Council gives green light to partial funding for water main project

Smithers town council voted unanimously last night to provide partial funding for a water main looping project with Alpine Village Estates.

Up to $25,000 in funding to connect dead-end water lines between Alpine Village Estates and Schibli Street will be provided by the town of Smithers.

The move comes after recent complaints from multiple members of Alpine Village Estates about poor-quality drinking water.

“Right now the water line that comes off Montreal Street goes in and it serves all those strata residences, but it dead ends,” explained Mayor Taylor Bachrach.

“So the residents that live at the far end of the property are experiencing some poor water quality, because the water is sitting in that dead-end pipe.”

A report to council determined the funding would improve both water quality and fire hydrant efficiency in the area, something Bachrach says highlighted the value of approving the funding.

“It increases fire flow, so our fire department will be better able to put out any fires that occur in that area and it should also improve their water quality on Schibli as well,” he said.

“Typically we don’t do water line development on private property but in this case, because there’s a benefit to the town residents who live on Schibli Street, we can see a benefit.

The report notes that it’s unclear why the water main looping between the two areas was not completed in 1998 when the Schibli Street water main was completed.