DELIBERATIONS OF 21-10-2009

Date: 21st October, 2009

DELIBERATIONS OF THE MEETING HELD
ON 21ST OCTOBER 2009
AT 17:30 HOURS

Present: Sir Norman Browse
 Mr R Willmott
 Mr W Walden
 Mr C Williams
 Mr I Tugby
 Mrs E Bennett
 Mr A Llewellyn
 Mr P Allen
 Mr B Kelly
 Mr G Sargent
 Mr J Beaman

Mr J Richards represented His Excellency The Lieutenant-Governor of the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

Item l Budgets for 2010 and Expected Outturn 2009

The States resolved, after consideration of the Budget Reports, to accept the Revenue Budgets for 2010, to accept the Capital Budgets for 2010 and to accept the Water Board Budget for 2010.

(Proposed by Mr Willmott and seconded by Mr Williams.)
(Approved unanimously.)

Item ll Commercial Quay Phase 2

The States resolve, after consideration of the above report from the Chairman of the General Services Committee, to:-

1. Approve Phase 2 of the Commercial Quay Project as outlined in the above report.

2. Award the contract to Geomarine for a fixed price of £241,815 under an ICE Minor Works contract as modified by the States of Guernsey.

3. Approve additional costs of £25,000 to cover the provision of engineering drawings and associated contract documentation and the provision of site supervision.

4. Approve a contingency sum of £8,000.

5. Vote the Capital sum of £274,815 to cover the overall cost of the project.

(Proposed by Mr Williams and seconded by Mr Walden.)
(Approved by a majority. Messrs Tugby and Kelly declared an interest and abstained.)

Item Ill Proposed Increase in Harbour Dues and Mooring Charges for 2010

The States resoled to approve Statutory Instrument No 3 of 2009 and Statutory Instrument No 4 of 2009.

(Proposed by Mr Willmott and seconded by Mr Williams.) 
(Approved unanimously.)

Item lV The European Communities (Implementation of Council Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications) (Alderney) Ordinance, 2009

The States resolved to approve “The European Communities (Implementation of Council Directive on the Privacy and Electronic Communications) (Alderney) Ordinance, 2009”.

(Proposed by Mr Willmott and seconded by Mr Llewellyn.)
(Approved by unanimously.)

Item V Housing Exemption Ordinance

The States resolved to approve “The Housing (Exemptions) (No.5) (Alderney) Ordinance, 2009”.

(Proposed by Mrs Bennett and seconded by Mr Sargent.)
(Approved unanimously.)

Item Vl The Alderney eGambling Ordinance, 2009

The States resolved to approve “The Alderney eGambling Ordinance, 2009.”

(Proposed by Mr Willmott and seconded by Mr Kelly.)
(Approved unanimously.)

Item Vll Questions and Reports

Mr Llewellyn reported on the progress with the Sewer Repair and Replacement Programme.

“Members will be aware that our infrastructure has been sadly neglected over many years with the result that some of our facilities, which are not in the prime of life, are now in a pretty sad state. Much has been done, and is being done, but the delicate subject of sewers receives little publicity, except when a member or members of the public suffers the delights of the perfumes and foot washing facilities of failed or faulty sewers.

The extent of the problem is well recognised by the States and has been taken very seriously in recent years, and it has been the firm intention to reverse the trend and to correct the defects as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, the intentions are not always matched by available finance.

However thanks to the efforts of the States Engineer and previous States committees the first major project, the Vallee Sewer replacement, was completed on time and in budget around a year ago, with an immediate huge improvement. No longer do we have sewage overflowing and running down Vallee to Platte Saline beach.  No longer is the water in the stream polluted, and this latter improvement will now allow us to harvest the stream water and send it to the reservoir.

There remain more major projects of this sort to initiate with the long term aim to ultimately connect all properties to a main sewer system so far as possible, and do away with the cess pit emptying task. However laying new sewers is expensive, slow, and highly disruptive, and these plans will take time to bring to fruition.

In the meantime though there are of course all the small sewer networks serving the existing properties. A number of these sewers are in a poor state of repair, in many cases blocked or collapsed, and demand frequent emergency attention. At the same time the pump stations which direct the sewage to the main outfall have been in desperate need of refurbishment. By their nature buried sewers are difficult to maintain and failures are not visible until a problem arises and affects members of the public. Poor connections made years ago, collapse due to overweight traffic or ground subsidence, penetration by tree roots, all contribute to the problem. Frequently the only solution is to relay the pipes, which is disruptive, but with modern technology it is often now possible to reline the pipes without the need for excavation of the roads. Identifying and locating the source of the problem is generally achieved by the use of CCTV.

In May this year the States Engineer together with the Superintendent of the Works Department, and with the support of the General Services Committee, commenced a process of identifying the many sewer and pump station problems and set up a schedule of priorities for systematically dealing with them. Initially some 20 specific problem areas were identified but with the passage of time this number has increased. Already in the last 5 or 6 months very considerable progress has been made with work to cure the problems, and extensive further work on both repairing underground pipework and improvement of pump stations is in progress. Completed work includes several schemes around the school area of Newtown and at the rear of Braye Rd as well as in the Mare Jean Bott. The sewage pumping station at the harbour showers has been completely refurbished, and work is underway on the Braye Common pumping station.  A new sewercart discharge point has been constructed at the rear of Fort Doyle to resolve problems the public had identified in that area.

It is anticipated that the majority of the work to deal with the original list of priorities will have been completed by the end of the year. Meantime investigation into other areas continues, and a number of CCTV surveys have recently been made. As the first priority work progresses it is inevitable that further problems will emerge, and so the work schedule will be extended, so that over a period of time the sewer network will gradually be upgraded. It will take a considerable time to cure everything, but very positive progress is being made, thanks to the efforts of the States Works Department staff, who are to be commended for their work.”

Mr Williams reported on the Commercial Quay Project, the number of apprenticeships on Alderney and the New Connaught Care Home.

The President stated that Reports to the States were valuable and important; however they should only contain updates on items concerning the public and not any personal points of view or political speeches.

Meeting ended: 18:40                    Issued: 29th October 2009