The Lamont Leader (Lamont, Alberta), Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020 - 9
Flooding sidewalk has Bruderheim resident upset at town BY JANA SEMENIUK Bruderheim resident Rick Bell said he cannot understand why his sidewalk has not been replaced in 70 years. “It says right on it (written in the sidewalk) 1950. Every night for two weeks, every spring I am out here for three hours a night pumping the water out. My neighbours see me and say ‘they still haven’t fixed your sidewalk?’,” he said. Bell has lived in his
Repairs are being done to some buildings on Queen Street in Bruderheim to help with drainage issues.
Bruderheim home for 12 years. He noted that he bought his house, which sits on a corner lot, during a time when the flooding issue wasn’t possible to see. “We bought in February that year,” he said. “And it’s flooded every year ever since.” Bell indicated the flooding comes from the sunken corner sidewalk that encourages water to collect in front of his driveway. “I tried to have a new driveway poured, but the concrete guys said they couldn’t do it because the sidewalk was in such bad shape,” he said. Bell admits that he hasn’t spoken with town administration about the issue, citing that he believes they are already aware of the problem. “There’s no way they don’t know about it,” he said. “I figured they
must know about the problem because it was here before we even moved here.” When The Lamont Leader reached out to Bruderheim Chief Administrative Officer Patty Podoborozny, she explained how administration decides which areas to repair first. “We do sidewalk repairs every two years,” she said. “The town engineer and our public works director Dennis Tomoschat, walks all of the sidewalks in town and rates them according to tripping hazards and surface.” Podoborozny also added that a sidewalk may get overlooked one year if it is included within a five-year plan to re-do the entire street and gutter. “We take into consideration if it’s within our five-year plan to re-do,” she said. “We have a
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master plan that we follow. If we have plans to replace the underground, we won’t spend $70, 000 to replace a sidewalk on a block that’s only going to get ripped up in five years.” Podoborozny included that it’s important for residents to contact the town office if they are worried about issues. “Once they contact us, they are in our queue,” she said. “If they keep in contact with us it’s easier to address their issues. We are plagued by grandfathered processes such as drainage.” In terms of Bell’s sidewalk that appears to be from 1950, Bruderheim Public Works’ director Dennis Tomushcat explained a 70-year-old sidewalk is entirely possible to have. “A sidewalk can last 70 years believe it or not,” Tomushat said. “It all depends on how it was
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The sidewalk near Rick Bell's home in Bruderheim with the date 1950 engraved in the concrete.
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maintained and the elements it was exposed to. Road salt or ice melt put on year after year will deteriorate concrete very quickly.” Tomushat added that although he would like to fix all the sidewalks in town, budgets indicate a need to plan projects carefully. “This year we had to focus on tripping hazards,” he said. “I work carefully with Patty (Podoborozny) to plan these projects so there is enough funding for them.” In terms of Bell’s sidewalk, Tomushchat could not comment on why it hasn’t been fixed before now. “I can’t comment on what has or hasn’t been done to maintain the town’s infrastructure over the past half century, but I can say that today we are doing everything we can and learning more every year,” he said. “We want
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