The Village of Valemount is investigating the repair of a water leak in the office that has been causing a mouldy smell.
The leak is in the room with the village servers, electrical panel and other electrical equipment, as well as some records storage.
According to a report to council by acting CAO Anne Yanciw, the leak is dripping from under the electrical panel and trickling into the building along an electrical conduit. The water is being vacuumed up every day, but even so, the room is beginning to smell mouldy, the report says.
The cause of the leak is unknown. The report says one potential source of the water is the drain pipe outside the visitor Centre where a tree was planted last year – it’s possible the pipe was damaged during the planting. Public Works investigated this and confirmed the pipe at that location is undamaged.
The report says another possible source is the drain pipe at the rear of the building. In order to check that option, the stairs to the rear deck and a small part of the deck may need to be removed to access the pipe. The concrete pad that the air conditioners rest on may need to be removed as well, depending on what is found. The report says this could take anywhere from a day to a week, depending on where the problem is found. During repair work, Public Works has suggested placing an additional layer of drain tile behind the building as what is currently installed appears to be inadequate for years of higher precipitation. This as well as repair of the problem will help prevent this issue from recurring in future, Yanciw wrote in her report.
This building has an annual maintenance budget of $15,000 $2,000 of which has been set aside for caulking and staining of window frames.
The majority of the maintenance budget is used for utilities, leaving approximately $1,000 for both upstairs and downstairs, which is typically used on lights and other minor repairs.
Some options for fund to investigate and repair this issue are to use surplus funds and if major repairs are required use further surplus funds or apply to use remaining MFA loan of approx. $50,000.
Councillor Bullock moved to investigate and repair the water leak, but to inform council again when costs approach $2,000 for further approval. The motion was seconded by Councillor Latimer.
Work on fixing the leak was scheduled to begin this week.
