Jason Luciw - Kelowna Capital News Published: August 28, 2009
The atmosphere around the board table got a little tense this week during discussion over how to pay for future upgrades needed at the Westside’s sewage treatment plant.The Central Okanagan Regional District operates the plant, which serves West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation and Peachland. West Kelowna Coun. Duane Ophus stated emphatically his belief that existing residents should not foot the bill for $16 million in proposed facility expansion. Money should come from development cost charges on new home construction, he stated.“The only reason it needs to be expanded is because of growth,” Ophus commented.
However, regional district administrator Harold Reay noted that the original plant was built in 1988 to serve only 2,200 residents in Westbank. The facility was never built to service Lakeview Heights, West Kelowna Estates and other parts of the municipality, Reay said.Since then, the plant has been expanded twice, using government grants and development cost charges. The existing plant is now worth $40 million and designed to service 28,000 people
“The taxpayers of West Kelowna did not pay for the capacity that they are using right now,” Reay told Ophus in an impassioned tone. “You’ve got a $40-million plant that you paid $1.3 million for. You can’t tell me that $1.3 million is going to build you a sewer plant to service a town of 30,000 people. ”Ophus then spoke of the improvements that West Kelowna taxpayers have contributed to the sewer collection system. Residents have paid up to $7,500 in the past to deliver trunk lines to their property lines, plus individual connection fees to their homes. The current plans for sewer expansion in West Kelowna will cost individual property owners around $10,000. Since a plant relies on the lines to get the sewage to the facility, one cannot discount what West Kelowna residents have paid towards the system, explained Ophus.
“I don’t agree, with all due respect to Mr. Reay, in terms of the contributions of existing ratepayers to the existing sewage treatment plant process,” said Ophus. Ophus also mentioned that the development cost charge for the sewer treatment plant on new construction is only $3,500 per single family home, noting the disparity between charges for existing residences and new homes. West Kelowna Mayor Doug Findlater said it was evident that financial matters needed clarification before further decisions could be made on sewer plant upgrades.“I feel like we’re flying blind on the financial end of it. We just don’t have the details to have a comfort level,” continued Findlater. “I just think our taxpayers have a right to know. In our case our taxpayers are 70 per cent of the service. That’s potentially a very big hit.”
Findlater requested a meeting between the service provider, the regional district and its partners, West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation and Peachland. The board agreed, opting to defer any decision on plant upgrades until a meeting on either Sept. 10 or 21.The regional district will be looking first to award a $1.5-million design contract for the work. Actual construction could begin as early as next spring on upgrades to equipment at the existing plant. Physical expansion could be a further two or three years out.
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