Greater Vernon residents will soon be paying more for water. The North Okanagan Regional District board has approved new rates which will add 20.6 percent to the bill of the average home. The hikes are needed to run and improve the system. The approved motion also included a target of deriving 50 percent of Greater Vernon Water Utility income from base fees, and 2011 "must have" capital projects totalling $2.1 M, construction of a reservoir and separation of the Swan Lake Corridor in 2011, 2012; and that a review of the Master Water Plan be undertaken. Meantime, the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee has agreed to hold special meetings to set the water rates for next year, which director Jim Garlick says will avoid the big rush. "We need more discussion time and more time to get input from the public and from staff and get a better understanding of it because there's a pile of information we need to understand before we make decision."The first special meeting is expected in two weeks. Garlick first proposed the idea of a special committee of partner groups and a farming rep be formed, but then agreed on the suggestion of GVAC chair Wayne Lippert, to just hold special meetings of the regular GVAC committee. Lippert said, "This committee should be capable of doing that. That's what we were elected for." Garlick says directors also have to decide where to go when the referendum money from the current master water plan runs out this year.Thursday, February 03, 2011
Water Rates Rise, More Input in Future
Greater Vernon residents will soon be paying more for water. The North Okanagan Regional District board has approved new rates which will add 20.6 percent to the bill of the average home. The hikes are needed to run and improve the system. The approved motion also included a target of deriving 50 percent of Greater Vernon Water Utility income from base fees, and 2011 "must have" capital projects totalling $2.1 M, construction of a reservoir and separation of the Swan Lake Corridor in 2011, 2012; and that a review of the Master Water Plan be undertaken. Meantime, the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee has agreed to hold special meetings to set the water rates for next year, which director Jim Garlick says will avoid the big rush. "We need more discussion time and more time to get input from the public and from staff and get a better understanding of it because there's a pile of information we need to understand before we make decision."The first special meeting is expected in two weeks. Garlick first proposed the idea of a special committee of partner groups and a farming rep be formed, but then agreed on the suggestion of GVAC chair Wayne Lippert, to just hold special meetings of the regular GVAC committee. Lippert said, "This committee should be capable of doing that. That's what we were elected for." Garlick says directors also have to decide where to go when the referendum money from the current master water plan runs out this year.
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