The City of Parksville will purchase a secondary brine tank, ideally before the end of 2021, in order to improve service to residents and aid with public works efficiency.
During the most recent council meeting, Belinda Woods, the director of operations for the city, presented to council why an additional brine tank is needed.
“Currently we own one brine tank. In the winter months the tank is filled with solution that we put on the roads to help support our snow fight with treating the roads before they become icy,” said Woods. “In the summer months, we clean this out and it becomes our flower watering in different areas.”
READ MORE: Icy roads, speed behind fatal 24-vehicle pileup involving charter bus, semi on Coquihalla
Woods continued to say the city annually applies more thn 35,000 litres of dust control on city-owned gravel roads and parking lots, and since the singular brine tank is being used by the parks crew during the summer, the city currently contracts out dust control.
In purchasing a secondary tank, the city will be able to provide double capacity of brine during the winter months, increasing service levels, and would eliminate costs associated with contracting out dust control - which can range between $10,000 to $18,000 per year.
“We could recoup the cost of this new tank in two to two-and-half years, depending on how much we were asking our contractor. It would also allow our crews to water the plants and apply the dust control simultaneously,” said Woods.
The goal would be to have the new brine tank purchased before the end of 2021 and ready for the winter months of early 2022.
Council approved an increase of $25,000 to the Public Works Capital - Works Equipment 2021 budget for the purchase of the additional brine tank.
FB