A $10 million upgrade to Waldheim’s water system is expected to be completed by early June, according to Waldheim Mayor John Bollinger.
“The water treatment plant and infrastructure are going full steam ahead,” said Bollinger in an interview February 9. “Work is actually progressing a little ahead of schedule.
“The original completion date was October, 2021. But now the contractor is confident that everything will be in place and water should be flowing by early June.
“That’s very good news for our community.”
The project includes replacing the existing 40-year-old water treatment plant with a new facility that features a greensand closed filtration system followed by reverse osmosis treatment.
An additional 200,000 gallons is being added to the town’s 160,000-gallon reservoir; and a sizeable percentage of the town’s old two-inch underground water lines are being replaced with six-inch pipe. The added capacity will provide significant room for future growth in the community and also provide additional water for fire protection.
Ground was broken on the project in July, 2020; but the planning process began seven years earlier. Bollinger said town council recognized the aging system was in need of replacement and chose to be proactive rather than wait for problems to occur.
The overall cost of the project, funded through the New Building Canada Fund, is about $10 million. The federal and provincial governments are each contributing $3.1 million under the program and the Town of Waldheim is ponying up $3.6 million.
Bollinger said all the wells are drilled and the majority of underground lines are installed. He said if there is still money left over in the spring, additional six-inch underground lines will be installed.
Bollinger said the town’s wastewater system is already able to accommodate future growth.
Residents and businesses in Waldheim are also excited about the installation of high-speed internet by Redbird Communications.
Bollinger said many residents took advantage of the free installation offer from the company, signing up by December of last year.
He estimates that all the businesses and approximately 75 per cent of homes are connecting to the fibre optic lines. The company focused its initial installation efforts on the east side of town.
“The east side is pretty much all finished now,” said Bollinger. “There are still some areas on the extreme west side that don’t have the actual internet hooked up yet, although the lines are there. The work of connecting the line into individual homes is not yet finished.”
Bollinger said the town was able to handle the major snowstorm last November without too much difficulty.
“The public works crew did a great job clearing the roads,” he said. “Twenty-four hours after the storm, we had all our roads open. The path between the snowbanks might not have been very wide, but the roads were open.”
He said the town incurred additional costs hauling the snow greater distance to the dugout at the golf course.
Bollinger said the town’s recreational facilities have seen reduced use and lower revenues because of the health restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There is ice in the arena and some local hockey teams are doing limited practices, and there is free skating for families, but the rink is not really open like it would be in a normal year,” he said. “There has been some additional grant money from the provincial government coming in, which is appreciated, to help keep our recreational facilities going.
“One of the places that’s hurting is the Jubilee Centre, which is usually a focal point for seniors in town. Volunteers have been keeping it maintained, but there hasn’t been any rental income to offset the expenses.”
The community’s curling club has also felt the impact of the pandemic. The ice wasn’t even put in this year, said Bollinger.
One of the bright spots, though, is the Pine Ridge Golf Course.
“The golf club had a fantastic year in 2020,” said Bollinger. “Financially, it broke even. Admittedly, the restaurant took a hit, because of the public health restrictions.
“But golf was one of the few recreational activities that people could enjoy, and the number of golfers that used the course was way up.
“We saw a big increase in young golfers, especially. Two of my grandsons bought memberships and they were on the course pretty much every day.”