A dispute between the city of Coquitlam and FortisBC over the replacement of a gas main on Como Lake Avenue is heading to the B.C. Utilities Commission.
The municipality is asking the natural gas provider to remove the 20-inch pipeline it intends to decommission as part of the upgrade next year. Instead, Fortis has told engineering staff they intend to fill the old line with concrete and leave it in place.
That’s not good enough, according to city manager Peter Steblin, who told a council-in-committee meeting on Monday that staff is concerned about the increased congestion of utilities and infrastructure under the road.
“In our opinion [FortisBC does] not show enough credence to other users,” he said. “They are very focused on their needs and they are not as concerned as we believe they should be… with other utilities and other stakeholders present and in the future."
He later added: “We have been trying to negotiate with the company what we consider are reasonable requirements in terms of how they should deal with that pipeline and we have not been successful.”
The city also wants Fortis to repave Como Lake Avenue from curb to curb, a requirement the company has said they will not meet, according to Steblin.
Discussions between the company and the city have been ongoing for more than two years. However, Fortis recently decided to take the issue to the B.C. Utilities Commission, where they are seeking approval to move ahead with the project without a permit from Coquitlam.
Fortis wants to upgrade its service with a 30-inch line that will replace the existing 20-inch pipe that has been in the ground for more than 50 years and is nearing the end of its lifespan. The work is part of a larger project — the Lower Mainland Intermediate Pressure System Upgrade — which has already started along 1st Avenue in Vancouver and will continue into Burnaby later this year. The work in Coquitlam is not expected to get underway until 2019.
Replacing the line along Como Lake Avenue is expected to snarl traffic in the area, with only the eastbound curb lane open for general traffic for the duration of the eight-month construction period.
“It would cause incredible traffic delays,” said Jozsef Dioszeghy, the city’s general manager of engineering and public works.
Reducing Como Lake Avenue to one lane will not only create traffic problems in the surrounding neighbourhoods, he said. It will also make it difficult for city garbage collection and the movement of fire trucks and emergency vehicles through the area, Dioszeghy added.
Mayor Richard Stewart said the city recognizes the need for the project and supports the infrastructure improvements. However, he added the company needs to take the existing line out of the ground when they install the new line.
“To suggest the taxpayers of Coquitlam ought to subsidize their operations I find offensive,” he said during Monday’s meeting.
"Take your garbage with you when you leave," he added later in the meeting.
The B.C. Utilities Commission will deal with the matter later this summer and is expected to receive feedback and written submissions from the public.
More to come...
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