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Work stoppage causes costs due to lithic chip

as the mayor sees it with District of Barriere Mayor Bill Humphreys - Work stoppage causes costs due to lithic chip

BioBurner for wastewater treatment plant

Council has been told that we have been given the archeological permit that was applied for after a lithic chip was discovered during the digging for the sewer collection pipes.

What the permit does is lay out how the discovery is to be handled. It was decided that the best course of action would be to carefully use mechanical means to do the excavation.

This is good news as digging by hand would be a huge undertaking. The machine operators now will have to be given some training and instructions so that they can work with the archeologists in a safe and efficient manner.

We have to take on the issue and deal with it in a positive manner. There is little to be gained by getting upset that the project is held up. Council asked for advice and were told that we must now follow the procedures and stop work. As a result we now cannot avoid the fact that there are extra costs for the equipment sitting idle. Our District engineer is working hard with our contractors to make this cost as small as possible.

Perhaps during the course of this archeological work it might be possible to have the experts on site give a talk to our residents and to the local schools about how these projects are done.

What a great thing it would be if a young person from Barriere was inspired by all this and went on to discover a great archeological find that would give important insights to our past.

This would be a much better take on the situation than trying to figure out who is responsible and tossing them under the bus which is what sometimes happens.

Speaking of things from the past, back in late 2012 the District explored the possibility of a District heating system based on a BioBurner.

The idea died on the drawing board due to the costs involved and the lack of a profit suitable to those looking to partner with the District. During the discussions and consultations held in public meetings it was discovered that the new generation of wood fired burners are capable of producing heat, electricity and syngas with very little pollutants.

Some of you may recall that I am personally opposed to any burning that adds to our air quality issues here in the alley.

There is no need for a woodstove, or any sort of wood burning appliance to produce smoke and other pollutants if they are used correctly. Even woodstoves that are very simple in their design can burn as clean as possible if dry wood is used and the operator is diligent.

I view any project that involves burning with a very critical eye. When we looked at finding efficiencies for the heat requirements in our Wastewater Reclamation Centre I did not take the suggestion that we look to a BioBurner lightly.

Originally the plan was to use a combination of solar heat and heat pumps to raise the temperature of the effluent so that processing was as efficient as possible. The issue of heat pumps not working well in subzero temperatures had to be addressed.

Rather than just installing an emergency heat source, the whole system was redesigned and the BioBurner concept came out as the best choice. The cost of the unit is comparable to the original design, and the fuel will be more economical than electricity.

The District then sent out a non-binding Request For Proposal on the BC Bid system. This method is the best way to get numerous companies that provide these systems to put forth their proposed concept ideas without the District being obligated to take a set bid. Over the next while the proposals received will be assessed by our engineers and a recommendation brought back to council.

Many thanks to our local radio station CHLW FM 93.1 for encouraging all residents to come out to council meetings and hear for themselves what is being planned for the community.

It is always best to hear firsthand what goes on. All too often people are led astray by listening to what someone thinks is the truth, but most often is just their opinion.