication to your job and to our village is duly noted!

So Many Projects, So Little Funding!

Village councilors, key village staff members, and our engineers met together last week to discuss priorities and our project plans.

It became very obvious, very quickly that the number and costs of projects outnumbered the funds available.

Funding for the upgrading of village projects, facilities and infrastructure comes from three main sources; property taxes, provincial grants, and federal grants.

Provincial Municipal Sustainability Initiative grants for 2014 have now been received. Last year's MSI grants for 2015 are expected soon. Council's job is to allocate funding for a number of projects within the village.

Here are the projects being considered [in no particular order];

• Upgrading and paving streets, especially those plagued by potholes.
• Replacing deteriorating water lines, and valves.
• Replacing crumbling sanitary sewer lines.
• Replacing crumbling sidewalks, or installing new sidewalks were none exist now.
• The upgrading of village owned facilities such as the playgrounds, the community hall, the fire hall, the arena, the library – play school – community links building, the sewage lagoon, the public works complex, and the Village Office.  (Improvements to some of these facilities such as the fire hall and the arena are accomplished by groups using and operating those facilities. Village Council is hugely grateful for the contribution of those groups, but those facilities are still the property of the village.)
• The construction of a new "Welcome Centre" in Legacy Park. (this is subject to a federal grant application)
• Rebuilding the second block of Main Street from First Avenue to Second Avenue to resemble the first phase between First Avenue and Second Avenue.
• Rebuilding the road bridges over the drainage channel.

We have already approved two projects;  the upgrading of our sewage lagoon system and the replacement of the shingles on the Village Office.

Last week, we created a tentative priority list based on information we had.  We asked our engineers to do a more accurate cost assessment on a couple of  other projects. We're hoping to accept the final priority list at our next Council meeting.

At that time, we also hope to have a couple of "shovel ready" projects on our desk just in case the federal government follows through on its promise to help fund municipal infrastructure upgrades across the country.  Stay tuned.

Boil Water Notice Lifted in Beiseker

As of 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 7 our Boil Water Notice for Beiseker has been lifted!  Alberta Health is asking us to flush our own lines before we drink the water.  That simply means we are supposed to run our taps for up to five minutes before we drink. 

We did good.  Our community pulled through and we survived this calamity with flying colours!  Well done Beiseker!  Thanks again for your help and patience.

Verbal Abuse of Village Staff

While keeping Beiseker residents informed about our water main break last week, I felt I had to include a statement on my blog that verbal abuse over the telephone would not be tolerated.  Some of you have asked me why I included that statement.

Unfortunately, it's because a few Beiseker citizens decided to take out their frustration on having no water out on our village staff!  Swearing and name calling directed at our office staff did not help fix the water line.   This was totally uncalled for and totally out of line!

Everyone on staff was working hard to make the impact of have no running water as little as possible.  Most got little or no sleep that night as they desperately tried to have water pressure in the village by Friday morning.  They succeeded!  But they did not need to hear a slurry of profanity from a few residents!  It wasn't their fault!

It is unlikely that those few verbal abusers will apologize for their behavior, so I'll do it for them!

To the Beiseker Village staff;  I do apologize for the behavior of a few Beiseker residents.  I realize the village staff was working as hard as they could to make better the situation.  It was out-of-line and I hope it does not happen again.  Sorry!

Water Main Break - Final Report

I have just returned from the site of our major water main break.  All repairs have been successfully accomplished and they are now filling in the hole.  I imagine that the barriers will remain up around the site over the weekend, to allow the fill material to settle.

Albert and our Public Works Team will finish the road repairs next week.  The water is ON!

The boil water advisory has been extended until Tuesday, October 6, 2015 by Alberta Environment and Alberta Health.  This is a precaution we are happy to abide by. 

You may notice a slight increase in the chlorine smell of your tap water over the next couple of days.  Again this is a precaution to make sure our water stays safe.

A few huge thank-yous need to be mentioned.  Thank you to:

• Albert and his Public Works Team for working so hard over the past 18 hours.
• The hydro vac truck and the track hoe operator for working there all night.
• The residents in those homes around 9th Street and 4th Avenue who had to put up with all that noise all night long.
• The Village Office staff who fielded all those calls from concerned residents.
• The residents who handled this inconvenience in stride and with so much patience.

We'll be doing a de-brief over the next while to make sure we'll be able to handle the next incident like this (when and if it comes) even better.

Water Main Break - Good Morning!

Good Morning!  It's about 6:45 Friday morning, October 2,2015 and we still don't have water pressure in the village!

