Column: City's wastewater professionals second to none

As chair of the operations committee, I want to take this opportunity to publicly acknowledge the tremendous work that is being done by the 137 employees of the Water Wastewater Division of the City of Greater Sudbury.

This team of highly qualified professionals provides essential services to more than 51,000 households and commercial establishments in a safe, reliable and environmentally responsible manner with a sustainable, cost effective approach, 24 hours a day, 365 days a week.

Nick Benkovich, director of Water and Wastewater Services, has been an invaluable source of information to council in helping us understand the nature and scope of the services and informing us of the efforts of his staff and of the contractors who are called in from time to time to make sure that the 900 kilometres of watermains and 800 kilometres of sewers which form the complex system that flows under our streets meet the needs of our municipality.

The Water and Wastewater employees are required to maintain a certain level of provincial certification in order to be considered qualified to work in this division.

They go through training on the job and they attend annual instructional sessions at the Lionel E. Lalonde facility in Azilda. So when you see them working on water/wastewater line breaks, you can rest assured that these are people who know what they are doing and they are proud of the quality of their work.

On Jan. 28, 2016, the City of Greater Sudbury was recognized with the Ontario Public Works Association Public Works Project of the Year Award in the category of Environment for upgrades to the Sudbury Wastewater Treatment Plant.

During the past five years, the city has received three provincial awards and one international award for public works projects that have realized significant benefits for residents and municipal operations.

Tony Cecutti, general manager of infrastructure services, who oversees the Water and Wastewater Division, was quick to give credit to the municipal staff and contracted services for their performance in carrying out their duties in a responsible and committed manner that has lead to this provincial and international recognition.

When I spoke to the staff during their recent training session at the Lionel E. Lalonde Centre, I assured them that while the vast majority of local residents don’t usually think about water and wastewater services until things go wrong, they appreciate the excellent work that is done when staff responds at all hours of the day or night to deal with emergencies of all kinds.

The work that the water and wastewater division performs is critical to our quality of life and it is vital to our health and wellness that the water be of the highest quality when it is delivered to homes and businesses.

The Operations Committee will continue to address the needs of the Water/Wastewater Division in the coming year as Mr. Cecutti and Mr. Benkovich bring us updates and reports for consideration.

City council has approved an increase in the budget for 2016 which will put us on the road to sustainability and we have committed to providing the support needed to make sure the resources are available to implement a suitable long term strategy plan for water and wastewater services throughout the City of Greater Sudbury.

I know I speak not only for myself, but also on behalf of city council and all of the residents of the City of Greater Sudbury when I say “thank you” to all of our water and wastewater employees and contractors for being true professionals and for demonstrating through your work that you are proud of the career that you have chosen.

Robert Kirwan is the councillor for Ward 5 and chair of the city's operations committee.