Regional sewers received a boost last week with the announcement of the latest round of federal and provincial infrastructure grants.
Governments of Canada and BC announced 144 projects in the province, worth $373.2 million, will be funded from the joint Clean Water and Wastewater Fund.
Of the $373.2 million, City of Powell River will receive $3.3 million toward the initial design phase of the consolidated wastewater treatment facility to be located in Townsite above the current plant near the waterfront log-sort.
City council supported an application to the fund last November.
In response to the announcement, City of Powell River councillor Karen Skadsheim, who holds council’s infrastructure portfolio, said she was glad the city’s application was successful.
“It’s huge,” she said. “Usually the funding from the federal government is 33 per cent. This is 50 per cent.”
With the federal government contributing half of the $3.3 million and the province providing a third, it leaves the city picking up the remaining 17 per cent of the cost, or roughly $680,000. That money will come out of the city’s Sewer Capital Reserve Fund.
The total cost for the wastewater treatment plant is estimated to be approximately $30 million.
The question of dealing with Powell River’s aging sewer system has been up for debate for more than two decades. Skadsheim said the announcement is a boost for local taxpayers who could have had to contribute a greater percentage toward the project.
In the past it has been common to have infrastructure grants split 33 per cent each between the federal, provincial and municipal governments, she said.
“We’ve applied for funding in the past, and now I’m kind of glad we didn’t get it,” said Skadsheim. “It kind of worked out.”
The city will again be applying to federal and provincial governments for project construction once plans are created.
City director of infrastructure Tor Birtig said the grant is a big step for the project.
“It bodes well for the future when we apply for the construction costs,” said Birtig. “We’ll have a plan ready and in hand for the next round of grant funding. It puts us on a good footing.”
When completed, the plant, which will also process Tla’amin Nation’s wastewater, will reduce the number of discharge outfalls into the Salish Sea by three.
According to the statement, the city will begin the process to issue its call for tenders from qualified engineering firms to start the design work.
Meanwhile, Powell River Regional District board chair Patrick Brabazon announced at the board’s monthly meeting on Thursday, March 23, that the regional government had also been successful in its grant application for Lund sewer upgrades. The regional district will receive $464,800 for upgrades to the Lund sewer system.
“That’s a huge chunk to go into a major piece of our infrastructure, which has just been aging and deteriorating for a long time,” Brabazon told the board.
After the meeting, regional district chief administrative officer Al Radke said the money will be used to upgrade the system’s pumps, which have been infiltrated by rising sea levels.
The objective of the upgrade includes reducing power consumption, extending infrastructure lifespan and improving effluent discharge to meet or exceed current environmental regulations, among others, said Radke.
“This will improve Lund’s infrastructure now and into the future,” he said, “without a heavy burden on taxation.”
