The City of Warman is using $1.6 million in grant funding under the recently-announced Municipal Economic Enhancement Program (MEEP) to help pay for the expansion of its municipal sewage treatment lagoon.
Warman City Council passed a resolution at its video-conference meeting on Monday, June 22 to apply the provincial MEEP funds toward the lagoon expansion and upgrade.
The provincial government unveiled the MEEP program in May to support capital investment in municipal infrastructure projects.
The $18.1 million lagoon expansion project, which is expected to take three years to complete, was already in the works for the city, with construction set to start soon. The expanded facility will increase the city’s wastewater treatment capacity to accommodate future growth and improve the overall effluent discharge quality to meet Environment Canada regulations.
The lagoon expansion is being partially funded through a joint federal-provincial infrastructure program. Funding from the federal government totals $7.24 million, with $6,032,730 coming from provincial contributions. The municipality will contribute $4,827,270.
The $1.6 million MEEP grant will help offset the municipal share of the overall cost; in effect reducing the city’s share to $3.2 million.
The sewage treatment lagoon expansion and improvements include: increasing the depth of the existing primary and secondary lagoon cells, installing an aeration system in the primary and secondary cells, constructing a blower building for the aeration system, and constructing a discharge pipeline to the South Saskatchewan River.
Phase One of the project includes a secondary cell aeration and building, slated to be completed by September, 2020.
Phase Two includes pipeline construction, projected to be in operation by September, 2021.
Phase Three includes berms and primary cell aeration, and should be completed by October, 2022.
Warman City Council awarded the contract for design of the project to AECOM at a council meeting on Monday, January 13, 2020 following a competitive bid process.