Jasper City Council discusses urban restoration and wastewater improvements

Jasper City Council met Tuesday and discussed updates to the Jasper Recovery Coordination Center (JRCC), funding for wastewater system upgrades and an upcoming festival.

The JRCC announced on Tuesday that the temporary accommodation had been extended until February 28.

In October As construction of temporary housing sites began, the JRCC said it was working to extend temporary housing contracts with hotels until the new sites were expected to be completed.

There are currently 63 people provided with temporary housing. The JRCC anticipates that there may be more requests for temporary housing from residents nearing the end of short-term housing solutions.

Tuesday is the last day for proposals to government for low to medium density modular housing solutions for Jasper.

On November 14, the Alberta government will hold a roundtable discussion with the JRCC and vendors on options for medium to high density housing.

The JRCC plans to place people in temporary housing units by March 30.

Councilman Rico Damota brought up residents’ frustration over the difficulties of re-maintaining properties with utilities.

“The unfortunate reality is that each individual property will essentially manage the debris removal and then reconstruction on their own individual timelines,” said Michael Fark, the director of recovery at the JRCC.

“As a result, there is no way to do large-scale reinstallation of direct property services, it will have to depend on when people rebuild and what that looks like, and so that will be entirely managed by the utilities.”

Fark added that the JRCC could talk to utilities about making that process easier for residents.

A map showing the areas in the city where debris removal has been approved and the status of damaged buildings is now available on Jasper’s website.

The municipality will also place signs at the locations indicating when the rubble removal will take place.

To date, Parks Canada has issued 47 demolition permits in the city.

Debris removal cannot begin until sanitary testing is completed at the sites.

Wastewater upgrades

Another item the council discussed Tuesday was upgrades to the city’s wastewater systems, which are estimated to cost a total of $4.7 million.

The money should cover an emergency upgrade for the wastewater storage and a new monitoring well.

Currently, a decommissioned lagoon receives untreated wastewater during an extended power outage at the city’s wastewater treatment plant or when the plant is taken offline for maintenance.

This has happened three times in the last six years.

The lagoon is unbounded, allowing wastewater to seep into the ground and end up in the Athabasca River.

Groundwater monitoring wells allow groundwater levels and flow conditions to be observed and samples to be taken to determine quality.

The plan is to redesign the lagoon so that water can be brought back into the plant for treatment.

City Council has recommended that council approve the submission of an application for grant funding from the Alberta Water Wastewater Partnership in 2025 for this project.

The board expects the city to be eligible for 47 percent of eligible costs funded through the grant.

This would allow the city to finance the remaining $2.5 million.

The plan is to have the new well ready by the end of 2025 and the relining by the end of 2026.

Both projects are required by the provincial government.

The municipal council has approved the submission of the financing application.

More than just restoring buildings

As the city moves forward with its wildfire recovery, it looks to help residents do more than just rebuild homes.

The JRCC works with groups like Recovery Alberta and the Canadian Red Cross on programs aimed at building individual and community resilience.

The community also works to lift spirits, including the UpLift! Jasper Mural Festival group.

“It strikes me that even the name of the festival Uplift will be more important in 2025 than ever before,” said Councilwoman Kathleen Waxer.

“We were very grateful that all the murals were still standing after the devastating wildfire… it also inspired us to have some momentum to keep going,” said Logan Ireland, one of the festival’s founders.

“I think it’s necessary to brighten up the community a little bit, despite the times.”

Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the first expedition successfully climbing Mount Alberta. The team consisted of six Japanese climbers and three Swiss guides.

In honor of this, one of the ideas of the mural festival is to organize an artist exchange with Japan, which will involve a Japanese artist painting a silver ice ax mural in the city.

The expedition team left an ice ax at the summit as proof that they had completed the climb.

A Jasper artist would also be sent to Japan to paint something meaningful to the city there.

Discussions are also underway to bring a group of mountaineers from Japan to Alberta to celebrate the anniversary, Ireland added.

The mural festival has asked the city for $10,000 in funding while it seeks more money from other sponsors.

The city council approved the financing.