Shawn Bailey
City Sets Utility Capital Priorities For MWSB
A request from Manitoba Water Services Board (MWSB) has prompted the City of Dauphin to prioritize some of its capital needs for the community’s water and sewer system.
The annual request comes from the provincial department as it considers its five-year capital plan and projects it can fund.
Topping the city’s list is upgrades to and expansion of the lagoon system on the northern edge of the city. The project has been on the city’s radar for a number of years.
According to Public Works and Operations director Mike VanAlstyne, the current lagoon system has difficulty meeting the environmental limits within the City’s operating license.
A study was conducted in 2016, to determine what upgrades would be required to allow for continuous discharge with effluent meeting the nitrogen and phosphorus levels of provincial regulations.
Upgrades, he said, would include replacing the blowers and aeration system, installing a liquid level control manhole, installing new intercell piping, installation of new forcemain piping, and the construction of an ammonia reduction reactor.
“The lagoon has been a long standing question mark for the city that we’ve been pressing to get funding for,” VanAlstyne said. “And without funding, I don’t think an upgrade can happen. So that’s why we continue to place it in our first priority.”
The city has been looking at alternative ammonia reduction strategies which might help reduce the costs of the project and has actually run a trial on one system which has proven successful in more temperate climates, VanAlstyne said.
“It hasn’t really been proven in northern climates. In the two winters we tried it, it was successful, it’s proven that it works. So that would provide some cost savings,” he said, adding the project would still cost in the neighbourhood of $13 million.
The next project on the list is a renewal and rehabilitation of the watermain on Main Street South.
The project is high on the priority list given the province’s plans to rebuild the road and redistribute traffic flow in the area.
“It probably wouldn’t have been looked at except for that (the province is) considering paving,” VanAlstyne said, adding over the past few years, the City has hired Canadian Induracoat Corporation to reline portions of the water distribution system.
Induracoat, he said uses technology that greatly reduces the intrusiveness of a watermain renewal project by only excavating at two locations and using proprietary materials and technology to spin-cast a polyurea coating inside the existing infrastructure, essentially creating a new pipe inside the old piping.
The City is planning to reline the large watermain from Whitmore Avenue to 4th Avenue South over the next two years and Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure is planning to resurface the pavement along this portion of Main Street in 2024.
“That way we can kind of renew the infrastructure without digging up all of Main Street and we would hopefully be on top of that so that we have a smooth road for the foreseeable future instead of a year from now having to dig a new hole in it,” VanAlstyne said.
Third on the list is pressure management controls for the city’s water distribution system.
The project would entail adding chambers throughout the system. These chambers would have a pressure reducing valve, as well as a flow meter installed in them, VanAlstyne said
“With the elevation change from our water treatment plant to town our booster station actually acts as more of a pressure reduction, it drops the speed at which the water is coming into town rather than actually boosting it,” he said. “Because without that reduction system the psi at the north end of town would be like 120 psi. So when somebody turned their taps on it would blow the taps pretty well right apart.”
On top of helping to control pressure evenly throughout the system, the chambers would also ultimately help to reduce or identify water loss.
“We do have some water loss every year from between the plant and what’s being collected at the lift stations,” VanAlstyne said. “So we know that there’s water missing that’s been treated and it’s not making its way through the piping. This would help us identify where those gaps are or where the leaks are that we’re not catching right now.”
Next on the list is water supply security, identified as a priority in the summer of 2021 when drought conditions led to significant water shortages throughout the province.
Fortunately, some timely rainfalls kept both the Vermillion Reservoir and Edwards Lake with more than sufficient water to provide for the City’s consumption, without having to restrict water usage.
“We were very fortunate with timely rains in the park that kept our water supply quite full, but in southern Manitoba they were struggling. So we want to kind of keep our issues in the back of the minds of the people in government that could happen to us, too, and we don’t want to have to get to that point.”
The City would like the province to investigate improving the capacity of the Vermillion Reservoir.
Additionally, the reservoir at the Water Treatment Plant is requiring some maintenance work, including dredging or sediment removal.
Finally, the intake channel along Edwards Creek, in which the City controls flows to the treatment plant could benefit from channel improvements, VanAlstyne said, such as widening and deepening the channel, lining the channel with geotextile materials to try to lessen sediment release, and lining with stone rip-rap to prevent any erosion during peak run-off.
The final project on the list is renewal of the aqueduct supplying treated drinking water to the city from the water treatment plant.
Funding would be used to develop a program for inspection and renewal or replacement of a few kilometers of piping every few years, he said.
“It’s large infrastructure piping and it does take some significant funding to replace sections of it,” VanAlstyne said. “We’re putting this on to try to keep replacing pieces. We’d look at 500 meters a year or so, chunk it off into manageable amounts.”
The five projects identified are not the only utility related work, but represent some needs outside of the City’s regular capital expenditure, VanAlstyne added.
“There’s always our standard residential renewal works that fall more into our capital works each year,” he said. “Some of these larger scale projects, I don’t think we’ve identified any other ones at the moment, but they’ll continue to pop up as time goes on.”
