The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Should past city councils have focused more on replacing faulty water and sewer lines? That's a question many Flin Flonners are asking as municipal workers contend with a seemingly never-ending series of subterranean leaks. While the city has now moved away from simply patching leaky pipes to replacing them, this is a fairly recent development, according to one veteran city councillor. Coun. Bill Hanson said that when he first joined council in 1992, 'we did not replace water and sewer lines _ we dug a hole, we put a patch on it and we filled it up again.' Asked why that was the case, Coun. Hanson simply said this was 'the policy of the time.' When he rejoined council in 2002, Coun. Hanson said things were different _ and remain that way as the city will now change entire pipes as needed. 'And that's been our policy, is when we find (a leaky pipe that has been patched multiple times), we don't dig a $2,600 hole and patch it,' he said at last week's council meeting. This approach should in time mean less digging and thus fewer motorist detours, not to mention a more reliable water and sewer system for all residents. But Mayor George Fontaine said that once new pipes are installed in a section of Flin Flon, ensuring that area is 'working right,' it often 'jams into the next area that isn't working right.' 'So you either discover new problems or even sometimes cause new problems,' he said. And not every problem is foreseeable, the mayor said. 'People take these projects and they plan them out to the very best they can from the beginning, and sometimes simple things like the weather say, 'This isn't going to work,'' he said. 'And so you have to re-plan and, just like in life generally, you know, reload and go back and shoot at it another way. That's what we're doing.' The city plans to continue gradually replacing all old water and sewer pipes beneath Flin Flon. In progress now is work on Green Street between Phelan Avenue and Elm Street, a project expected to be completed by the end of the month. So what section of piping will be replaced next? 'Whichever one proves to be the one that's leaking worse than the other one,' Mayor Fontaine said. Mayor Fontaine made mention of budgetary constraints that limit how much work the city can do, but at least one resident thinks there's more fat to be trimmed from operating costs. Taxpayer advocate Blair Sapergia, appearing before council last week, was critical of municipal funding for new matting for the walking track around the Whitney Forum ice. Saying the city could have simply left the walkway as cement, Sapergia told council that the new expenditure 'seems like a frivolous thing.' Mark Kolt, chief administrative officer, said many people who use the track are seniors or otherwise have mobility challenges. The new foot-friendly matting, expected to be installed by next week, will cost the city as much as $47,000 _ but that amount could come down based on the success of ongoing sponsorship requests. There were concerns the old matting would cause walkers to trip. As he has in the past, Sapergia argued that recreational facilities are secondary to what he views as the primary functions of a municipal government. 'Nobody starts a community with skating complexes, with community halls,' he told council. That brought strong disagreement from Mayor Fontaine. 'The day I say recreation is gone from this community, you might as well just lock the doors,' he said.
