Project updates, street closures and more are on the agenda for Timmins council's last June meeting.
Council is meeting virtually tonight (June 29).
Items of note in the agenda include:
- An update of Pump Station 4 is slated. The pumping station is located on Highway 101 just east of the Whitney arena. Right now, when the wastewater system's capacity in the city's east end is exceeded, raw sewage is pumped into Porcupine Lake. During the heavy rain June 21, 600.1 cubic metres (600,100 litres) was bypassed into the lake. A two-phase project to remediate the system started in 2014. Ground-settling and legal issues have contributed to work on phase one — building Pumping Station 4 — not being completed yet. According to this week's report, in May the city asked the Ministry of Environment for an extension of the director's order for compliance. The reasons cited are material order lead times being pushed due to COVID-19 shutdowns, fewer workers being able to be present in an area for physical distancing, the building settlement required a change of approach and the early spring and high groundwater table required a change in approach to methodology. The new completion date in the presentation is Oct. 23, 2021. The full presentation is available here.
- Staff is asking to increase the Deloro Landfill Gas System project contract by $57,236 for a total contract value of $211,165. Provincial legislation requires the landfill to collect and manage landfill gas and the Timmins operation does not have that system. The city is working to install it this year. Comcor Environmental did the engineering and design of the project. Staff is also recommending having the company do the project from tender to commissioning, with the city providing fulltime inspection services and supplementing with Comcor's project management services. This extra expense is not budgeted. If the project is approved, staff suggest deferring the Community Sustainability Plan identified in the 2021 budget to free up cash for this project. The full staff report is available here.
- Repairs at the water treatment plant could move ahead earlier than anticipated. Staff is asking to reallocate $66,460 of capital funds to repair Genie Joints. According to the staff report, the equipment connects "water troughs as the process passes from one building section to another. When functioning properly, they prevent water losses when the troughs move during different seasons." However, staff say the joints have been leaking for a "long period of time" and had emergency repairs earlier this year. That work was successful, but permanent repairs are needed, according to the report. Two section are required, with each costing $33,230. While the repairs are in the 10-year capital plan, work wasn't slated to move forward until 2022. The recommendation is to redirect cash allocated to the engineering and study of the Hollinger Pump stations as staff says the $300,000 "will not be required in its entirety."
- The Downtown Timmins BIA is asking for the OK to close downtown streets to traffic for the Urban Park, which is held weekly. This year's proposal is to hold the market every Wednesday and Thursday from July 7 to Oct. 7. It would be on Third Avenue from Cedar to Pine, and Pine to Spruce. The full letter is available here.
- There is a motion to recognize 10 Indigenous dates and days in the city. It list includes National Indigenous Languages Day on March 31, National Awareness Day for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls May 5, National Indigenous History Month in June, National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21, Orange Shirt Day on Sept. 30, Sisters in Spirit Vigil Oct. 4, Treaty Recognition Week in November, Inuit Day on Nov. 7, Indigenous Veterans Day Nov. 8, and Louis Riel Day on Nov. 16.
The meeting starts at 6 p.m. and can be watched here.
The full agenda is available here.
