The Village of Big Valley will be conducting an infrastructure study to prepare for capital budgeting in the near and distant future, and DNA Consulting will complete the study.
Village Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Tracy Mindus noted during the Thursday, September 23 regular council meeting, in conversation with another municipality, they had also contracted DNA Consulting for a similar infrastructure study.
“We don’t have a procurement policy in place to decide if I should have sent it out for more tenders, or more requests for proposal,” CAO Mindus said during the meeting. “I thought it was a fairly fair proposal, and very adequate for what we need.”
Mayor Clark German noted he is a “big fan” of spending money wisely without “overcomplicating” the process, and noted he was confident council had made a “reasonable, sound decision” in choosing DNA Consulting. This sentiment was also carried by Deputy Mayor Art Tizzard and Councillor Harry Nibourg.
Later in the meeting, CAO Mindus presented a request from a ratepayer regarding a sewer line replacement.
Public Works foreman Nick Dubitz gave council background information on the issue, as well as information following a review of video footage from the resident’s sewer line. He noted the sewer line was in “pretty poor condition” and the issues the resident is having are fairly common for the age of the line.
Dubitz noted the entire line has issues, and some of the areas of concern do fall on village property.
Mayor German noted, prior to reviewing the video, he was of the mind council was aware of issues in the area of 4th Avenue; council had previously postponed paving along this stretch of road due to these known issues, however, he noted after reviewing the footage he would like to look at the 4th Avenue issues in more detail.
Deputy Mayor Tizzard questioned how many more residents in the area will also be affected with similar sewer issues, and Councillor Nibourg stated it would make sense to complete repair work to the sewers prior to completing paving.
Mayor German noted the sewer line concern falls under the infrastructure study.
CAO Mindus shared the intent is for DNA Consulting and public works to review the video to identify priority areas.