The Municipal District of Lesser Slave River will not be getting back into the business of maintaining residential sewer grinder pumps, though it may look into financing options for residents struggling to buy them.
The decision came during the July 29 Committee of the Whole meeting, where a debate unfolded over who should be responsible for the expensive equipment.
The M.D.’s Southshore low-pressure sewer system has a long and rocky history. According to past reports from the Lakeside Leader in 2021, the M.D. was dealing with up to 80 grinder pump failures a year. To stop the bleeding, the municipality switched to a more durable brand of Liberty pumps in 2022 and officially stopped installing or repairing them on private property, placing the burden fully on the homeowners.
At the July 29 meeting, the administration brought the policy back for an early review. They presented the council with three options for maintenance: the M.D. could continue under the current model as just a pump distributor, the M.D. could return to the old model of installing and repairing the pumps, or the M.D. could completely step away from supplying them altogether.
A second policy review offered three options for how residents pay for the pumps: paying in full upfront, bringing back a five-year repayment plan, or the M.D. stepping away from the sales entirely.
Because a new grinder pump can cost upwards of $5,000, a long conversation started around affordability.
Councillor Norm Seatter pointed out that the upfront cost is a heavy burden for many families.
“A lot of people can’t come up with $5,000 next week,” Seatter said.
He suggested the M.D. might want to take over the pumps to protect the local infrastructure. Seatter said the municipality could add a small fee of $30 to $40 to monthly utility bills so residents could pay off the hardware slowly over several years.
The idea of bringing back a financing program or using a third-party lender was suggested to help struggling residents. However, the chief administrative officer (CAO) had major concerns about the M.D. acting like a bank and taking on the financial risk of unpaid bills.
The CAO noted that while he understands the financial strain, the municipality has to draw a line somewhere, adding that he tries to consider the social impact of the issue, acknowledging how hard it is for residents to afford vital infrastructure. “I do have empathy for everybody in the municipality when bills go out. It’s not a fun item,” the CAO said. “But there needs to be a clear description of ownership and responsibility.”
He added that if a homeowner does not maintain their pump properly, it can cause backups and put the entire community’s drainage system at risk. He said if council wants to help residents financially, they should create a separate social program rather than altering utility policies.
The discussion also turned to the unusual things people flush down their toilets, which destroys the internal blades of the pumps. According to Lakeside Leader archives from February 2022, utility staff previously reported finding mops and heavy grease clogging the system. At the time, officials noted that because the M.D. was fixing the pumps for free, some residents had no financial incentive to be careful about what they flushed.
During the July 29 meeting, Councillor Lester Vanhill suggested updating the bylaw to specifically ban “meth lab byproducts” from being flushed, noting that harsh chemicals destroy the pipes.
The CAO quickly advised against adding that specific phrasing to a public policy document.
“I’d be cautious of putting meth items in there, because the first person that’s going to read this is going to say, ‘I’m going to that community, they’ve got meth labs over there and they allow it, you just can’t flush it,’” the CAO said, recommending they just stick to banning illegal products generally to protect the town’s image.
Ultimately, council agreed that returning to the old ways would be too costly and time-consuming for municipal staff, noting the current policy has been working well enough for the last few years. Councillor Brad Pearson reminded the council that they made the tough decision to stop working on private property to save money and headaches.
“That ship has sailed,” Councillor Pearson said.
Council passed a motion to stick with the current system, keeping homeowners responsible for buying, installing, and maintaining their own grinder pumps. While the current policy requires residents to pay for the pumps in full up front, the council directed administration to research third-party financing and repayment options to be brought back for a future discussion. The updated wording of the base policy will be brought to the next regular council meeting for final approval.
Armaan Khanna
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter