Mayor offers apology to West Flat residents after water lines frozen during infrastructure project

Nicolle Bouchard speaks with Prince Albert’s City Councilor during an Executive Committee meeting on March 22nd. – Jason Kerr / Daily Herald

Prince Albert City Council unanimously voted to reimburse residents of 50 apartments on West Flat for a month of water bills after receiving multiple water closures and a recommendation to boil water from late October to late November.

Mayor Greg Dionne said he was embarrassed by the way residents were treated during the water standstill that began when outside contractors finished work on West Hill Trunk Sewer Main.

Some residents had no running water for up to five days during the boiling water consultation. One appeared before the city council on Monday and said city officials gave her a dirty pitcher of water when she asked for help.

Dionne personally apologized during the council meeting on Monday, saying residents have a right to be upset.

“I am embarrassed about this jug sitting next to you,” Dionne told the resident. “If it had been delivered to my home … I would not have accepted it.”

“It’s unacceptable,” he added.

Ward 1 Coun. Charlene Miller, who represents West Flat, said the water shutdown hit vulnerable residents at a difficult time. She said the council has a responsibility to compensate her for the disservice while making sure it doesn’t happen again.

She also plans to submit a motion asking the city to buy a water truck to ensure such shortages don’t recur.

“I’ve been in touch with the 800 block on 18th Street West for a while and it’s not great,” Miller said during the meeting. “We have young families who have been badly affected by the situation. They had no water or they were boiling water. “

Resident Nicolle Bouchard spoke on Monday on behalf of those affected by the water shortage. She said some of her elderly neighbors came to her for help after the city failed to tell them their water would be turned off.

While thanking the city foreman for his help in trying to provide water to these residents, she said the experience never occurred in any other area of ​​the city. She added that safe drinking water was a basic right during normal times, but especially during a pandemic.

“The services (the city) that I and the other residents received this month were not good enough,” she said on Monday.

“We just say, ‘I’ll pay my taxes. I’m paying my water bill. You screwed it up. You didn’t supervise your contractors. We had a month that there was a recommendation to boil water. ‘”

Bouchard added that, like several other residents, she only received a water cut-off. She also said that an elderly neighbor was without water from November 20-25 before asking for help.

Prince Albert’s capital project manager Nykol Miller said bad weather caused trouble for the contractor, who did not know the water service was frozen on Nov. 20. The city started providing temporary water supplies when residents called after hours.

The contractor thawed the frozen water supply lines at 3 p.m. the next day, but Miller said there were additional cordons on October 30 and November 4. Notes on boiling water were introduced on October 24th and 29th. They stayed in place until November 26th.

Miller said residents should have received a message that their water would be turned off. City crews are supposed to drop them off in mailboxes or at the front door and check off each address when they are delivered.

“If there were residents who didn’t receive it, I can’t answer why they didn’t,” Miller told the council. “All of the checkboxes I have on the sheet of the foreman who delivered them indicate that both notices were delivered and the post-project resignation notices were delivered.”

Miller added that some shutdowns are expected when crews start working on the underground infrastructure. She said the city is trying to minimize the impact on residents by providing above-ground services, but not all disruptions could be prevented.

Miller and a consultant were on site overseeing the contractors throughout the project. She said the problems with the water pipes were unusual for this type of project.

“The water pipes freezing was an anomaly,” she told the council. “I’ve never been (in a situation) where water pipes were frozen and the water pipes weren’t ripped out.”

Refunds will be made to residents living between the 600 and 900 blocks on 18th Street West.

The council also voted to add more fill and gravel to the street in the 900 block of 18th Street West.

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