Georgian Bluffs is awarding an over $387,000 engineering contract as part of a project to extend the Pottawatomi watermain to Owen Sound.
Council approved issuing the tender to WT Infrastructure Solutions Inc. during its meeting on Dec. 11, and is the latest development in the multi-year project.
CAO Niall Lobley says the work is being done because the residents of Pottawatomi Village on Atkins Street in the township have been serviced by an underperforming municipal well.
“Sometimes we can’t produce quite enough water, sometimes it’s quite not the right pressure, it’s also a water source which is quite hard, it has quite a lot of iron content in it and quite a lot of mineral content in it, and some of that stuff can cause problems like early wear and tear on things like washing machines,” says Lobley.
In response, the township undertook an environmental assessment in 2017 to consider alternatives to service Atkins Street and increase the capacity of the East Linton Water System.
“The idea being that we would connect the residents in Pottawatomi Village to the East Linton System, and that continues to be the long term goal. In the short-term, we are exploring the opportunity to work with Owen Sound to bring water to them from an alternative means for the next 10 to 20 years,” says Lobley.
He says the scope of the contract includes designing a connection to the city’s water system, and an outline of associated costs. If the township were to move forward with the project, WT Infrastructure Solutions would also oversee the implementation.
This tender is part of a $2.5 million budget for the overall project, which was approved as part of the 2024 budget.
“Based on the cost that came in for the engineering, we are anticipating that we might be under budget with the $2.5 million. It might be a more expensive project then that by the time we get there,” says Lobley.
He says now that the contract has been awarded, the municipality will be meeting with community members impacted by the project and letting them know what they might expect.
Lobley adds the hope is to get shovels in the ground in 2026 to connect the water system to Owen Sound.