My predictions earlier this morning were overly optimistic.  Leaks were detected, so the water remains off.  The crews remain on site awaiting new parts to fix the leaks.  I'm not making new predictions about when we'll have water again.   I'll let you know if we'll have non-potable water available again this morning. 

Some folks are using their rain barrel water to pour into the toilets which is good.  Remember the Boil Water advisory if you are planning to drink or cook with non-potable water.

There is more information on the Village of Beiseker Facebook page.  Stay tuned!

Water Main Break - Update

Friday, October 2, 2015, 2:00 a.m.  I have just returned from the site of Beiseker's water main break.  Work is still proceeding.  The dedicated crews will stay on site until the problem is solved.  As I suspected parts had to be brought out from Calgary to do some of the repairs.

As I was leaving the site a few minutes ago, the main water line had been repaired and the water was being slowly turned back on to check for leaks.  If no leaks are detected, the surrounding lines will be also checked for leaks.

If all is OK the trench will be backfilled and the site tidied up.  If all goes well we should have water pressure in the morning.  Thank you all for your patience.  If you see a member of our Public Works Team around town over the next few days, make sure you thank them for a job well done.

Water Main Break in Beiseker

I am writing this at 4:45 pm Thursday, October 1, 2015.  We have experienced a major water main break outside our main pump house at Reservoir #2.  That is at the corner of 9th St. and 4th Ave .  It appears to be a major break so we've shut the water off throughout the village.  Attempts to isolate the break have failed so the water will remain off.

There is a supply of NON-POTABLE water available at the corner of 4th Ave and 8th Street for your convenience.  This water is from Reservoir #1 so it is untreated and unchlorinated.   If you plan to drink or cook with it, you must first bring it to a rolling boil for at least five minutes. 

The equipment is in place and repairs to the line are being made as I write this.  First the line must be uncovered and then the problem ascertained.  Once they determine what's wrong they will repair it.  Repair time depends on the availability of parts.  It could be as short as a couple of hours from now or all evening.  Our Public Works team and the various contractors are working as fast and as diligently as they can on the problem.  Please be patient.

Once repaired the water line will be pressured up again and flushed.  As an extra precaution, a mandatory BOIL WATER NOTICE will be in affect for twenty four hours after the water service has resumed.  

If you have any other questions, please phone the Village Office at 403-947-3774, or myself directly at 403-947-3759. 

NOTE: VERBAL ABUSE OVER THE PHONE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED BY MYSELF OR VILLAGE OFFICE STAFF.

Water Under the Bridge

I think I was the Beiseker councillor referred to by former Irricana councillor Frank Dusome, in a recent post he made on the Irricana Ratepayers web site.  I do recall discussing with him the fact that our village was buying much more water than we were selling.

What happened, there?  First and foremost, our Public Works department found and repaired a number of major leaks in the village's distribution pipes.

We also found that there were many water users in our community who were not paying their fair share, through no fault of their own. Our water metering system at that time was old and corroded.  In some cases, the meter was reading inaccurately or almost not at all.

This meant that some water users were paying the minimum on their bill when they were using much more water.  Our billing system at the time didn't pick up on the discrepancies.

I am pleased to report that we have since replaced our water metering system throughout the village with new digitized models! These new meters are very accurate and automatically relay their reading to a computer carried in a public works vehicle as it goes around town. The new meters are also tamper-proof.

I don't know if some of the highest water users in the village had inaccurate meters, but I'm very confident today that all water users in the village are now paying for what they use.

Good News from Aqua 7

Last night's Aqua 7 Regional Water Services Commission meeting was full of good news!

• The price of Aqua 7 water to communities will drop on August 1, 2012 to $2.67 per cubic meter.  Each community will still have to charge something to pump the water around their municipality, but I'm hoping everyone will see a price-per-cubic meter drop on their water bills later this summer!
• The Town of Drumheller has reversed their earlier decision (which I blogged about here), and have now agreed to adjust the boundaries of the Commission to cover the north-eastern part of Rocky View County.  This means Rocky View County now has a chance to sell some of the water they've beeen paying for!  Wow! This is fantastic news!  Thank you to Mayor Yemen and Drumheller town council!
• The line repair we went through last month turned out to be far less serious and less expensive than predicted.  We did purchase a new valve but it wasn't needed so we'll keep it in storage.   
• The refinancing of our debt over a longer period of time has reduced our yearly payments by about $300,000 a year!

It was so refreshing to attend an Aqua 7 meeting and hear all that good news! More details will come out later but I had to tell you that things are looking up for the Regional Water Service!

Have a good weekend!

Water Line Repairs Completed!

