Broken municipal pipelines could force a local wood waste recycling company out of business, its owner says.
Triack Resources Ltd.'s operations on 52 acres of leased Squamish land are under threat, Dave McRae told the District of Squamish council last month. During upgrades to Highway 99 before the 2010 Winter Olympics, the sewer and water mains to the property were not reconnected, he said.
"If in fact the sewer and water to the site does not get turned on, I won't have a site," McRae said.
The district dug up the pipes after a sink hole appeared in the area, he said. At the time, sewage leaked from the ground on the property east of the Mamquam Blind Channel and into the adjacent Shell gas station. Municipal staff cleaned up the mess and turned off the water and sewer pipes, but that was it, McRae said.
He asked district officials to fix the mains.
"It is going to be a development issue down the road," he warned.
McRae's business will be forced from the site if the district can't provide both utilities to the property, McRae said, noting staff are using a neighbouring property's water connection, but the sewer remains outstanding.
Coun. Patricia Heintzman backed his request. As it seems the pipes are on municipal land, district officials should be somehow facilitating the fixing of a sewage line, she said. District staff questioned whether the damage to the pipes was an issue for Kiewit, the construction company in charge of Sea to Sky Highway upgrades carried out from 2007 to '09.
"If it is Kiewit that made the mistake, we need to ask them to fix it," she said, noting that either way, municipal staff need to look into the issue.
Triack employs six people, jobs that Squamish doesn't want to lose, Coun. Ted Prior noted. Council supported Heinztman's resolution that municipal staff figure out who is responsible for the broken sewer line and fix it as quickly as possible.
McRae also asked for municipal help to find a long-term site for his business. Heintzman put forward a motion that the district's economic sustainability coordinator Dan McRae work with Triack to find the business a new permanent home. It falls within the economic coordinator's work plan, she said.
Coun. Susan Chapelle agreed. The reason the municipality has an economic coordinator is to deal with issues such as the property dilemma Triack faces, she said.
Coun. Doug Race urged Dave McRae to meet with the economic sustainability coordinator of his own accord. For council to direct the economic coordinator to work with Triack to successfully find a new home would be stepping outside its mandate, Race said, adding the recommendation was vague.
"I think what we have to recognize is Triack has a business that is difficult to locate," he added. With the exception of Race and Mayor Rob Kirkham, the motion was backed by council.
Triack's hunt for a new permanent home calls for the district to conduct a land inventory, Prior said. Over the past few years, property has been taken out of the district's pool of available industrial land, he said.
