By Steve Hubrecht
[email protected]m
Work to fix the damage on 1st Street in Invermere will begin soon after Invermere council approved a bid for the job from local contractor Max Helmer Construction Ltd.
A section of the street was badly washed out and eroded by a small landslide during a storm in May, leaving the edge of the road looking as though it were about to crumble into the bluff below. District of Invermere staff has had the sketchy section of the street marked since the damage occurred and has been fast-tracking efforts to get the road properly fixed up.
During the Tuesday, Oct 27 Invermere council meeting, acting Invermere chief administrative officer Kindry Luyendyk outlined that there is remediation work needing to be done on both the upper and lower part of the slope, and that the work set to be done by Max Helmer Construction is just for the upper slope. She outlined that work on the upper slope needs to be done sooner rather than later because the landslide left a sewer main close to the surface, and a further landslide, even a little one, or possible freezing during the winter months (now that the pipe is close to the surface) could wreak havoc with the sewer main. Luyendyk added the lower slope work can wait until spring.
The cost of the remediation on the upper slope will be $422,000. The work is projected to take 10 to 12 days.
Luyendyk added the district is hoping to get much of the cost of the work from provincial emergency funds, rather than having to pay all of it from district reserve funds or general revenues.
Invermere councillor Gerry Taft asked whether the road would be built back in the old style or with some add water diversion. Luyendyk responded that the district is working with contracting company Urban Systems on storm management for the area.
“The work needs to be done, that’s for sure,” said Invermere mayor Al Miller, adding in a wry and joking tone that the council’s unanimous vote to approve the work was an exercise in “how to spend $400,000 quickly.”
