The city is linking up with the Penticton Golf and Country Club to repair timber retaining walls and portions of the municipal storm water system at a shared cost of $115,000.
Mitch Moroziuk, Penticton’s operations manager, told council during the last regular meeting that the initial drive came from the golf club, which approached the city last fall about the deteriorating state of the timber retaining walls.
Club management indicated the walls on the property were rotting and beginning to present a potential safety hazard for golfers.
Staff began investigating in September of last year as to whose responsibility it was to maintain the walls. Moroziuk said that although the lease agreement handed the club maintenance obligations, there were also issues with storm water system just within the walls.
Moroziuk explained that there is a pond and watercourse system on golf club grounds that connects with the city’s storm water system. The ponds function as not only an attractive water feature for golfers, but has become a key storm management attenuation function for the city. Behind the failing retaining walls along the channel is a series of gates that control the levels of water, and those have to be replaced.
“It only makes sense to do this as one contract,” he said.
The staff report indicates existing walls should be left in place but rip-rap, or material used to armour shorelines or bridge abutments, be placed in front to eliminate their function. Weirs should also be address by a combination of rip-rap fill and modified slide gate and conduit arrangement. The outfall culvert to the river channel needs to be replaced.
The following breakdown of the bill was proposed: the golf club would pay $42,000, the city would front $43,000 from capital contingency and $30,000 would come from the municipal traffic signals account.
The best time of the year to conduct the work is winter, Moroziuk added, as it is easier to move equipment and vehicles on and off the site when the ground is frozen. To defer the project would mean taking additional precautions during the 2012 golf season and waiting until the next cold weather window to begin the work.
“I understand that this has been a deteriorating situation. I’m pleased to see action taken earlier rather than later,” Coun. Judy Sentes said.
Council unanimously approved the work, which the staff report also noted would require approvals from various ministries involved with riparian protection.