CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE June 10, 2020
Upcoming repairs to the water tower in Shawville are proving to be a bit of a headache for an internet provider that uses the tower to service nearby communities.
Shawville councillor . . .
Bill McCleary said that council approved at their last meeting on June 2 to move ahead with repairs to the tower, which include replacing some sections of the tower. He said that he wasn’t sure on the exact date the repairs would be made, but said that they had to be completed this summer, as snowload could be enough to compromise the structure.
WePC is a local company that is sub-contrated to service internet equipment for service provider Réseau Picanoc.
“We’re the boots on the ground for those guys,” explained co-owner Scott Lemay. “We do … all the residential and all the tower work for them.”
“It doesn’t affect us directly as a company because we don’t actually own the equipment. We support all the equipment that’s on there,” he continued, noting that there’s a few different types of devices on the tower. “The water tower, it provides what’s called a backhaul. It’s a point-to point connection that links the service to other towers that do the same thing. There’s a few other towers that are affected when that tower comes down.”
There are five other towers in the surrounding area that piggyback off of the Shawville tower: one in Thorne, Bristol and Charteris, as well as two elsewhere in Clarendon.
Lemay explained that they had been in contact with Picanoc, who is in the process of determining the solution. He said that options could be to install a temporary tower next to the existing one, or to bring in a truck that’s able to function as a tower.
“It’s not the end of the world, it’s just a little hiccup. Communication’s important, but the water’s a hell of a lot more important than that,” he said. “I don’t really have a say in [the decision]. It comes down to the company. I go out and do the site surveys for them, do the reports, give them the best option and they take it from there. Picanoc is making the final decision. It all comes down to cost.”
Lemay added that the municipality had given them plenty of time to work within their schedule.
“The town’s been great, they’ve given us a lot of notice,” he said. “Whatever we need, they’re right there to provide assistance.”
