The Town of Sexsmith will be looking to vote on whether or not to amend its borrowing bylaw to seek an extra $2 million towards its stormwater mitigation project.
Mayor Kate Potter says while the $4.5 million price tag initially anticipated has risen, the work is vital to the sustained safety of residents and property in the municipality.
“The last two floods alone were half a million dollars themselves, and that’s just our cost. We think of our residents who potential have costs, money the province has sent out to residents for disaster relief, insurance costs,” she says.
“Some of our residents are in danger of not being able to be insured because of where they live and the nature of what has been happening with the flooding.”
With the tender for the project recently approved, Potter says the construction has already faced delays. Slated to initially start in 2021, Potter says it was important to get the wheels in motion before facing any further potential setbacks.
“Because it involves wetlands and a fish-bearing creek… there were just so many layers of approvals and bureaucracy you have to work through,” she says.
“Some of the items that we need for the project is a 10-week order time before they come in, so we needed to approve the project as quickly as possible because the intent is to get the entire project done [during] this year’s construction season.”
One of the larger portions of construction will see the building of a berm between the wetlands and the creek on the north side of Sexsmith, in addition, work will also be done to bolster erosion protection the two water reservoirs, the main source of drinking water for the region.
Council will vote on the bylaw amendment in June.