Council has voted to approve $186,932 for storm sewer upgrades on Clegg Street and 14 Avenue which have been known to cause flooding and property damage to downstream residents.
According to a report presented to council Monday, the depth of storm-water buildup has been twice what was anticipated in the design stage, resulting in a likelihood of flooding homes during a major storm.
"I believe the city has a responsibility to correct an infrastructure that is undersized," said Mayor James Atebe, after noting the district has been unduly defensive about accepting responsibility in the past.
"Putting aside the community concerns, I feel as if we don't do this it will end up costing us more in the long term anyway," said Coun. Jenny Stevens.
Coun. Mike Scudder said the district has been cautious about accepting responsibility for flooding due to possible liability issues from homeowners, but said approving the project is the right thing to do.
This drainage improvement project is 50 per cent complete. It was originally estimated to cost $529,000 but engineering felt the flood risk could be mitigated with a cheaper option, with council approving the original budget for $356,000.
With the additional $187,000, the project is now $543,000, or $14,000 above the initial estimate.
The funds for the cost overrun will mainly come from the financial stabilization reserve fund, which will lower that reserve to $175,752. An additional $10,793 will be diverted from the budget savings from the North Railway project.