The Municipality of Jasper recently wrapped up the first phase of repairing water and sanitary infrastructure damaged by the Jasper wildfire.

Logan Ireland, recovery project manager with the Jasper Recovery Coordination Centre (JRCC), told council on Tuesday (Aug. 4) that the second phase will begin within the next week or two.

“We’ll be communicating with leaseholders, issuing public comms this week to all impacted neighbourhoods,” Ireland said. “Once we have a more granular idea of which properties are impacted, as we did with phase one, we’ll contact those leaseholders with direct emails to let them know what to expect.”

The $2-million first phase focused on fire-related damage to curb stops, service valves and selected laterals in three neighbourhoods — Cabin Creek, Lodgepole/Poplar and Maligne/Meitte. Work was completed on Friday (July 31). The first phase was funded through $1.5 million in provincial recovery funding and $510,000 from the utility capital reserve.

The $7.63-million second phase combines fire-related repair work with replacing aging infrastructure at the 700 block of Connaught Drive; the 700, 800 and 900 blocks of Patricia Street; and the 800 block of Geikie Street.

Logan Ireland said this allows for efficiency and cost savings, and provincial recovery funding will not cover the renewal component because it wasn’t related to the wildfire. The Municipality is borrowing $4 million to cover the cost.

Ireland said in addition to direct emails, they would be putting up door hangers to have another lane of communication to leaseholders.

“Your water and sewer are not going to be impacted if you’re living in a house adjacent to one of these action properties,” he said. “And you can expect some additional noise and construction activity for roughly about half a day.”

Recovery update

All debris has been removed from in-town properties, with only four still needing to submit their soil sample reports.

Interim housing is fully occupied. The program is accommodating 427 households representing 773 individuals, but 244 households representing 370 individuals have unmet needs, either because they are on the waitlist or declined an offer.

Doug Olthof, director of recovery, said people typically decline offers because they are asking for a unit at a different location or a different type of unit that isn’t available at the time of the request.

Mayor Richard Ireland asked if the JRCC had a way to determine the unmet needs of those who haven’t applied for interim housing.

“It’s a challenge for me to wrap my arms around how many of our community members are still flung far away and looking for an opportunity to get back but aren’t even on the list because perhaps they don’t have the capacity to know how to get on a list,” the mayor said.

Olthof replied that they had few ways of accounting for people not in the community and who are not responsive to outreach. The Municipality has previously asked displaced residents to complete surveys and offered virtual programming.

As for the rebuild status of properties affected by the fire, 48 have been rebuilt, representing 79 dwelling units. As well, 122 properties remain in the prepare and design phase, 67 are in the application process, 45 have building permits approved and are ready for construction and 92 have construction underway.

The number of properties in the prepare and design phase has dropped from 229 in October to 122 as late July as they transition into other rebuild phases.

“We are seeing continual movement on that month-to-month,” Olthof said.

Other council highlights

Council gave third reading to a new encroachment bylaw. While the current policy provided a detailed framework for evaluating and managing encroachments, having a bylaw instead gives the Municipality enforcement tools.

It also gave third readings to four borrowing bylaws, which will allow the Municipality to incur debt for multiple initiatives.

These include $1.9 million for the third phase of renovating the Jasper Recreation Complex, $3.2 million for renovating and upgrading the wastewater treatment facility, $4 million for servicing wildfire-affected water and wastewater infrastructure and $776,705 for servicing Arnica Avenue.

A new policy will establish a formal process for how unsolicited donations are allocated. It specifically directs donations to the Municipal Financial Stabilization Reserve. The draft policy comes after council decided to give over $32,600 in unsolicited wildfire donations to the Jasper Community Team Society’s Caring Community Fund.

Council later awarded a five-year auditing services agreement to MNP for the term of Aug. 1, 2026 to July 31, 2031.

It then gave second reading to a new bylaw that gives the chief administrative officer (CAO) authority to decide how long records are retained and when they are destroyed, giving official authorization to matters that administration already handles internally. A third reading is still required before the bylaw is approved.

Peter Shokeir, Local Journalism Initiative // info@thejasperlocal.com