OKANAGAN FALLS--A site has been acquired for a new sewage treatment plant in Okanagan Falls. However, senior government funding to allow the proposed $7-million project to proceed remains a question mark. The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen board has approved the purchase of a 0.8 hectare (two-acre) property next to the Okanagan River channel about 1.5 kilometres south of OK Falls. Bill Schwarz, RDOS director for OK Falls-Kaleden, said the Agricultural Land Commission has agreed to allow a sewer plant to be located on the site, a portion of a larger parcel of farmland owned by Bill Robertson. Details on the purchase price have not yet been released. The sale is contingent on the Ministry of Highways approving subdivision of the property. The total cost of the project has increased from the estimated $5.5-million when the proposal was first put forward in 2005. Plans call for a biological nutrient removal (BNR) facility, similar to the Penticton waste water treatment plant.
One-third of the funding comes from the federal government, one-third provincial and one-third local -- to be paid through increased sewer fees and development cost charge revenues. A $50 per household levy was established for the sewer project in 2006 with the funds going into a capital reserve fund. That fee has been increased to $75 this year (generating $75,000 into the reserve) and will rise to $100 in 2008. Sewer rates will climb by 28 per cent this year to $435 per single family home. Apartments and mobile home rates will increase to $326. Schwarz met in Victoria last month with Community Services Minister Ida Chong to discuss the possibility of obtaining infrastructure funding for the project. The RDOS director said he is confident the province will eventually approve the application. "Clearly the staff and the minister recognize the importance of it," he said. However, Chong noted there is a limited amount of infrastructure funding available and a large number of projects. Pending government approval of infrastructure funding, the first phase won’t begin until at least the fall of 2008 with completion by about 2012. Funding for purchase of the land is already in place The current sewage treatment plant off Cedar Street has resulted in numerous complaints from neighbouring residents about the odours emanating from the site. "We’ll able to move the plant away from there," Schwarz said. “It’s a chance to get the sewer plant into an area that is in the midst of agricultural lands so there never will be buildings around it like this present one.” The larger capacity plant would also allow for an expanded sewer service area in OK Falls, and possibly incorporate Kaleden, Skaha Estates and along Eastside Road. Residents in the outlying areas would need to approve funding in a referendum. The sewer project is totally separate from the community‘s water system, operated by the Okanagan Falls Irrigation District. A boil water advisory has been in place for almost a year. 
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