All repairs to our water line have been deemed successful!  Over the next few hours the system will be returned to normal operation.  Our Public Works Foreman has cancelled further water hauling to Beiseker.  This afternoon, once the water starts flowing into our reservoir, tests will be done. We do not anticipate any problems with those tests. 

On occassion, the turning on and off  a water line stirs up fine particles which have settled in the line over the years.  This MAY result in slightly cloudy water for the first little while.  We will be double checking and letting you know if this might happen. 

Thank you all very much for your cooperation over the past few days.  This whole repair job turned out to be a very smooth operation thanks to all of you!

UPDATED:  I spoke to our water line supervisor an hour or so ago as he was doing the tests on the water coming into the Beiseker reservoir. The water is very slightly more turpid than it is usually. It's safe, nothing to worry about. You may notice this very, very slight color in your water over the next few days.

If anything changes we will let you know immediately, but we don't expect anything.

Our water supply issue is now officially over!

May 25th Water Line Repairs Update

I got good news this morning!  The line has been excavated and a leak has been found and repaired! 

So far we don't think the valve was faulty.  The leak was in the pipe next to the valve.  Now we have to pressure up the system to make sure that the repair was successful.  If the repairs are successful, that portion of the line will be flushed and tested.  We could be ahead of schedule at this time! 

Congratulations to all who are working so hard to get this problem behind us.  Well done!  Stay tuned!

May 24th Water Line Repairs Update

The plug to stop the line from draining completely has been installed and it is working.  The work on the defective valve has started.

Beiseker started hauling water today.  We want to keep our reservoir up as high as we can during this shut-off time.  Water consumption is down!  Good going, thank you all!

A couple of you remarked that you thought the automatic tree irrigation system on Main Street was still operating. Thank you for that observation and report.  I'll check into that and let everyone know what's happening there.

May 23rd Water Line Repairs Update

The main water line was shut off this morning and repairs are proceeding.  Our Public Works Foreman went to the site this morning so we are definitely in the information loop! 

We'll see how the water level in our reservoir is doing Thursday morning and we may start trucking water then.  This bit of rain will help our water conservation efforts, too!  

"Thank you" to everyone for reducing your water consumption over the next few days.

Water line repairs and Lam family luncheon

In case you haven't heard, we were given an extra day with water on.  The Aqua 7 water line will be shut off tonight.  I hope you all got your notice from the Village Office.  There are a number of suggestions there on how you might conserve water over the next few days.  I'll keep you posted on how the repairs are coming.

On Monday I attended a most enjoyable luncheon at the Golden Years Club.  The Lam family came out to visit again.  The Lams were from Viet Nam.  They were forced to leave their homeland and immigrate to Canada in April of 1980. 

They were sponsored by a group from Beiseker and their first Canadian home was here in our village!  They have since moved into the city, but they still have fond memories of their first encounter with us Canadians.  They still talk about this very positive smiling lady in a red outfit from Beiseker (Mrs. Vera Schmaltz) making them feel like they were coming home! I was fortunate to meet them back then, too.  Their kids came to Beiseker Community School.  I'm sure they were all in culture shock!    Those kids are all grown up now with kids of their own, three generations of them! 

They are all truly Canadians.   It was wonderful to see them all again.  They promised to come back next year around this same time.  I'm already looking forward to it!

Water Line Repairs to Start May 22nd

Over the next day or so every Beiseker resident should be receiving a notice about the coming water line repair. 

It is slated to begin on May 22 and will affect us for between three and six days.  You will still have water service at your residence and place of business, but are asking everyone in the Village to use far less water during those days.  We are asking for everyone's cooperation. 

Please refrain from watering lawns and gardens or washing cars or walkways on those days.  Our notice has included other strategies on how one might lower one's water consumption for those few days.  I will be bringing you up to date on the repairs each day on this blog and on my Facebook. 

We are looking to an easy and quick repair so normal water service can begin again as quickly as possible.

Water Line Repairs Finally a "GO"!

The Aqua 7 Board met last night and tentatively set May 22 as the start day for the repairs to the main water line between the communities.  There will be an official announcement in the local papers confirming that date but we're pretty sure we can proceed at that time. 

It has been yet to be determined how long the water line will be shut down.  We're still hoping to have it shut down for less than four days. 

Each community, including Beiseker will have water in its reservoir to hold us over.  We will be asking our residents to conserve water at every step during those few "shut off" days.  Beiseker is also looking into trucking in water on those days.  Major water users on the Aqua 7 line will also be asked to find strategies to severely reduce their water consumption during those few days.

For more information, contact the Beiseker Village Office at (403) 947-3774 after May 1, 2012.