The City of Weyburn introduced a new policy concerning sewer line cleaning and maintenance during their meeting Monday night. The new policy will see a single company have the contract for the city for the work done in residential areas. This includes working with residents in terms of clearing out clogged sewer lines and determining if the bill is the responsibility of the homeowner or the city.  

The policy itself outlines the minimum requirements, the service levels and the expectations for sewer cleaning and maintenance services under the City of Weyburn’s Water and Sewer Service Connection Fund. With the new policy, the city will be entering into a contract with Vortex Plumbing and Heating for 24-hour on-call sewer cleaning and maintenance. This will include sewer pipe cleaning services. There is also the responsibility of supplying the city with inspection reports and camera footage data. 

What does this mean for the average resident of Weyburn? 

While the new policy, and the contract approved by Council with Vortex, take effect on January 1st, there will be an education and leeway period to notify residents of the changes. There will be a social media campaign and mailouts in the utility bills in the city. 

When a sewer line is plugged, people will call the authorized plumber to come in and make the repairs and inspect the line. Then, if the issue is something that falls under the city’s responsibilities, it will be covered by the city. If it is on the homeowner’s side, they will be responsible. The policy also makes it clear the city will only reimburse the costs of the work if it is done by the authorized plumbing company.  

When asked by Councillor Dick Michel as to why the change was being made, the City’s Director of Engineering, Jennifer Wilkinson, explained that it is so the city can be proactive instead of reactive in terms of asset management of the sewer system. With the camera work and other reports being done on the service calls, it will allow the city to know where repairs are needed ahead of time so repairs can be made before a failure. 

While the policy itself was approved unanimously by the council, the vote for the RFP was not unanimous. Three bids came in, with Don’t Plumbing and Heating, Vortex Plumbing and Heating and Larry’s Sewer Service all putting in bids. The administration recommended the bid coming in from Vortex, which was the lowest priced, and also in the opinion of the administration, the best bid overall. 

Wilkinson explained the submission from Vortex was extremely detailed, highlighting their equipment, price, and staffing levels. 

“There was such a variation between the three that there really was no way to award it to just one of them; Vortex was that much ahead of them,” Wilkinson said during the meeting.  

While the submission from Vortex was approved, Councillor Laura Morrissette voiced that she didn’t like awarding a three-year contract to be the authorized plumbing company for sewer service without having an actual chance for the other companies to do the work aside from submitting an RFP. 

“I think that just because it’s such a new policy, more than one company should have had the opportunity to try it for one year to see if they had some different methods of cost-effectiveness that could have been brought forward,” Morrissette said after the meeting.  

Other councillors did point out this will be a change, and there will be some people who don’t like it. This included Councillor Michel. He did state, though, that while it will be a change, the contractors bidding on it are all local, the numbers are there in front of them, and they are going with what was presented. 

Wilkinson did mention that there will be reviews of the work throughout the contract to ensure the contractors are fulfilling their obligations. The first few months will be education for the residents of Weyburn, and then homeowners will also be asked to provide feedback on the work being done. While the contract is for three years, if the company doesn’t meet the requirements the contract lays out, it can be retracted before the three years are up.