The lines of communication at the Gerry O’Connor Water Treatment Plant in Belleville are set to be improved.
City council approved a continuity and upgrades plan for the Sidney Street plant on Monday, which will include a capital budget amendment.
The budget will now have a new line item of $250,000, the estimated cost of the plan, that will be funded through Water Capital Reserves.
The overall estimated costs will encompass surveying, appraisal, acquisition, legal, design and construction.
Back in 2019, the city explored the possibility of installing speed fiber optic cable to enhance the safety and service to the facility, as the current communication system is at end of its life cycle and has limited support opportunities.
General manager of environmental services Perry DeCola stated in a report to council that a total of 12 weeks of communications downtime has occurred between the main plant and outside pumping stations in the last three years.
A conduit is currently present under the CP Railway line that runs adjacent to the Sidney Street Water Treatment Facility.
“The City anticipated the ability to be joined to existing Bell infrastructure using the conduit that was placed in an easement the City believed the communication company had secured along the subject property however it was discovered that there was no conduit installed by Bell on the property and no registered easement,” DeCola explained.
These issues facilitated a need to find an alternate process to secure the communications and control of the water systems pumping stations, plants and reservoirs, which culminated in this continuity and upgrades plan.
The motion passed with no discussion.
