Keith McNeill
Clearwater Canoe Regatta 2014 will be on Friday, Sept. 12 and Saturday, Sept. 13.
That was the decision of town council during its meeting on Tuesday of last week.
There had been some discussion about holding it the weekend before but it was felt that would be too soon after summer.
Council is still looking for an individual or organization to spearhead the regatta.
May Day float?
Councillor Ken Kjenstad asked if the municipality is going to enter a float again in the annual May Day parade.
Theme for this year’s parade is Sports, said chief administrative officer Leslie Groulx.
Bus rental going up
As of May 1, the cost of hiring one of Clearwater Transit’s buses will go up from $22/hr to $30/hr.
“It’s still one of the lowest rates for after hours service within the region,” said Mayor John Harwood after town council had approved the increase.
Council also authorized the mayor and chief administrative officer to sign off on the Clearwater Transit 2014/15 annual operating agreement.
The agreement with BC Transit and the operator, Yellowhead Community Services is for the provision of transit services with the municipality and portions of Wells Gray Country (Thompson-Nicola Regional District Area A).
Water system to get improvements
Town council gave the go-ahead to several improvements to the water system.
Borrow Enterprises was awarded a contract to install a pressure reducing valve station on Swanson Road. Value of the contract is about $16,000.
Staff have ordered a pre-packaged pressure reducing valve station with an expected delivery date in May.
A $12,000 contract to install four ground water monitoring wells at the District’s sewage lagoons was approved.
The wells are required for the District’s discharge permit, public works superintendent Jared Brounstein told council in his report.
They monitor and record groundwater levels, as well as water quality.
Two existing monitoring wells have been damaged and are unusable.
The wells would be about two inches in diameter and 10 meters deep, he said.
TRUE Consulting was given a $18,500 contract to develop a water demand model for the water distribution system.
Fire flows have been identified as a potential challenge at points within the water system, CAO Leslie Groulx said in a report.
Water modelling measures maximum day demands, peak hour demands and available fire flows within the system. It will provide calculations on “under” average service pressures and fire flow at hydrants.
Groulx noted that TRUE already has modelling data for Clearwater that was done in the mid-1990s, plus some from recent work done for the Buy-Low development.
The only other proposal received ranged from $60,000 to $125,000, depending on the components commissioned.
Bylaws for subdivisions and developments
TRUE Consulting was awarded contracts to develop two new bylaws for Clearwater.
Up to $30,000 is to be spent to develop a subdivision servicing and works bylaw, while up to another $22,000 is to go towards a development cost charges bylaw.
The intent is to simplify the present situation, which sees staff trying to interpret bylaws developed by the former Clearwater Improvement District, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, and District of Clearwater.
CAO Groulx said she recently had to interpret six different bylaws to make a simple water connection.
