The Town of Kipling has welcomed neighbouring communities to join in a forum to discuss each town’s situation in regards to certified waterworks operators and to explore possible options to address the issues involved.
The Town of Kipling lost their long-term certified Level 2 waterworks operator in June 2011 and lost their second operator, a Level 1 certified waterworks operator, in August 2011, leaving the municipality without a mandatory waterworks operator.
“We advertised for a very long time…what concerned council the most was that we couldn’t seem to find anyone to come and look after the plant,” said Town Administrator Gail Dakue. “If you can’t find somebody you’re not legally allowed to provide your residents with water because you can’t operate your plant without somebody who is certified, so that’s a really scary prospect for a community.”
Fortunately, the situation in Kipling didn’t become so dire and resources were temporarily borrowed from a neighbouring community.
The Town of Wawota was kind enough to share their Level 2 certified operator with Kipling, until the town hired and secured their own operator in mid-September.
Dakue explained that if the Town of Kipling was having difficulties securing certified waterworks operators, that other towns around the region may face the same challenge in the future.
As a result, Kipling has sent notifications to surrounding communities such as Broadview, Whitewood and Grenfell, inviting them to participate a collaborative meeting to discuss the possibilities of forming some sort of regional agreement.
“We just wanted to try and put something in place so that none of the communities are in a situation where they can’t find somebody,” said Dakue. “There’s strength in numbers so when you have communities that can share resources and work together, you can accomplish more.”
SaskWater and private companies throughout the province do provide the services of certified waterworks operators, but at “astronomical” costs that create heavy financial burdens on smaller communities, said Dakue.
She hopes a contingency plan or possible solution can be forged between regional communities so that if and when a similar situation arises in the future, towns are not left scrambling.
The Town of Broadview has expressed interested in meeting with the Town of Kipling. With one certified waterworks operator of their own, Administrator Merv Schmidt said the possibility of working with other municipalities may be an option, should the opportunity arise.
“It’s always good to work together if the circumstances and opportunities present themselves and are fair and reasonable to all involved,” said Schmidt.
Planning for the joint- community meeting is in the preliminary stages and a date will be announced shortly.
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