Fraser council prioritizes Linden pump station abandonment and earmarks storm-repair funds

Mayor Lesich convened the Fraser City Council's May 4 budget workshop and the meeting quickly focused on a multiyear stormwater problem centered around the Linden pump station. Public works staff described discoveries that corrugated metal storm lines run beneath private yards and that, in some places, sanitary laterals were tied into the storm system, sending untreated sewage into storm drains.

"It's hot raw sewage going into our storm sewers," Mayor Lesich said, using blunt language the council repeated as a reason to move quickly on the problem. City manager Levin and public works staff described a plan to abandon the Linden pump station, grout and fill old pipes, install new storm mains where needed and convert flows to gravity-fed sewers so the city would "lose one pump station and one major maintenance item." Staff said federal earmark requests (about $360,000) are in place but would not be decided until the federal budgeting season later in the year.

Public works presented AEW-engineering estimates showing a significantly higher price tag for a full, four-street program (roughly $3.7 million for storm pipes, about $1.7 million for water mains and roughly $1.7 million for roads, totaling near $6.6–$7 million). Staff urged a combination approach: begin with the highest-priority street (Linden), do concurrent water-main work while trenches are open, and conduct targeted CCTV inspections and limited excavation to better scope problems before committing to multi‑million-dollar full‑street rebuilds.

Council members expressed repeated concern about "kicking the can" and the long-term cost of piecemeal repairs. Several members argued for fixing the worst segments first. Public works recommended $250,000 for initial televised inspections of an eighth-section of the city to provide better data. After back-and-forth about scale and cost, council coalesced around starting with Linden and placing a $1,000,000 earmark in the budget for storm-sewer investigations and potential spot repairs; staff said AEW will return with final designs and an asset-management briefing in June.

The outcome: council direction to proceed with detailed investigation and design work, immediate prioritization of Linden to pair with planned water-main work, and an earmarked $1,000,000 from unassigned fund balance to address near-term storm-repair needs. Staff emphasized that a mix of fixes and more precise engineering would be presented in June so council could decide whether to pursue a full rebuild or a phased combination of targeted repairs.

What happens next: AEW's updated stormwater asset-management plan and design estimates are due in June; staff will return with refined costs and options that reflect CCTV findings and design-level budgets.