The North Cariboo Joint Advisory Committee is switching priorities when it comes to repairs at the West Fraser Centre in Quesnel.
A roof repair project has been kicked down the road to make way for the much needed repair of the brine header.
Jeff Norburn, the Director of Community Services with the city, explained the situation at last (Tuesday) night’s meeting.
“The repair to the brine header system is considered a higher priority because there is a risk that if the brine header repairs are not undertaken this year, we could experience a catastrophic failure in the system which would result in the loss of the ice, weeks of closure, and expensive emergency repairs.”
Norburn said that a leak was repaired back in November of 2025, and that there were multiple additional leaks during the ice season in 2026.
He said that they believe that they were being caused by fluctuations in temperature that resulted in retraction and a failure at the glued connections on the main header.
“The proposed solution is to upgrade the PVC glued connections that are currently failing with Victaulic mechanical connections. These connections feature bolted, grooved fittings and include a coupling that allows for expansion, contraction, and seismic movement, so they will be quite a bit more flexible and will hopefully absorb any changes that happen to the pipe due to temperature.”
Norburn said that in order for this project to proceed it will need to be completed in the next few weeks, before the ice goes in in late July.
He said the roof repair project was unable to proceed in 2026 anyways, due to complications that were discovered earlier this year.
“Cracking and surface deterioration was noted when the facility was being repainted in several concrete blocks along the upper portion of the exterior wall adjacent to the pool area.”
Norburn said that there was no immediate risk to the structural integrity of the building however, adding that staff will present a revised project addressing those concerns in the 2027 capital budget.
Barb Bachmeier, the CRD Director for Area B, was a little concerned about not going ahead with the roof project.
“At FCM (Federation of Canadian Municipalities), the honourable Gregor Robertson announced that out of the 6 billion Build Canada Strong Fund, one billion would be dedicated to a small scale local impact fund for smaller communities. These are for shovel ready projects up to one million dollars. It is designed for community infrastructure like recreation centres, parks, arts and culture, and includes new builds, retrofits, climate adaptions or replacements. So I think we should have a shovel ready project for the roof at the rec centre and go after some of this money.”
The vote to swap the two projects was unanimous.
Repairs to the brine header are estimated to cost $92,000.
The roof repair project was for $150,000, so there is no net impact on the budget as a result of the amendment.
