On the heels of a wet and watery spring, the City of Grand Forks is working on a project to help predict and prevent flooding in future.
At the regular meeting of council on May 29, Manager of Development and Engineering Services Dolores Sheets presented two memos to council asking for approval to apply for two grants. The first grant would fund the first phase of a three-year floodplain study and “flood protection program for the Grand Forks floodplain.”
The grant is through the Gas Tax Strategic Priorities Program, and would fund 100 per cent of the project. The total value of phase one of the project is estimated to be $225,700.
According to the memo presented to council, the Gas Tax Strategic Priorities Fund will fund 100 per cent up to $6-million for projects that align with the objectives of “economic growth, clean environment and strong cities and communities.”
The memo notes that 30 per cent of Grand Forks (325 hectares) as well as an additional 1523 hectares of Area D/Rural Grand Forks are within the 200 year floodplain.
“Recent flooding … tested emergency response and coordination efforts and highlighted uncertainty around current flood hazards and their effects on property and critical infrastructures,” the memo reads.
Phase one of the project will be focused on assessment, including preliminary surveying and engineering and updating floodplain area maps. Phase two will focus on design and detailed planning, while phase three will be concerned with construction.
Sheets said during discussion the city has budgeted $50,000 for the next two years and $500,000 each for 2021 and 2023 to leverage for grant funding for the project. While this grant is 100 per cent funded, she said the city can leverage that budget allotment to show the city is “well on the way” and recognizes the importance of the funding.
The city’s current floodplain mapping is over 25 years old and needs to be updated to reflect new modeling methods and changes in climate and land conditions. New floodplain mapping is in line with the Kettle River Watershed Management Plan, which recommends updating floodplain mapping in areas at risk of flooding.
Urban Systems presented a work plan for the services for the purpose of grant applications. Coun. Julia Butler and Coun. Bev Tripp both questioned whether the project would go to requests for proposal. Sheets said that while Urban Systems prepared the report, the option exists to use other consulting and engineering firms.
“When Urban Systems puts this together they are not paid. They way they recoup is if we get the grant, it is part of being our contract engineers,” she said. “We have the reports available for other firms, they are public documents so we would make them available for the RFP. We would be looking for some very specialized expertise. I suspect we would go out for RFP.”
Tripp also questioned why community engagement was budgeted for at $30,000, asking whether that full amount was necessary.
“This is a huge issue, it involved entire downtown, Interfor, Roxul. So much landmass, that there will have to be substantial outreach on this topic,” Sheets said in response.
Sheets also presented a second memo to council for a second application to the same gas tax grant program, for “engineering and installation of replacement and enhancement of water supply mains to the airport.”
According to the memo, that project was chosen for a grant application because the airport does not have sufficient water supply.
“The 2nd Street water main is only six inches in diameter and reduces to a three inch line within the airport,” the memo reads. “The three inch line has already needed to be repaired multiple times and could fail if used for filling the new fire truck from the hydrant adjacent the terminal.”
The project was identified in the 2014 multi-utility risk assessment, and the memo notes that the “insufficient fire flows” place first responders and the public at risk. The project is of regional significance, Sheets said, because the entire Kootenay Boundary relies on the airport for medevac services, especially at night and during the winter.
According to the assessment provided by Urban Systems, several watermains will need to be upgraded in size and a new 200 millimetre watermain loop added from Birch Road to Sagamore Road, as well as two additional fire hydrants near the airport.
In response to a question from Butler about how staff selected both of these projects for grant applications, Sheets said that each year themes emerge in grant funding.
“Last year was water and sewer, this year we heard through the grapevine that disaster mitigation was big, so we looked at projects and what we had budgeted for,” she said.
The total for the project would be approximately $2.5 million. If the grant application is successful, the project will be funded 100 per cent. Sheets said if the grant were not successful, the city would look at budgeting for the project.
