Plant contract awarded

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: January 15, 2009

Another major milestone has been achieved in addressing long-standing water issues in Greater Vernon. On Wednesday, the North Okanagan Regional District granted a $22 million contract to Maple Reinders to construct the $29 million Duteau Creek water treatment plant. “The water treatment plant is something we need to do,” said director Wayne Lippert. “This goes a long ways to solving the concerns we hear from customers about good quality water. This plant is a necessity.” The facility — which will benefit residents of the former Vernon Irrigation District — has been on the books for many years but construction was delayed while an environmental assessment was done to ensure funding from the federal government materialized. Approvals were also needed from the Okanagan and Splatsin Indian bands. In October, though, the site in Whitevale was logged and site grading got underway. With the main construction contract awarded Wednesday, that means activity at the site will escalate and it’s projected that the facility could be completed by the end of April 2010. Director Patrick Nicol is pleased to see that most of the companies involved in the construction are local. “Given this economy, that’s a boost,” he said.However, the project has become embroiled in Greater Vernon politics.

Gyula Kiss, Coldstream’s alternate director, is concerned that the City of Vernon’s plans to withdraw from the water distribution service will lead to higher rates for residents of the BX and Coldstream, and that means they will be paying more for the treatment plant.“Who is going to pay for it and how will we pay for it?” he said. “How much is Coldstream going to have to contribute to financing? We only have 10,000 people in Coldstream.” But NORD officials say that the total cost of supply will depend on how much water each community uses (Vernon is remaining in the supply service) and financial issues surrounding the city withdrawing from distribution will be worked out through meditation.