By Steve Hubrecht
The Village of Canal Flats has several big infrastructure projects in the works in the near future.
Water system upgrades are the most pressing priority, but the village is also working on dike upgrades and is planning for a new fire hall.
“We have an aging well and population growth in the village,” Canal Flats chief administrative officer Richard Wayken explained to the Pioneer, speaking about the need for water system upgrades. He also pointed out the village has about 1.5 kilometres of failing water pipes.
Canal Flats had a population of 800 in the 2021 national census, a big jump (17.5 per cent increase) from a population of 660 in the 2016 census.
Aging water system infrastructure in addition to a growing population (i.e. more people using the water system) means “we are not getting the water flow we need to. That is an issue,” said Wayken.
If municipal water flow levels are too low it can affect firefighters’ ability to battle any blazes in the village.
An exact cost for the upgrades is not yet clear, but Wayken roughly estimated that it would be in the $5 million-plus range.
The dike in Canal Flats protects the village from flooding from the Kootenay River. The project to improve it has been divided into two phases.
Work on phase one began some time ago and involved raising the height of the dike and widening it so that it offers adequate protection for a one-in-200 year flood event. The final 300 metres of dike was on private land, and so had to be transferred to village ownership. That’s been done, and the last bit of work on improving it will be completed this spring.
Phase two of the dike project involves upgrades to the village’s sewer lagoons, which have not had any major upgrades for decades. Construction for phase two will likely begin this spring.
“It’s a major achievement for us in terms of infrastructure,” said Wayken.
Phase one of the dike upgrades cost $1. 7 million and the second phase carries a similar price tag, explained Wayken. A federal government grant is covering $1.2 million of phase two and village staff and council are working on ways to fund the remaining $500,000 without creating too much of a burden on Canal Flats taxpayers.
“The mayor is trying to highlight the importance of this dike to the whole Columbia Valley,” said Wayken, noting that if the dike were to fail “it’s going to affect everyone downstream.”
At one point, logs were floated down the Kootenay River almost right to the old Canal Flats sawmill. The dike, which is on the south side of the village boundary, along the river, was originally constructed more than 50 years ago to help protect the mill.
Canal Flats also hopes to build a new fire hall.
“It’s not so much that the fire hall is at the end of its life as it is that fire equipment and trucks keep getting bigger and bigger,” said Wayken.
Currently the village keeps an ambulance, three fire trucks and one support unit (for firefighting) in the fire hall. One of the fire trucks will soon need to be replaced, and a new one simply will not be able to fit in the hall, noted Wayken.
The village also does not have a training space for its firefighters, nor does its public works crew have adequate indoor space “so what we are looking at is a joint public works building and fire hall,” said Wayken.
The new fire hall/public works building is very much in preliminary stages, and as such there is no timeline or cost attached to the project yet. But that should become clearer as Canal Flats moves through its 2024 budget process, explained Wayken.
He emphasized repeatedly that the village is also very focused on creating a financial plan and sustainable asset management plan that finds grants and other sources of funding for these projects beyond Canal Flats taxpayers.
“We just can’t put all that burden on taxpayers,” said Wayken. “The municipality can do better.”
