(Submitted photo)

By Nigel Maxwell

Better Communities

Hope and the Future: Shellbrook rolls out phase one of water improvement project

Dec 31, 2020 | 12:00 PM

The COVID-19 pandemic makes 2020 a year many may prefer to forget but there is hope for the future. We’ve decided to make that the focus of our series of end-of-year stories.

Improvements to the town’s water quality and resurfacing a busy stretch of road are among the goals for Shellbrook Council in 2021. Mayor Amund Otterson explained to paNOW the town doesn’t have a shortage of potable water, but it is highly mineralized.

“We don’t have the hardest water in Saskatchewan but we are in the top 10 I’m sure,” he said.

Plans for 2021, which represent the first phase of a multi-year project to improve the town’s water, include increasing the town’s capacity to treat the water by 33 per cent. Otterson said residents should notice the difference more during the summer months when they are not asked to not cut back on usage. While a contractor is in place, and some plumbing work needs to be wrapped up, funding remains a big question mark.

“We don’t have any confirmed funding through the provincial programs that are in place, although we have applications in place,” Otterson said, adding council would like to minimize the burden on rate payers as much as possible.

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Another big project on the town’s wish list for 2021 is re-surfacing a section of second Ave. W. accessing the hospital. Otterson said the project will depend on what happens during budget discussions, but added taxes have “come in well”, which he attributed to more people being at home and having additional money.

“For example myself I only bought one tank of gas in the last two months,” he said.

Otterson hopes to see more results from the new solar panels at the Rec Centre in 2021. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

Otterson said he is also looking forward to seeing the town’s recreational facilities and campground getting used again. Public works crews took advantage of the closed campground this past summer, by making a number of improvements to the roads at the campground, and fixing some drainage issues. Otterson said he is also looking forward to a full season of productivity from the two solar panels, installed last fall on the roof of the recreation centre.

The environmental and energy-saving aspect was one of the reasons the arena secured $750,000 in crucial grant funding from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) building green fund in 2019.

“We have already seen some finances as far as credits for electricity produced,” he said “When the sun shines we are making a little bit of electricity even though our sun angles are low and the duration of sunlight is limited.”

Town council’s next scheduled meeting is Jan. 4.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell