Uplands Field Survey Letter # 2

Dear Resident,

The purpose of this letter is to inform you that surveying work that will be taking place in your area commencing early June.

The provincial government, through its Master Sewer Regulation, has mandated that combined sewer and storm water overflows must be eliminated. This means that all coastal communities must take the appropriate action to separate storm water flow from sanitary sewage flow in municipalities where single pipe systems occur.

Currently in Oak Bay, the Uplands neighbourhood has a single pipe system to accommodate both sanitary sewer and storm water flows. This single pipe system is the original system installed more than 100 years ago.  As compliance is mandatory, Oak Bay is planning now to undertake the necessary due diligence to inform options and decisions going forward as we move towards compliance.

A Request For Proposal (RFP) contract was awarded by council to Polaris Land Surveyors on May 12th . The firm will gather data that will inform preliminary design options to address the separation of storm water flows from sanitary sewer flows. The work will consist of a regional survey of property elevations in relation to the existing pipe location. Gathering this information is key to informing options to address the storm water sewer separation requirements going forward.

The survey work will commence in the Uplands in early June, and the data will be collected over a period of 10 to 12 weeks. We expect an update on Phase 1 of the findings to come to Council in the fall identifying a range of options and an order of magnitude of costs. This information will be shared with the community and will help guide Council’s direction to proceed to Phase 2 – the gathering of more detailed information and refined cost estimates for one or two options.

Polaris Surveyors will have crews working throughout the Uplands measuring all relevant field elevations including street features as well as elevations at the front door sill of each house. We thank you in advance for your cooperation in regards to this survey exercise to enable the project to move along in a timely fashion. Should it be necessary for Polaris Land Surveyors to enter your property in order to get accurate information, a representative will advise you either in person at the door, or by way of a notice in your mail box.

Thank you for your support as we move forward with this initiative. Should you have any questions or concerns, please call the Oak Bay engineering department.

Yours Truly,

David Marshall B.Sc., A.Sc.T.
(Director of Engineering Services)
250-598 2042, Local 7421

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