Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Serving the Hub of the North since 1960
Volume 59 • Issue 33
City takes three months to fix residential water break Thompson homeowner kept public tally of water wasted and the cost to taxpayers BY KYLE DARBYSON
KYLE@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
On Aug. 6, the City of Thompson finally fixed the water break located just outside Greg Szocs’ house on Baffin Crescent after it had been flowing for 88 days straight. Although he’s glad this issue is finally resolved, Szocs told the Thompson Citizen that he’s still concerned about the lingering effects that three months’ worth of running water will have on his property. “I’m worried about soil saturation,” he said Aug. 1, five days before the water break was patched up. “It’s only 20 feet from my foundation, so if that soil’s saturated come winter and then all that water starts to freeze, I’m worried about damage to my property.” Throughout the last couple weeks, Szocs even made a point of letting the public know about his displeasure with the city’s slow response time. He accomplished this feat by hanging a large white tarp a few feet away from the water break and, with the help of some paint and a marker, used it to keep
track of how many days had transpired since the problem began and how much it would cost taxpayers. By the time the city finally fixed this issue, Szocs calculated that 6,336 m 3 of water had been wasted and $23,253 went down the drain along with it. “Basically, what I did was I took my garden hose and I ran it for an hour and used my water meter to calculate the usage and then doubled it, because my garden hose is a half inch hose. [The water break] is clearly more than half an inch,” he said. “I used the figure available on the city’s website, the public water utility rates, and that’s how I came up with the numbers.” Szocs’ public campaign quickly caught the attention of his neighbours, some of whom even posted images of the tarp on Facebook groups like Thompson Talk. Even though Szocs doesn’t use social media, he eventually met up with some of these disaffected residents in person to share their frustrations with the city’s public works department, which he said has remained consistently bad
with its customer service during the 30 years he’s lived in Thompson. “I’ve had other attempts to contact public works with regards to other issues, and they never respond. Never. Voicemails, I go there in person, they take my name and number. I never get a call.” While Szocs believes that public pressure did play a part in getting the city to fix this particular issue, he still has questions about why it took so long to for them to address it, since countless other water breaks popped up and were dealt with throughout those 88 days. In an Aug. 2 email to the Thomson Citizen, a city Thompson Citizen photo by Kyle Darbyson representative explained A snapshot of the water break outside Greg Szocs’ home on Baffin Crescent as of Aug. 1. that water breaks are not The break was eventually fixed five days later. necessarily prioritized by “Line size, line depth, the city has to do a better the order they crop up, but and sewer crews prioritize according to the risk they repairs to minimize cost to the size of the break, and job of communicating with variations in water pres- residents and responding to pose to health, environ- the public.” The representative went sure (which changes by these kinds of infrastructure ment, volume and potential for further property on to say that their crews the second due to usage) all issues in a timely manner. repaired seven water breaks influence the flow of water “In reality, we are their damage. “Some breaks take a day between July 23 and Aug. through a break,” said the customers. We paid to live representative. “Visual in- here and we pay for a serto repair, some take a few 1. FixingThe our email Finances Repairing our Services • Rebuilding Economy also •claims spections can only provide vice,” our he said. “If they ran days,” said the representa retail outlet or some type ative. “New water breaks that there is no way to ac- a general estimate.” Regardless of where of other business in this are always emerging, and curately assess water loss with the limited resources due to a water break from his water break fell in the fashion they’d be out of pecking order, Szocs said business in days.” available to us, our water visual inspection alone.
“I love the North, I plan to stay here, and I’m committed to continue working with Northerners to build a stronger Manitoba.” “A re-elected Progressive Conservative government will continue to make life more affordable for Northerners by eliminating all probate fees on estates and canceling the PST on Wills.”
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Saving over $500/yr for the average family of four
Kelly Bindle
INVESTING IN STRATEGIC INFRASTRUCTURE •
INCREASING INVESTMENTS IN HEALTH CARE, EDUCATION •
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THOMPSON
Only Canadian Province to see a reduction in ER Wait Times - Better Health Care Sooner! 204.228.2685 Ambulance fees reduced by 50% votekellybindle@gmail.com Highest levels of investment in our history
Keeping our promise of at least $1 Billion spent annually for roads, bridges, flood protection, hospitals, schools, universities and colleges
REDUCING THE BUDGET DEFICIT •
@KellyBindle Kelly Bindle
On track for balance in our second term
Kelly Bindle THOMPSON
and your
DON’T TAKE RISKS
HISTORIC TAX RELIEF
The NDP are a risk Northerners can’t afford. They want to raise the death tax, and increase Trudeau’s job killing carbon tax.
As promised, our PC government has already provided historic tax relief to Northerners by reducing the PST from 8% to 7%, and we are the only party committed to standing up against the Trudeau carbon tax.
A re-elected PC government will continue fighting to make life more affordable for Northerners by: ✓ Putting an end to years of NDP death taxes, saving the typical family estate over $2600 and Manitoba families an estimated $11 million annually. ✓ Ensuring more money from estates remains with family members, where it belongs. ✓ Removing the PST on Will preparations. ✓ Helping to encourage more individuals and families to better protect themselves by preparing Wills.
A re-elected Progressive Conservative government will leave more money in the pockets of Northerners by: ✓ Eliminating the PST on home insurance. ✓ Canceling the PST on personal care services, saving Manitobans $7 million each year.
HELP US BUILD AN EVEN BETTER NORTH: Check out our platform updates at pcmantioba.com. Call 204 677-9108 to volunteer, donate, or request a Lawn Sign. Thank you for supporting our PC Team. Sincerely, Kelly
Authorized by Official Agent for Kelly Bindle