City of Cold Lake council agreed that AECOM will have to do better when it comes to the aesthetics of the expansion to the water treatment plant.
City of Cold Lake council agreed that AECOM will have to do better when it comes to the aesthetics of the expansion to the water treatment plant.
With the addition of the regional waterline to Cold Lake's water treatment system, the city has to expand its current facility. Although the overall design itself wasn't an issue, councillors didn't find the outside of the building to be overly pleasing.
The current design incorporates blue tin siding for the exterior, however, for council that simply won't cut it.
What they would like to see is more funding allocated to making the building appealing to residents and tourists.
"This is on our lakefront. It needs to have a little more appeal," expressed Coun. Jurgen Grau.
The cost would come at the expense of the province, through the regional waterline funding agreement.
Coun. Bob Buckle said it's unlikely they would get too much kick-back in terms of upgrading the look of the facility.
"The last thing they want is to get into the 11th hour and have an objection raised," Buckle said. "I think it's in AECOM and the Regional Utilities Service Commission's (RUSC) best interest to have some dialogue with local residents so that something aesthetically pleasing can be put there... I think they need to be told upfront that this is a potential issue and if they don't want any delays going down the road with our local residents who might be a bit upset on what is going there, they should be advised to maybe get with this."
The design had been submitted for review in early November, with a number of concerns raised at the time including changes to the footprint, structural, architectural, electrical, and apparatus.
Azam Khan, general manager of infrastructure services for the city, had submitted samples of what the city would like to see to AECOM, which included designs made with brick, stone, a living roof, and reflective glass.
These options were more appealing to council.
Their concern, is residents who currently have a view of the lake will be missing out once the expansion takes place.
The layout and space available make it difficult for the city to go any direction but up when expanding the facility.
Khan explained, "expansion is not just what you see on the surface."
The second floor will house the electrical room, office space, lockers, and a meeting room, while the lower portion will contain the trains, filtration area, generators, and room for an additional expansion down the road.
Another suggestion from council was moving the treatment plant altogether.
Coun. Chris Vining described the location of the water treatment plant as "an abomination."
He would prefer to see the industrial-like structure moved to an industrial area, rather than on the lakefront.
The issue, Khan said, is the current design is utilizing the city's functioning water treatment facility, and is simply expanding off of it. Moving it could be more costly.
For now, CAO Kevin Nagoya recommends council submit examples of preferred facilities and express their concerns about the current design to AECOM so they can get back to the drawing board.
The letter would also be addressed to the RUSC.
"I think we better do our due diligence and try to design something that looks better than that, because that is horrible. It's a horrible design that AECOM has come back with. I can't even believe they brought forward that design," Vining expressed.
Council agreed to send a letter to RUSC, the Town and MD of Bonnyville, and AECOM about their concerns, and will request a 3D model and a public open house before approval of the expansion.
