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Council approves budget adjustment to upsize the water main

Budget adjustments for construction projects are common as unexpected things can occur
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The Town of Sylvan Lake adjusted its budget to upsize a water main in the Grey Hawk subdivision from a 250 mm line to a 400 mm line.

The town felt upgrading the line was necessary since it is more cost-effective to upgrade the water main during construction of the subdivision rather than having to upgrade the water main at a later date, communications officer Jared Waldo said.

The approved adjusted budget of $300,000 includes funding provided by the utility reserve and off-site levies reserve with each reserve providing $150,000.

With budget adjustments comes the common question of why construction projects can’t go according to a set schedule and cost.

One of the biggest impacts to construction is weather.

“Weather is the boss of construction. If we have bad weather, we have to delay projects,” Waldo said.

Other issues can occur with projects as well.

“Construction supplies sometimes arrive on time and sometimes they arrive late. For example, if concrete supplies for sidewalks are delivered late, we can’t start the construction.”

There are so many surprises that can happen when the ground is broken too, Waldo said.

“We make every effort to survey before breaking ground, but sometimes we find underground utilities like gas lines that are in unexpected places. This forces us to create a new plan, which can cause a time delay.”

Even with planning things down to the last detail plans are never 100 per cent effective 100 per cent of the time.

“As all of these changes can occur, so can the associated budgets that go along with them. Everything we do is planned to be on time and on budget, and hopefully in some cases, ahead of time and below budget.”

While the town estimated an upgrade to the water main would cost around $1.2 million through a partnership with Grey Hawk developer Madlee, the town was able to save approximately $900,000.

Without an upgrade to the water main, the line may have only been able to handle 10 to 15 years of growth. The new trunk line should be a permanent fix for any future increase in the population of the subdivision.


 

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Sarah Baker

About the Author: Sarah Baker

I joined Black Press in March 2023 and am looking forward to sharing stories about the local communities.
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