Keep Ukrainians In Your Prayers, Urges Fr. Bodnarski
Dauphin has strong ties with Ukraine, both culturally and directly and the invasion of the Eastern European country by Russian forces is causing unease among many local residents of Ukrainian heritage.
“I would say they are very much disturbed by the war. I’m getting so many texts and phone calls and people just asking how is everything there,” said Rev. Fr. Oleg Bodnarski of the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Resurrection.
“So it’s very disturbing, you know, because nobody needs this in 2022.”
Fr. Bodnarski himself has a vested interested in the events unfolding in Ukraine as the majority of his family still lives in the country.
“My whole family is there. My mom, 99 per cent of my family is there,” he said. “I’m here with my wife and two kids and my wife’s sister and her husband. The rest of the family is in Ukraine.”
Fr. Bodnarski said his sister fled the city to a village in the Ternopil area where his mother lives to avoid the bombing and support their 72-year-old mother.
He is contact with his family three times a day and said at this point they are safe and in good health as they are currently abut 500 kilometres from the fighting.
Fr. Bodnarski is also encouraged by the resistance being shown by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and ordinary citizens alike. It is difficult to predict when and where the fighting will end.
“Our soldiers are fighting. They’re very brave. So nobody knows,” he said. “Mr Putin, what he’s doing it’s not human, let’s put it that way. I hope that the world, we will wake up soon. It’s strange that Ukraine is having to go through this alone.”
Conflict is nothing new for the country, he added, as the war has been ongoing since the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. This escalation of the conflict caught him by surprise, however.
“Nobody expected this. I personally thought Mr. Putin was bluffing, Until yesterday when at five in the morning they started to attack and launched rockets on Ukrainian airports,” Fr. Bodnarski said. “This is a so very sad situation. But we hope that our soldiers will protect Ukraine. Because Ukraine wants to be a democratic country, a free country and we don’t want to go back to the Russian regime. We were lucky in 1991 that we separated. I remember that year, it was the year when I graduated from high school.”
While there is little that the community can do in a tangible way to bring about an end to the fighting, Bodnarski hopes everyone keeps the people of Ukraine in their prayers,
To that end, a vigil was held in the city this past Sunday and a rally is planned for City Hall this coming Wednesday, Mar. 2, at 6 p.m.
“At this point it is very important, I believe, for us here as a community to have awareness about what’s happening. And people who ask what can I do, my advice is they just keep praying. I encourage them to pray and let diplomats do their jobs,” Bodnarski said. “They’re trying to convince Mr. Putin to back off, but still he doesn’t. I would just encourage people to keep Ukrainians in their prayers.”
As for his family, Fr. Bodnarski said they will remain put where they are and hope for happier days ahead.
“They hope that one day it’s going to stop and they’ll be happy again,” he said, adding the world needs to stop talking and take concrete action such as granting Ukraine membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. “I just hope that Ukraine will win in this war. I just wish that this war will end, that Ukraine will regain Crimea and the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and that people there can start rebuilding and move on with a democracy, living in a nice European country.”
For people looking to contribute directly to those efforts, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) and the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF) established the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
The Province of Manitoba has committed $150,000 to the appeal, while Saskatchewan has contributed $100,000, Ontario $300,000 and the Province of Alberta will donate $1 million. There are also many organizational and individual donors.
“The UCC and CUF are also pleased to announce that the Temerty Foundation has generously donated $750,000 to the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal,” said Orest Sklierenko, CUF’s president and CEO. “We are extremely grateful to them for their generous contribution and ask all Canadians to join in our efforts to help people in Ukraine who have had to flee their homes,” added Alexandra Chyczij, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.
The Ukraine Appeal Fund has raised $2,390,000 to date, well beyond the preliminary Phase I target of $1.5 million. As a result, a Phase II target of $5 million has been announced, aimed at continued supplies of food and medicine for displaced Ukrainians.
Provincial Support
Premier Heather Stefanson offered Manitoba’s support to the democratically elected government of Ukraine, Friday, noting moves by Russia to send troops into eastern Ukraine are a violation of Ukraine’s territory and sovereignty.
“Manitoba is home to thousands of citizens of Ukrainian descent who have watched Russia’s buildup of military forces in the region and repeated threats to the sovereignty of Ukraine,” Stefanson said.
“It is unacceptable behaviour and I thoroughly condemn those actions.”
The premier said she agrees with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s condemnation of Russia and the federal government’s promise to impose economic sanctions on Russia.
Stefanson also supports the government of Canada’s decision to send military equipment and give financial loans to Ukraine.
The provocation by Russia in the region must be a constant worry to the more than 180,000 Ukrainian Manitobans, she said.
“It is hard to imagine how difficult watching the news must be for so many Manitobans who have loved ones in Ukraine,” Stefanson said. “I share your concerns and Manitoba will support the federal government in everything it can to pressure Russia to end its aggression and restore peace in the region.”
RIDE Locks The Door On 2021 Program
Seasonal revelers will have to do some extra planning to keep themselves safe this year as the Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) program will not be operating this holiday season.
Program organizers made the announcement last week.
City Hires New Economic Development Manager
Dauphin has a new economic development manager.
Martijn van Luijn was hired last week to take over the role which has been vacant since Brian Baker was dismissed by the City earlier this year.