Water pipes, evacuees top agenda at Thunder Bay city council

A program to offer a $3,000 loan to homeowners in Thunder Bay, Ont., to remove lead water service connections will be considered by city council on Monday night.

The chemical was added to help reduce the amount of lead in the water of home with lead pipes. While the solution did reduce lead, it came with a side effect: creating pinholes in copper pipes.

The loan program offered by the city would be interest-free, and would have a five or ten-year term.

About 8,700 homes in the city have lead pipes.

Hosting evacuees

Coun. Mark Bentz will ask his colleagues to support a resolution asking administration to approve a report, which would show how council and the public could be more engaged in if the city were to host evacuees.

The city made an announcement on March 31, 2020 that it would be unable to host any evacuees during the COVID-19 pandemic. The same declaration was made by a number of other communities throughout Northern Ontario.

Bentz noted in a memo to council that he understands the need for timely decisions from the Municipal Emergency Control Group, which is tasked with handling evacuees and other emergencies in the city.

Another report to appear in front of council is on the city's asset management plan.

The document shows $55.1 million should be spent on existing city infrastructure every year to property maintain and replace what the city currently owns.

For 2020, the proposed city budget is $21.7 million short of that target.

"The continued use of assets without appropriate life cycle maintenance and/or beyond their useful life means accepting a lower standard of infrastructure condition, an overall higher lifecycle cost and increased operating costs," the report noted.

Legislation requires the city to create a comprehensive asset management plan by 2024, which is being drafted in three stages.

At the end of the three step process, the city will then have a detailed work plan, and will also have to come up with a funding model to maintain its assets.

The plan will include items like roads, sidewalks, buildings and parks.