The new City subcommittee set up to oversee North Battleford’s water supply has held its first meeting.
It took place June 2 and included various officials including Mayor Ian Hamilton, director of operations Stewart Schafer and various other water officials and operators from the city.
Minutes from that meeting made its way to the City of North Battleford’s Planning Committee meeting Monday. According to the minutes the meeting included an overview and discussion of all the water facilities, including both Water Treatment Plant No. 1 and F.E. Holliday Plant No. 2, as well as the distribution system which includes the water tower, the 114th street reservoir, Fairview Heights reservoir, the booster pumping station and underground water piping system. There was also discussion of capital and operations and maintenance projects on the go as well as master plans.
Schafer told council the meeting focused on the water treatment system as well as the water distribution system, and projects coming forward that “we will have to put on our radar and projects we deem are important. As well, we talked about some of the testing that will be coming down the line.”
The water subcommittee was formed on the request of the Water Security Agency who wanted to see monthly meetings and greater transparency in keeping council informed of the activities and projects going on. Quarterly reports to council are also planned.
Councillors at Monday’s Planning Committee meeting welcomed the minutes from the first water subcommittee meeting. More than one of them noted that far more manpower went into water treatment than they had thought, based on what they’d read.
“I didn’t realize that much work went into it,” was the observation of Councillor Greg Lightfoot, who added the “day-to-day operations is very taxing.”
Hamilton noted “how stressful some of this stuff is, too, to ensure that everything’s up to standard on a timely basis.”
“I came to appreciate the value of the work that’s being done in very demanding situations,” said Hamilton.
The meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month over the noon hour. The next meeting is set for July 7.
